whats a GREAT web site to look at water parm's for corals

[ddckec6972]

any websites out there that you all trust to determine water parameters. the information out there is so different. what the hell. for example one wed site said a xenia requires 68-84 degree water, Calcium of : 400 - 450 ppm and another said that a xenia requires 77-82 degree water. calcium of 300 - 420.......
OMG

Im trying to catalog my corals requirements so that i can determine the middle ground for water parameters, but this swing in info is discouraging.

[nereefpat]

I'm not surprised you're seeing such a range for xenia. That stuff can grow in a toilet, and it's the bane of many reefers.

In general though, we try to go for natural seawater parameters. Except that most folks keep alk, Ca, and Mg a little higher than normal.

Something like:
Temp 78
Salinity 35 ppt
Alk 8.5 dKH
Ca 450
Mg 1350

[bertoni]

This article covers water parameters in detail:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

If the Xenia species you have is the normal one in the trade, something like 78-82 F is a reasonable recommended range. There are corals from colder regions, too, but 68 is very cold for a tropical animal.

[ddckec6972]

well xenia was just my example. lol

i think i will follow these parameters as my learning goal

0….. Copper is bad
strontium------5-15 ppm
iodine ----0.06 ppm
magnesium------1260-1350 ppm
phosphate------ more than 0 & less than 10 ppm
calicum ------ 420-440 ppm
general hardness (GH)------ 8-9 kh or 140-200 ppm
salinity .024-.026
Alkalinity / dKH -----8-9 or 140-200 ppm
nitrate----- more than 0 & less than 10 ppm
nitrite----- 0
Ammonia----- 0
PH----- 8.1-8.4
DT Temp----- 75- 80

[bertoni]

Those numbers generally look okay to me.

Technically, the term "general hardness" is not used much in reef keeping, and it's very high for saltwater. The numbers you are quoting are fine for alkalinity, as you stated a couple of lines later.

I personally would keep the temperature at 77 F or better, but there are some arguments for keeping it lower. The actual reefs are at more like 82 F, but animals can start responding badly at temperatures only a few degrees higher than that, so giving some room for problems can be useful.

[ddckec6972]

thanks. my tank is running at 79.4, yeah i could not find much info on GH except for a test kit sales pitch but is GH AND KH basiclly the same thing?

[nereefpat]

Originally Posted by ddckec6972

is GH AND KH basiclly the same thing?

No.

GH deals with Ca and Mg, and it isn't useful in our saltwater tanks.

KH deals with carbonate and bicarbonate ions. This is what we track. Alkalinity and dKH, for our purposes, can be treated the same.

...So you want to buy a alk or dKH test kit.

[ddckec6972]

great thats what i got

[DesertReefT4r]

Originally Posted by nereefpat

I'm not surprised you're seeing such a range for xenia. That stuff can grow in a toilet, and it's the bane of many reefers.

In general though, we try to go for natural seawater parameters. Except that most folks keep alk, Ca, and Mg a little higher than normal.

Something like:
Temp 78
Salinity 35 ppt
Alk 8.5 dKH
Ca 450
Mg 1350

This, or just a little lower cal 400-420. Everything else is taken care of by water changes with quality salt.