making IO sps able

[spsrookie]

Right now I am mixing up 15 gallons for a water change to my 75. It only has a few sps pieces, but would eventually add more.

QUestion is, I bought the esv bionic calcium and alk liquids.

If I tested correctly, the IO in water change bin is 9 or so alk, and 380 calcium.

Should I, or can I, add calcium to this batch of water before going in?

If I read calculator correctly, for 15 gallons, I would add about 30 ml of calcium, to raise it from 380 to 420.

Will that drop the dkh?

[Jone]

yep yep and nope nope,,,I use regular IO now and I adjust my levels in the barrel if needed before I do a water change...I quit using RC because the params were all over the place and tooooo high on some params....My tank params are more consistant now..
Funny thing is,,regukar IO has a Mag level of 1350 and the cal was 380 Alk was 9.4....I doesnt take much to bring the levels up where I like them..easier to make them right than put with high levels of RC that you cant do nothing about..

[bertoni]

I agree that the dosing should be fine. Other products might be cheaper over the long haul, though, for this use.

[spsrookie]

correction:

Or maybe, not, perhaps my method is off.

I made RO water today in garbage can (15 gallons) Once done, I put a jabao rw-20 full blast in can, which is some 5000 gph to get some turbulence and air in.

I then added enough IO, to bring salinity from 000 R/O, to 1.026, over the course of 20 minutes, 2 cups at a time. Once I Reached the 1.026, I let it run 10 minutes full blast with pump, and tested

I use an api alkalinity test, and it started to flash from drop 8 to drop 9 (im guessing 8.5 around) I then did calcium, with salifert, (which Ill be honest, its almost a year old, and the pink sand looking stuff is hard, so I have to grind it up to get a spoon out of it)

It flashed blue (cant tell from blue to clear blue) at .2, which is 400 ppm

Does this sound about right, or could it be the test kit is not accurate due to the changing hardness of the calcium regent?

Did I allow enough time from mixing to measurement? I can tell you with this pump running, the water is clear within minutes of adding, no salt or residue on the bottom at all.

Thanks

[spsrookie]

also, to add to the equation, is the water I am mixing up has not been heated, so it is still around 60 degrees

[bertoni]

Those numbers seem to be about right. As long as there's no residue, the salt is mixed up well enough. Further mixing might be useful if the pH is off, because some salt products require more aeration to reach equilibrium.

60 F is fine. The salt actually will be less likely to precipitate at lower temperatures.

[karimwassef]

I couldn't do it. I keep Mg very high to maintain high Alk and Ca at high pH.

The Mg supplement to bring it up was more expensive than buying reef salt... but then, I wasn't making my own Mg Randy recipe.

[dkeller_nc]

I use an api alkalinity test, and it started to flash from drop 8 to drop 9 (im guessing 8.5 around) I then did calcium, with salifert, (which Ill be honest, its almost a year old, and the pink sand looking stuff is hard, so I have to grind it up to get a spoon out of it)


Typically, one gets an alkalinity of about 10 dKH from freshly-mixed I/O, so it's possible that your Alk kit may need replacing. By the way - the "pink sand" in the Salifert test is a dye called Eriochrome Black T.

I'd note that it's important to store your test kits away from your aquarium to protect them from excessive humidity. The plastic bottle that has the Eriochrome Black T in the Salifert test kit, for example, will allow water vapor to slowly seep into the material inside. This is true of almost all plastic bottles out there. A good place to keep your test kits is in a closet or kitchen cabinet, out of reach of youngsters.