Green Star Polls question

That is almost impossible.
Mix up some of that saltmix and test it before you add it. If it is reading 500+ then your test kit is what I would suspect. test it with another brand of test kit or take it to the LFS and have them test it for alk and calcium and pH.

 

Are you mixing this up and putting it right into the tank after it clears?

 

read this link.....
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

yea i mix it then put it in after it clears. i tested before i put it in and it ws over 500.

thanks for that article.. my levels must be ok then and my interpretation of the colors may be off becasue i am at about 4 MEQ/L on my Alk. that would have to put my calcium level into the normal level

 

ok, since your test kits are either bad or your just not reading them right, which is easy to do, could you do me a favor, take some water to the LFS and have them test it for you, jot the numbers down and let us know the results, make sure you take enough water in so they can tast all the params
as far as a clean up crew, what do you have now? scarlet hermits are the only hermits that i trust (your choice) they will help to clean the substrate, there are also some snails that will do this

td

 

well i have a few small blue hermits. some turbo snails and one hermit crab (red) that his huge now. bigger than a golf ball smaller than a tennis ball. I tried to take water to store, but they dont test for calcium and the dont sell the tests either. only amonia , nitrite, nitrate, and ph. all thoes are fine. i will by a salifert test next week for ca and try that one. although i think i am reading it right since it is pretty simple with the marks.. its the color change that might be my problem. maybe i am color blind. lol

 

Please refresh my memory how old is your tank? Something to think about for yourself and all newbies new lr and substrate will raise your calcium level by themselves so be sure to check regularly and also consider that while dosing. I find any tank 6 months and younger th cal level is pretty close to the mid 400 range, I also have seen a friend who does tank maintenance replace ls once every 2 years to help maintain the cal level with less dosing. If the polyp yo have/had was a yellow star polyp they are finicky not hard just damn temperamental and have seen a few very wise reefers not be able to make them happy in their own tanks. I have a frag in mine now that grows 2 and loses one its frustrating.

 

interesting, Phil, i havent herd that before, i know back in the day that people use to change the substrate out to keep their pH levels stable, but that was when using crushed coral and undergravel filters were the rage
i know that the sand that most people use if finely crushed coral, which would help to buffer the pH, but i dont see it raising the calcium level, maybe it would help to stable it, interesting thou

the tank is around a year old, and the coral is green star polyps

N2S, your LFS sells marine stuff but not calc test kits? that is weird, let us know the calc levels when you get the test kit

td

 

I actually stumbled across the ls/lr thing about 2 years ago I was having a hell of a time getting a 125 to stabilize and ran into a lfs person I used to know when I was a kid, we got to talking and he told me to stop dripping kalk and test for two weeks. He told me the theory of the new stuff and its relation to the cal levels. Finally the cal and alk levels came back to normal and since then I alway always test the levels in new tanks and usually have to dose less in the begining no matter what the bioload or consumption is. I would like to see what some of the other new tanks levels are before they start dosing.

 

cool

ditto, i learned a long time ago, that when you rush things, bad things can happen, this can apply to everything, not just reefing
a long time ago i cracked a head on a HEMI that i had in a Charger, because i rushed things and didnt let the motor break in properly, so from then on i went slow, because that cost me a small fortune to fix

i do see this kinda thing happen a lot, when it come to the LFS giving bad/wrong or outdated advice

no worries N2S we will get you back on track

td