Salifert DKH reading

[phi delt reefer]

Originally Posted by axe_man16

So i had been using API test kit of my alk and found it to benot very accurate so I got a Salifert one.

Now i did the test exactly by the instructions and their readings dont male sense to me. It days turn the syringe upside down and take the reading and corrilate that with their chart. Mine is at .69 so i cross check with the table and holy crap it says my DKH is 5.7. If this is the case my corals should all be dead.

I assume i should take the amount of regent used so .31 and use that with the chart. I would then be right around 9 DKH.

Am i right that it should be the amount used. The instructions are not clear here.

Thanks

5.7 is your alkalinity (ur doing it right the first way)
your corals wont be dead but if you test ur calcium you'll probably see its at like 600+

as you bring your alk up your calcium will balance out as well


heres a video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZtf1jGJrpk

[axe_man16]

What causes this to happen? You are right my cal is around 550. It usually is at 450 or 425 my SG is at 1.026 just as it always is.

[phi delt reefer]

no clue to be honest but thats how the two seem to be related.

if your tank is new your system could be heavily using alk during the startup - i found that was the case with mine. I just doesed alk for months then finally my calcium started depleting below 400

[axe_man16]

Tank is over 2 years. And i did a water change on Monday my calcium was 450 i tested the new water it was 350 so I added 3 capfulls of my calcium additive to get it to 450, did another test and it was fine. So I test the tank now and it is 550 for the calcium. A bit baffled

[phi delt reefer]

only thing i could say is your calcium test must have been off... even then three capfuls of calcium in a water change isnt going to bump your calcium that much unless its like a 5 gallon nano

[axe_man16]

It is very weird. My tank is 60 gallons with a 15g fuge, and a 30g sump. So a 5gallon water change shouldnt do that. Going to retest once more, but have gotten three tests all the same

[jostafew]

Not saying that this IS your problem, but I'm facing a similar issue and I'm pretty confident it was due to a bad batch of salt... Took me a long time to discover it and unfortunatly things got pretty bad. Mag and Calc were WAY high, Alk was low. I should have known better when the salt had an unusual texture and it took more than my usual 2.5 cups / 5gal to reach the desired SG.

The moral of my story is measure your freshly mixed water and make sure it isn't going into the tank already messed up.