HELP HELP HELP SERIOUS PROBLEM!!!!!

[Nano]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Good point
Now I feel bad for not even spotting that
You're @ 1.023
You know that's low right?

see now big als told me 1.023.. they are the reason I am failing at this! you guys are the reason I am correcting my mistakes. thanks so much so should I mix up some fresh saltwater at a higher salinity say around 1.026? to start raising it?

[gregzz4]

If you've been running it for awhile @ 1.023 I'd suggest you bring it up slowly. Like over the next week. Otherwise you'll just upset everyone
Remember, nothing good in a SW tank happens quickly

[Nano]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

If you've been running it for awhile @ 1.023 I'd suggest you bring it up slowly. Like over the next week or 2. Otherwise you'll just upset everyone
Remember, nothing good in a SW tank happens quickly

so if I have a 20 gallon tank, and I do a 20% wc at a salinity of say 1.024-1.025 is this too much? or should I do like 10%

[gregzz4]

Hopefully someone more experienced than myself will chime in here...
I'd think you'd want to change small amounts daily with a higher SG
How much I can't say, my reef is still on the drawing board

And stick to your regular WC routines
Don't go nuts...slow changes

[Nano]

ok well since my tank is small, I think I will do one gallon tonight at a salinity of 1.0245 that way its just a small increase I'm also going to test my fresh batch to make sure that my tank really isnt screwed this bad lol.. I'm so agravated lol

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by nanomano

see now big als told me 1.023.. they are the reason I am failing at this!

That won't do anything bad, but the values people post for Ca and Alk are for natural seawater conditions, which, on most equatorial reefs, is 35ppt at 80 degrees F

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

That won't do anything bad, but the values people post for Ca and Alk are for natural seawater conditions, which, on most equatorial reefs, is 35ppt at 80 degrees F

k so I just finished a calcium test on a fresh batch and its saying 420 compared to 320 in my tank. I wil do the alk, and then update but I am beginning to think it is my tank thats off now...

[Aquattro]

Ok, so we know Ca kit is probably good. 320 is low. Once you get the salinity balanced out, do a large water change. Do not dose anything

[Nano]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

Ok, so we know Ca kit is probably good. 320 is low. Once you get the salinity balanced out, do a large water change. Do not dose anything

again thanks so much man, I'd be lost with out you guys.

[Nano]

seeing as though I know my hydrometer is off by .003 cause it was just compared to a refractometer on wednesday, I made a mistake saying it was 1.023, I checked it 5 times and it reads 1.0215(so + .003=1.0245) so my actual salinity is 1.0245 so its just slightly low, but tomorrow I am going to have my hydrometer checked again as well as take a water sample for testing, and replace the bad alk test kit.
other then that my params
PARAMS
Salinity 1.0235---actually is 1.0245
CA 320-----accurate but bringing it up slowly
ph 8.1 accurate
Ammonia 0 ppm accurate
Alk/Kh 27???? WTF?--broken test kit
Phosphate less then .25---is this ok?
Nitrites 0 ppm---accurate
Nitrates 0 ppm---accurate

so all this being said, should I still hold off on my fish purchase if this is my actual parameters? or are they in fact ok?