how to make this rite

[patrice]

hi,
here are the info about the water of my little reef tank:

Calcium: 420ppm
KH: 9.3
Alkalinity: 3.31 meq/litre (a little low)
PH: 8.52 (a little high)
temperature: 25

to rise my PH, I use the seachem ph buffer 8.3
they say on the bottle that this will not make the ph go higher than 8.3
Thats strange beacause I have a higher ph than this and I did not overdose that ph booster.

Also, Alkalinity is a little low. I wanted to rise it with the seachem product I have here but when I did the calculation of how mutch to add (witch the calculation tool avalable on this forum) it said that it will rise my PH at the same time.
so what to do to make my alkalinity at the rite level without getting a ph to high?

[Tangster]

P.H alone means nothing as it fluctuates all day long from am to pm the DKh you have is fine But I run mines at least at 10 and Cal. at 450. nd PH just tells you that the DKH is good. Carbonate controls the PH not the pH controls the carbonates . So at the end of the day if your Carbonate level is good PH means nothing at all..

[patrice]

so you say I should rise my alkalinity to a rite level ne mater what ph it give me?

[Tangster]

Yes thats it in a nut shell get the DKH up and don't worry about PH just test the DKH/Carbonates and you will be fine .. Also I think you will see at some point in the future the experts saying higher PH is a good thing Mine hits 8.9 even 9.1 sometimes and on average as I pump lots of air into my system it runs at 8.4 as a low and averages up to 8.6 to 8.7 at lights out.. But 8.5 would be a daily average.
I run my DKH at 14 to 16 and my Calcium at over 550 closer to 600 all the time. i even use a cup full of my Ca. reactor media to off gas the CO'2 and get more boost to the Ca and DKH as the PH at that point is 6.2 so it dissolves the heck out of the media and perks up to 74 PH as it dribbles into the sump

[Jason McKenzie]

Personally I would say there is nothing wrong with your current levels.
NSW Alk runs at around 8, CA 380-420.
Yes IMO your PH is high but stability is key. Once you stop buffering it may come down to a more balanced level but Like Tangster said it isn't the number that really matters. Just try and avoid Large swings.

J

[patrice]

thank you for the help.
I understain about the ph. it's the same for soft water tank: stability is the key.
I see thet my Ca coult be maintain higher without problem to. humm
maybe the reason why I am worry about all that is beacause I dont know up to what level things can be so I try to get them rite to the recommand level.

does it help in anyway to have your Ca realy high?

[chrisANDbarb]

there is no need to run your ca higher then NSW which is about 420ppm. its never been proven that higher then NSW Ca or Alk is of any benefit and IMO if you try running Alk much above 12dkh you are just flirting with disaster

[Tangster]

Originally Posted by patrice

thank you for the help.
I understain about the ph. it's the same for soft water tank: stability is the key.
I see thet my Ca coult be maintain higher without problem to. humm
maybe the reason why I am worry about all that is beacause I dont know up to what level things can be so I try to get them rite to the recommand level.

does it help in anyway to have your Ca realy high?

Well you get the levels to ca of 450 to 500 and DKH to 12 min to 14 and mag to 1500 and tell me what you get! I have taken frags from our grow out center that used to be ran at NSW levels and what I run and in 3 months mine have doubled in size compared to the same ones left at the center..
But in the last few months I have been kicking up the levels to my standards and we are taking frags at twice the rate and seeing more growth and faster connections to the plugs. I also Jack up my strontium levels way above the NSW levels. And it works .
I recall studies saying just the keeping of corals was not to be done (: I have seen experts opinions come and go and change like the weather thats why I never read the bull I work from my experiences. There is nothing about our little box's of salt water that is Natural at all.

[Jason McKenzie]

Tangster,
I have used and understand your system of elevated levels, but it is a deviation from 'normal' or 'traditional' reef keeping. Ideal levels in the average set up or in a new tank should be around the normal levels of NSW. Suggesting a failure in the ability to keep corals alive because the levels are not elevated is simply wrong.
Your Method works for you (and has for me) but it would be like me suggesting that one could not keep SPS without Zeovit. Which it crap of course.

NSW levels are roughly
sg 1.025
PH 8.3
CA 400
Alk 8Dkh
Mg 1400

maintaining those levels will promote good coral growth

J

[Tangster]

I don't recall telling anyone that they had to do anything what so ever any way . I simply told /suggested to them that a PH of 8.5 ? was not a problem then went to try and explaine what PH was and how it was effected , controled by and a little on how it worked or reacted with CO'2 and Oxygen And that in fact what they had with the numbers they posted was fine for parameters.. Now what they do with the infomation is up to them . (: