Reef Builder

I'll read my bottle again, but I'm pretty sure I quoted it correctly the first time.

How old is your bottle? I bought one bottle about 6 months ago and another about 2 weeks ago. They both read identical.
 
scan0001.jpg
 
Man I didn't mean to start a big arguement. Here are my readings if that will help

PH- 8.2
ALK-2.2 meq/L
Nitries- 0
Nitrates- 0
Ammonia- 0
Iodine-.06
Calcium- 400
Magnesium- 1250
Salinity- 1.025
Temp- 78.8

I plan on doing a water change tomorrow. Going to test saltwater before I put it in the tank to see what the readings are.
 
i use oceanic and it is low in alk also i think the last time i tested it it was 2.8 and i just added some builder to bring it up.
 
I've added builder for several days and still can't get my Alk up. Could I've gotten a bad bottle? I used over half already. I already tried a different testing kit.
 
I was wrong. I must have been seeing things when I quoted the bottle. Here it is.
IMG_0541.JPG



That still doesn't change my mind about using Reef Buffer in my tank. I have (thought) the exact same problem in my tank. I have Alk that creeps down very low. The pH is also low. The calcium is high. It makes complete sense to me why the calcium is off the chart high. I keep it stable now with the Reef Buffer. It raises the Alk. It raises the pH (a problem piggy doesn't seam to have) but not more than about 8.4 It will raise the Alk as high as you want to go if you keep dumping it in there. As the Alk and pH come up (mostly the alk I think), the Calcium automatically drops.

I concede the point. I was reading the label wrong, I didn't see the part where piggy posted that her pH was 8.3. I assumed she also had low pH, because it sounded just like my problem. My intentions were to help her. Had I read the thread and my label a little closer, I'd have known that.

I admit when I'm wrong. Truce Fatman?
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys. I tested my freshly made up saltwater. Here is what I got.

PH- 8.1
Alk- 3meq/l
Calcium- 375
Magnesium- 1025

So tomarrow I'm going to do a water change. Should I add anything or just leave it as is?
 
I dose mine while it's in the mixing bucket. I get my pH up to 8.4 and my Alk up to about 4.0--4.2. My calcium is always about 420--430 and I'm now dosing magnesium up to 1250-1300 in the bucket too.

I keep my tank at those same levels. The mixing bucket has a heater too, and a powerhead. When I change water, nothing in the tank even notices. Same water going in as the water I drained out. Just the new water has more trace elements in it.

It's not that hard to do. I keep water mixed up all the time. I use it on Sundays and immediately replace it. It sit all week in the mixing bucket and I work it over to have all the chemistry good by Wednesday or Thursday. Then it just sits there and mellows until Sunday. Water changes take me about 15 minutes. :mrgreen:
 
Leave it as is. Unless you have a large amount of coral or extreme amountsof corraline algae you need no higher calcium than that provided with standard mixed water. The alkalinity is at the bottom end but still more than adequate as long as you do regular partial water changes. If not doing water regular water changes your alkalinity will start dropping slowly, and your pH will start dropping if your alkalinity drops to much, this would happen as your nutrients increase. It would be a slow process and noticeable with routine testing of pH and or alkalinity. It is safest to sit with factory mix reults as long as they fall with normal parameters and your mix does fall within normal parameters.
I am not here to fight wars or battles Rcpilot but I do get worked up too much in debate. I am sorry for my extremes and I have no problem with a truce. Seems like it is easy for me to get in Chemistry debates as it is not a field of study by many people, and I tend to think more people shouldunderstand it than are experienced in it. I do not really want to have chemistry debate with Biffer, however. That would likely be quite challenging in some areas.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top