Water parameters look ok?

[Trevor]

All these seem about right? i found a test kit laying around the house that had expired in 06 but i tried it anyways, i think it still works fine i think according to these tests, if parameters are a little low or high im a week or 2 past due on a water change if that makes a difference. Here's my results

Ph 8.2-8.4
Cal 400-420
Nitrite <.25
Nitrate 0-10
Alk 2.9-3
Salinity 1.0255
And about 79 for temp

anything look to crazy here?
Also its hard to get an exact reading so those are my best guesses

 

[Kungfukid]

why alk so low?

 

[Trevor]

Alk low? according to tests that's on the higher end.
low 0-1.6
normal 1.7-2.8
high 2.9-3.6

 

[dannyp02908]

His test kit is reading meq/l rather than dKh. 2.9-3 meq/l = 8.1-8.4 dKh.

At least I hope it is readin meq/l because if it is reading dKh, things should be dieing.

 

[Trevor]

oh and thats also in meq/L. maybe thats why it seems so low to you. maybe your used to seeing dKH?

 

[Trevor]

+1 danny

 

[dannyp02908]

assuming your tests are accurate, i would say they are pretty good. 2 tests i would recommend in addition would be phosphate and magnesium.

 

[Trevor]

thanks for the suggestions danny,

so i wouldnt say thats too bad for never testing anything except Cal alk and ph,

Also i've had this tank up for atleast a year probably closer to 2 and i have still yet to see any coraline algea on glass, equiptment, ect.. it just never happend for me, i started with live sand and live rock from lfs, any suggestions as to why?

 

[acrofragger]

get a rock full of it ,and scrape it .then evrywhere in the tank ,and then wait boom coraline

 

[Trevor]

is there an added benefit from coraline? i mean i've gone this long with out it and never really had any problems

 

[frank180reef]

also make sure your mag is good for the growth

 

[acrofragger]

really .it starts to take over your tank ,if u dont absolutely love it .......then leave it..... cus then it will spread everywhere and u will be cleaning the glass that much more

 

[acrofragger]

+1 to frank also calcium and mag i believe have to be stable for some time

 

[Trevor]

I really need to get a mag test kit, now thinking about it my tank never really seem to thrive as apposed to just survive, i have a few things that are actually growing but for the most part everything stays the same size, i never really thought about it i just thought that everything took forever to grow. but after seeing alot of other tanks and the short amounts of time that they have been up for and how much growth they have it really blows mine out of the water, i just thought they were more hitech then myself and thats why everything was growing 10000x faster then in my tank....hmmmm

 

[dannyp02908]

Corals and coralline will use magnesium in small parts. I was going to say the same thing as frank in regards to coralline. make sure that mag is where it needs to be (1300-1350). having the proper mag levels will allow you to raise your alk higher and prevent it from binding with calcium causing it to precipitate out. one of the main reasons people have trouble raising alk.