Well I did another nitrate test again and my test results are still high, I would say between 80 and 100 so it hasn't dropped very much from last weeks test. I have been faithful with one cube of food in the morning and one in the evening, although I have given them a few small pieces of fresh shrimp every other day or so. I have a Salifert Calcium test kit that I have had for several months that I have never used. Before I did my water change this morning I figured I would do a test just to see where the tank was at on the calcium level. Either my tank has a really high calcium level or I did something wrong, I am betting on the latter, lol. Here is what I did, and you can tell me what I did wrong, if you can. My kit tells me to use the syringe and put 2ml of warter in the test tube, add one level test spoon of Ca- 1 and don't mix. Then add 8 drops of Ca- 2, then swirl for 10 seconds. Then take the other syringe and fill with 1 ml of CA 3 and add this to your test tube one drop at a time swirling for a second or two between drops until the water turns from pink-red to a clear blue ( I didn't make it past this point) As soon as I started putting the CA 3 into the test tube, my water turned light blue instead of the pink- red color. Anyone have a clue as to what I am doing wrong here?
Calcium and Nitrate Test Results
- Thread starter strout
- Start date
did you repeat the test ? I would repeat it, sounds like there was a problem with the first part. I always mix mine then add the ca3...it should be pinkish before you start adding the ca3.....then you add the ca3 a drop at a time....until it turns to the blue endpoint......I think you compare either the number of drops or the remaining amount of ca3 to a chart to determine your ca level. Either yours is very high or very low.....
Well, I haven't fed any Romain lettuce this week, just giving a third of a sheet of Nori in the morning and a third in the evening. I am going to do a 30g water change in the morning and another 30g change latter in the week, say Thursday and then check the nitrates again, say next Sunday and see where I am at. I figure those two big leaves of R. lettuce have to have been rasing my nitrates up a bit.
LOL One thing I have noticed since I have cut back on their food and the Romain lettuce, when ever I walk up to the tank now all the fish come a runnin, they are like a pack of wolfs, waiting to see if I am going to put something in the tank for them to eat. I decided to wait on doing another CA test till next week some time after the next two water changes.
LOL Yea they are fat and they do look good. I am going to lower the nori down to twice a week as you do. After feeding them the Romain everyday, I didn't want to stress the fish out to much by going cold turkey. On the postive side, My nitrates are down to 30, I did a test and took a water sample to the LFS to confirm this and he agreed with the 30. I will do another 30g water change Sunday so that should help and then it will be just mataining those numbers. I also got to thinking, I was feeding my tank pretty heavy with Cyclop eeze, so I am sure that wasn't helping my numbers any, will be cutting back on that alot also. I also priced a 225 gallon tank today also. LOL The tank I priced, 6ft long, 24 inches top to bottom, and 30 inches wide. Price with tank stand and canopy $1200.00. I would make my own stand and canopy though and save a few $$. Don't get excited though, I want to pay off a few bills before starting this and X Mas is around the corner and the wife will put a dent in my wallet for X Mas. I kinda, sort of, would like a 36 inch wide tank though.
36" wide is a nice tank if it is viewable from 3 sides but if not there is not that much difference bewteen a 30 and 36.....either way that is a very very nice size tank and will take a huge amount of rock to fill. As to your other thread, I think you could probably pick up a good 75g for a sump which would be a great size for a sump and you could still probably run the frag tank in it at the same time.......you could easily put frag racks in and still have a deep sand bed below the frag racks. The main issue would be a heat issue with m/h lights in a stand, why not use t5's less heat or even consider one of the new led lights out of britain.
The tank will only be viewable from two sides, the front and one side. I really wouldn't need much more LR, my 125g has 235 pounds in it now, so I figure only another 75 pounds or so. My LFS man said the same thing as you on the 30 inch as opposed to a 36 inch tank. I will most likely just put a frag tank in another room in the house, that is if I even get one, there is no hurry on that. My LFS man has a 75 gallon sump in his shed from his old tank, which he said he would give me if I buy my LR from him. The thing that is going to be a pain is setting the new tank up where my 125 is at right now, I will be dreading that. I have three 250watt MHs in my 125g and four T5s (6 ft long tank), will I need to add any more MHs to a 30 or 36 inch wide tank? I figure I will have to add more T5s. The tank is going to be a full blown SPS tank.
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You would probably need to add more t5's as the spread on the mh is about 2ft and the 3 you have are probably good with more t5 supplementation. sounds like a plan. Just put everything in rubbermaid totes while you switch it out. You wont really need to cycle the new tank per se, but it should cycle immediately by you placing the existing rock and water into the new tank. So set up shouldn't take too long a couple of days and your corals will probably be okay for a short time like that. I think a frag tank in another part of the house is definitely a good option that is what I do....a spare tank running in a spare room.....
I did the Calcium test again, same results as before, When I mixed the first two chemicals together and swished them around, it turned blue. It should have turned pink-red and then blue when you mixed in the last chemical. So either I have a ton of calcium in the tank or none at all and I can't belive its a ton. I do use a two part calcium but its only about two cap fulls a week. What do ya'll think, I haven't a clue.
I would try another test kit.....buy a cheap one and retest. It does sound like you have a very high ca. I would quit adding it for a few days and let it come down......when it does you will want to test it one day.....then test it 5 days later. Divide this by 5 and it will give you your calcium consuption rate. It sounds like your tank isn't using much at all.
I did another water change yesterday, that makes 4 in say, 2 1/2 weeks and will do another about Wed. or so, hopefully that will bring the calcium and nitrates down somemore. I did another nitrate test this morning after the water change and it was still at 30. I got them down pretty quick from 200 to 30, but seem to be stuck at 30 and can't get below that. I am guessing that while I have fish in the tank and am feeding them I will most likely won't get them down to zero, right or wrong? I really have nothing in the tank that uses calcium, maybe just the live rock. Everything is either a soft coral or a polyp or zoa.
I am working on my water quality, so that I can start putting SPS corals in the tank. What kind of test kits do ya'll recomend that I get? All I have right now are the Calicum and Nitrate test kits, I know I need a few more things, and I want to get this water right before I even put a frag in the tank.
I'd advise tests for phosphates, KH and magnesium. All are important for coral growth.
For the nitrates, make sure your skimmer is working well. It helps to remove pollutants before they turn into nitrates. Also, do you have any macroalgae in your sump? That can help with the nitrates, too.
It's always possible to get your nitrates down, it just may take some fiddling with equipment, etc.
For the nitrates, make sure your skimmer is working well. It helps to remove pollutants before they turn into nitrates. Also, do you have any macroalgae in your sump? That can help with the nitrates, too.
It's always possible to get your nitrates down, it just may take some fiddling with equipment, etc.
Thats one thing my LFS did right for me, I have a good skimmer. I don't know the brand but it works great, threw the box away after I took the skimme out. Do you have any brand names for the test kits that you recommended above, are what ever I find are most likely good? What is the KH, I have heard of the pther two.
