The water first

Okay so it is obvious something is wrong. I have hair algae every where and brown covering my sand bed (I'd have to go threw past threads to tell you what) and this has just started happening since my glass heater cracked. My KH is a little low, but it has been for some time and I don't think it is the main cause. I do need to keep up on things so I think starting this thread might help. If nothing else you geeks can yell at me every couple of days for not up dating.

The tank 40B w/ 4 39 watt T-5 bulbs, 2 blue plus. 1 10,000 k sun and 1 purple 454 (same lighting I've had the last 6 month. All bulbs replaced 11/14 4" above the water.

15 gal sump w/ fuge and 1 big handful of macro algae. Opposite light schedules. Total water volume probably 50gal. Oh the light for the fuge is a 6,500 k bulb.

Equipment 1 modified seaclone skimmer rated for 100gal

Weekly WC is every Sun.

#'s are as follows
SG 1,024
KH 6 ( I know low, but dosing to raise that)
PH 8.3
Cal 480
Ammonia 0
Ph 0 (but I'm sure that's a false reading)
and Nitrates 0 (but also I'm sure that's false)

I'm thinking of vodka dosing, I've done it before and had good results. Figured before I did that I'd get your thoughts on what the problem might be.

What's your magnesium level?

trust me, don't do the vodka dosing. Been there done that. Not worth it.

How old is your test kit? Definitely check your mag level as well.

Do you do water changes? How often and how much?

Anything you add, like additives or something you dose?

I'm assuming good flow as well.

Test kits are almost new. I will have to take a sample into the store to get the mag tested. Flow is about 35x water volume. Using the Alk part of the two part dosing to bring it up.

the hair algae and brown sand algae are prolly eating up all your nitrates, which is why they are still testing at zero

I say water changes!!! Gotta get those contaminants outta there!! Do you have chaeto in your sump or some other macro? Is it growing well??

Originally Posted by estanoche

the hair algae and brown sand algae are prolly eating up all your nitrates, which is why they are still testing at zero

I say water changes!!! Gotta get those contaminants outta there!! Do you have chaeto in your sump or some other macro? Is it growing well??

It's a mix, 2 types of calpuera and a little cheato. Also doing the weekly WC, but maybe I should do them a little bigger?

Oh and I've gotten my KH up to 8.5, would a low mag # cause the KH to drop rapidly?

Here's an article that really helped me understand it more. Reef Aquarium Water Parameters by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

I don't think the Mag will adjust the dkh though.

The reason I asks is because I know all 3 effect each other in some way, if 1 is off they all are. It has been a while since I read up on it though. Thx for the link.

np. I hope it helps. It's all confusing to me. I even put off checking everything cause of it. I hate doing it. I need to tomorrow though. I've changed a lot of things, and it's all prolly way off!

Low mag can cause both a drop in calcium and alkalinity. In a nutshell, magnesium allows calcium and alkalinity to dissolve in levels that would otherwise not be possible. So when mag is low, calcium and alk precipitate out of solution, so your levels will drop.

Also, high magnesium apparently inhibits hair algae growth, so that might help some???

oh thank goodness you got here. I was pretty much lost lol

Originally Posted by spinycheek

Low mag can cause both a drop in calcium and alkalinity. In a nutshell, magnesium allows calcium and alkalinity to dissolve in levels that would otherwise not be possible. So when mag is low, calcium and alk precipitate out of solution, so your levels will drop.

Also, high magnesium apparently inhibits hair algae growth, so that might help some???

Thx I thought it was something like that

Okay an update. I am almost sure the ALK is the issue so I've been testing that everyday.
11/26 ALK 6 added 200ml of the baking soda supplement it jumped too 10, Little to quick, but not ill effects.

11/28 before WC ALK 8, a drop of 2 points. After WC about 7.5, so I don't think the WC was too big a deal. Added 100ml of the supplement this time and tested the next morning.

11/29 8.5 -9, added 100ml. Because I'm sure these big drops are pointing to a mag problem I dosed a mag supplement. Tested PH 8.2 right before lights out, and Cal 470. Only a 10 point drop since the last time I test the cal on the 28th.

12/01 ALK 8 tested after dosing and it was than 9 added another dose of the mag supplement.

I'm being careful about adding anything for the magnesium seeing as I don't have that test on hand, but I should have it on the 6th. I'm sure I'll be okay as long as I keep testing the other 2 seeing as they will all show stable #'s once everything is balanced.

ohhhhh the results are looking good! It'll be interesting to see how your MAG is playing in all of this too

Originally Posted by estanoche

ohhhhh the results are looking good! It'll be interesting to see how your MAG is playing in all of this too

I'm thinking it is playing a big behind the scenes role. Hey what happened to your other signature? You know say no to fish sticks.

So I finally managed to get the mag tested. It is 1250, but I'm going to retest to be sure. Now the ALK was 7 and that is a 2 point drop from the last time I tested it on 12/2. Any other reason why it would be droping you know out side of a poor magnesium reading?

hmmmmm I guess just keep dosing?? maybe your tank is just naturally consuming so much of it that it keeps dropping... or something is causing it precipitate - im no chemist tho, so im of no help there

What kind of salt do you use BTW? I forget Ive found some salts just dont have the "essentail element staying power" of others - which, probably makes no sense, but you know what I mean - brand a tests the same as brand b, but for some reason brand B after a week, tests lower than brand a - like they were using less pure elements that produced an inaccurate test result

Mag is pretty low. I'd suggest buying some Epsom salt at the pharmacy (about $3 a bag) and using a dosing calculator to determine how much to add. This will eliminate any spontaneous calcium/mag precipitation, also check heaters and such, hot surfaces will attract calcium and alk and coat themselves with it (lime/scale). But you cannot bring your calcium or alkalinity up long term until sufficient magnesium is present to hold it there.

Originally Posted by estanoche

hmmmmm I guess just keep dosing?? maybe your tank is just naturally consuming so much of it that it keeps dropping... or something is causing it precipitate - im no chemist tho, so im of no help there

What kind of salt do you use BTW? I forget Ive found some salts just dont have the "essentail element staying power" of others - which, probably makes no sense, but you know what I mean - brand a tests the same as brand b, but for some reason brand B after a week, tests lower than brand a - like they were using less pure elements that produced an inaccurate test result

I'm currently using Kent, don't know if that salt has that problem but the concept makes sense.