water params

[pfcreed]

I have been converting my fowlr to a reef, I had my salinity very low prior to a month agojust due to poor husbandry, and i bought my first test kit. since then Ive changed half of my t5 bulbs and have slowly increased my salinity to just under 1.026. I have kalkwasser and this is going to be my first time dosing I havent started yet im going to put my numbers up so you can tell me if im ready or I should wait.
5/15 kh 7dkh, CA 480 MG 1500 Sal 1.021.
5/22 Mg 1400 CA 490 KH 8.4 Dkh sal 1.022,
5/27 KH 8.4 CA 480, mg 1600 sal 1.023.
6/3 few days after 20 gal water change. Kh 9.8 MG 1800 Ca 490 sal 1.024, 6/6 KH 9.2 dkh CA 500 Mg 1700 sal 1.025
today KH 9.2 ca 500 MG 1800 sal just below 1.026.
i raised my salinity very slow because I introduced some frags So with the numbers ive given you should I change anything before I *** kalk. or drive on and do it with my top off water.
These are the only test kits I own. its 90 gal tank the test kits are the red sea pro ones.

[gonpostal]

Are you dosing anything? Not sure why your Mag is climbing so high, it should be around 1350. Your CAL and ALK look okay, although I think most people keep their calcium a little lower, I keep mine around 440 or 450. Are you using a refractometer to test your SG? If not, I'd suggest getting one, those swing arm hydrometers can be inaccurate. Also, are you topping off manually or do you have an ATO? If you're going to start keeping corals, it would be a good idea to get an ATO if you don't have one, it'll keep your SG stable. If you don't have a lot of corals, you might not have to dose anything. You may be able to keep your parameters up by doing regular water changes.

[pfcreed]

I have a gravity fed ato < I started seeing the increase in mg once I started increasing the salt. I do have a swing arm hydro. Im getting a refractometer but not until fathers day. Right now I dont have alot of corals at all, just a few frags.

[rogerwilco357]

yeah I think the next step is to get some accurate test kits the red sea kits i like for the Ca,alk and mag, get a nice refractometer and po4 and no3 tester like the hanna egg . seems everything is still stabilizing since the mag is fluctuating take it slow and you will win haste makes waste still a rule I need to master ..good luck look forward to your coral pics going from frags to major colonies ...
Roger

[bertoni]

I agree that the test kits might be having some problems. The same might be true of the SG measuring device. What are you using and how has it been calibrated?

[pfcreed]

I use just a standard straight out of pet co hydrometer. I was running low salinity because I had some kind of backwards logic that if I was lazy with top offs it would raise the salinity to where it needed to be. The test kit is Reef Foundations Pro Test kit by Red Sea. The best I could figure is that my Mg has been fluctuating due to the steady Increase of salinity over the last four weeks. last night was the first night I started the top off with just water. Im going to wait another week and start the kalk, and do a 10 gal water change tomorrow to see how its affected. I ordered a Purple Haze Monti frag and as soon as I put him in he slowly turned white. After increasing the salinity he flesh has came back, hes looking better everyday, so over all im happy with the changes Ive been making. Chemistry really isnt my strong suit so im trying to understand the chemistry side of it at the same time. Thanks for you help.

[jerpa]

Here are two articles to get your feet wet with the chemistry side of things. The first explains the relationship between calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and PH. The second article goes over how to choose and implement a dosing regimen. I would consider them must reads for any beginning reefkeeper and I strongly recommend you read them before dosing kalk.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[bertoni]

This article explains how to make a calibration solution for the hydrometer:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-06/rhf/index.htm

Those test kits seem to get good reviews, but I'd take a water sample and the kits to a LFS in case there's some issue with them or perhaps some errors in the testing procedures.