Aquarium Chemistry Question? Ask the Doctor!

[CherBear811]

Thank you, Randy! That's what I thought.... but you see a lot of ppl make big mistakes in this hobby making what seems like well reasoned decisions.

 

[ivans]

The only possibilities are water changes with a mix that has inadequate calcium, or additions of alkalinity that you are not accounting for. Top off water, buffers, the reactor dolomite, dosing of nitrate, etc.

Dolomite!

Randy, you has been right! The reason of the imbalance between KH and Ca was an addition to the calcium reactor of some Mg-containing mineral. After its removel everything is perfect.

Thank you!

 

[ivans]

I have another question. Does the silica content in the water influence on the Rowaphos' "power" or "capacity"?

I'm using Sera Siporax. The Si content in the water now is more than 5300 ppm. So, I need to replace Rowaphos more often and often as the Si content is rising.

 

[Daniel Troconis]

What do you know about dosing with Polyplab "ONE" ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What do you know about dosing with Polyplab "ONE" ?

I see you posted a specifc thread and I answered there.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/who-is-dosing-polyplab-one.455283/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have another question. Does the silica content in the water influence on the Rowaphos' "power" or "capacity"?

I'm using Sera Siporax. The Si content in the water now is more than 5300 ppm. So, I need to replace Rowaphos more often and often as the Si content is rising.

Silicate binds to the same places on GFO that phosphate does, so they compete for binding sites.

That said, I an not certain that the material released from Siporax is actually silicate (orthosilicate). Some people get super high values for Si by ICP test, but that cannot identify the form present.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Dolomite!

Randy, you has been right! The reason of the imbalance between KH and Ca was an addition to the calcium reactor of some Mg-containing mineral. After its removel everything is perfect.

Thank you!

Ah, good to hear!

Happy Reefing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you, Randy! That's what I thought.... but you see a lot of ppl make big mistakes in this hobby making what seems like well reasoned decisions.

lol

True.

Happy Reefing.

 

[chris k.]

My calcium has dropped since last week. I normally keep ca at 425ish. Now it is at 340. How much can i move ca per day. I dont want to shock anything. I have already added 50ml ca and the ca moved 20 points so now i am at 360. Really just wondering how fast i can raise ca safely.

 

[Dolelo96]

My calcium has dropped since last week. I normally keep ca at 425ish. Now it is at 340. How much can i move ca per day. I dont want to shock anything. I have already added 50ml ca and the ca moved 20 points so now i am at 360. Really just wondering how fast i can raise ca safely.

Good morning. I use Ocean Blend 2 part. It says you should only add 1ml per gallon a day, but make sure you take into account water displacement...Live rock, sand etc. Here’s a link to a “tank water volume calculator[emoji4]
http://www.garf.org/calculators/tankvolumecalculator.asp

 

[chris k.]

I read the red sea instructions and they state no more than 20 points per day.

 

[Dolelo96]

I read the red sea instructions and they state no more than 20 points per day.

I just edited my post. According to what I use, Ocean Blend, it’s 1ml per gallon per day.

 

[chris k.]

I am looking for the actual value of calcium to be raised safely. Not the amount of calcium to be added.

 

[chris k.]

I believe it is measired in ppm. So i am looking for how much calcium ppm per day can be safely raised.

 

[Brew12]

I believe it is measired in ppm. So i am looking for how much calcium ppm per day can be safely raised.

I've accidentally raised my calcium by over 50ppm in a day before. Twice. Never saw any negative impact. Personally, I would try to keep it under 2oppm per day.

 

[Double Z]

After fully cycling my tank and adding a couple fish the Ammonia and Nitrite has spiked again. What is the safest way to bring these down fast now that I have fish in the system?

 

[Brew12]

After fully cycling my tank and adding a couple fish the Ammonia and Nitrite has spiked again. What is the safest way to bring these down fast now that I have fish in the system?

ammonia is the one to worry about. I would get something like Ammo lock or Seachem Prime ASAP along with a bacteria cycle product like Dr Tims or Bio Spira. Otherwise, short of adding macro algae, the only other option I know of is to do water changes.

 

[Christoph]

ammonia is the one to worry about. I would get something like Ammo lock or Seachem Prime ASAP along with a bacteria cycle product like Dr Tims or Bio Spira. Otherwise, short of adding macro algae, the only other option I know of is to do water changes.

Also running a ozonizer will oxidize ammonia thus rendering it non-toxic. There is interesting literature out there, for example:

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/19443994.2013.803702

The downside of running ozone is the generation of potentially harmful bromate.

Best,
Christoph

 

[saullman]

I have been getting an outbreak of GHA so I went to WWC to ask their opinion of what it could be? They told me to check for phosphates and nitrates and sold me some rowa phos. The rowa phos has been in the tank for about 2 weeks now. Today I checked my levels for both phosphates and nitrates. The phosphates were perfect, however the nitrates seemed very high at 20 ppm. Not sure if you can tell from the pic but the color is dark orange. So now the question becomes what is the best way to lower the nitrates? According to what I am reading it should be less than 1.0 ppm for a reef tank. Any advice would be great.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The algae will likely grow the same at 5 ppm as at 20 ppm. My recommendation is to target 0.5 to 5 ppm for nitrate. There are many ways to reduce nitrate. I discuss and compare them here:

Nitrate in the Reef Aquarium - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/nitrate-in-the-reef-aquarium