Water chem?

[Tatiana]

I am looking for specs on what all the chemical levels should be. Just want a quick referance to compare mine with.

[Tim224DT]

Am: 0 no higher
Nitrite: 0 no higher
Nitrate: 0 no higher than 5
pH: 8.1-8.4
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 79-81
Ca: 400-450ppm
Alk: 9-11dKH



Tim

[Weatherman]

Here's another good reference:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

[Petunia]

from: http://saltaquarium.about.com/cs/wat...tchartreef.htm

Test LR=Low Range	Test Frequency	Acceptable Range
pH	Several times a week, if not daily.	8.0-8.4 (8.2 is a good mid point.)
Alkalinity	Several times a week, if not daily.	2.5-3.5 meq/l
LR Ammonia (NH³ NH³+4)	Daily during tank cycling; then once every 2-3 weeks.	0.0 ppm
Nitrite (NO²)	Daily during tank cycling; then once every 2-3 weeks.	0.0-0.01 ppm
LR Nitrate (NO³-)	Once per week. Note: If test is for Nitrate Nitrogen (N or NO³-N), multiply reading by 4.4 to get Nitrate (NO³) ionic results.	An immeasurable amount is optimal! Less than 0.25 ppm is strongly recommended.
Calcium (Ca)	Once every 1-2 weeks.	400-450 ppm Ca++ Hardness 60-80 ppm
Carbonate Hardness (KH)	Once per week.	5.35-6.45 meq/l, or as 15-18 dKH/ (German °)
Phosphate PO4	Once per week.	0.05-0.1 ppm
Dissolved Oxygen (O²)	Once per week.	7 mg/l saturation or higher.
Specific Gravity (Salinity)	Weekly	1.023-1.025
Temperature	Daily	75°-80°F (24°-27°C), with 77°F (25°C) being a good midpoint.
Other Optional Reef Tank Tests	-Iodine/Iodide -Strontium -Silicate -Iron	Refer to individual test kit directions, and below chart reference resources.

Note: After the tank cycles we suggest that you run ammonia
and nitrite tests every other day for a week, and anytime
after adding new fish, corals or other marine life to your tank.

[Tatiana]

thanks alot for the replies.

[Petunia]

Hey Weatherman... great site!

[whatevva]

Anybody see a problem with this chart?

Alkalinity

Several times a week, if not daily.

2.5-3.5 meq/l

Carbonate Hardness (KH)

Once per week.

5.35-6.45 meq/l, or as 15-18 dKH/ (German °)

Salifert kits list dKH of 15 to be an Alkalinity of 5.37 meq/L

So which is it? Do we want 2.5-3.5 or 5.35-6.45?

[whatevva]

Bumpity Bump!

[Tatiana]

I would like to know what is wrong, since the Alkalinity was the main spec i was looking for.

[whatevva]

I Pm'd Tom about this..

[Loverotties]

It's like 9 - 11 dkh.Maybe that's not in dkh.

[tdwyatt]

Some of the info offerred in the chart is different due to a bit of confusion of terminology used to describe hardness in water columns. Rather than type it out, there is a good summary of the information at the following links for your enjoyment, some refer to the original concept as proposed for FW systems, but the gist of the matter is presented in the links:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002...earchterm=None

http://en.mimi.hu/aquarium/carbonate_hardness.html

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/hardness.htm

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/ha...arryfrank.html

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/CO2/

For our purposes in reef systems, we want high CARBONATE hardness so that our corals can utilize the alkalinity for making stony coral skeletons. We want both calcium and alkalinity to be supplied in amounts that allow the corals to have the building blocks for the skeletons in equal amounts* (equal numbers of molecules, not equal weights) at concentrations that maximize both the ability of the water coumn to hold these substances and the rates of reactions to support CO2 perfusion from the atmosphere and tank respirations.** Butch's post with calcium in the 425-450 PPM range and CARBONATE alkalinity in the 10-12 dKH range is appropriate for closed reef aquarium systems using testing such as the Salifert kits that give results in these terms rather than Hagen or LaMotte that measure CaCO3 hardness (total calcium carbonate hardness is about 1/3 higher as KH than carbonate hardness, which we use as degrees of Karbonate Hardness (dKH) or their mEq/l equivalence to evaluate the alkalinity of the system).







*http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/20...ture/index.php


**Reference articles for dissolution factors for the kinetics (rates of reaction) for CaCO3 in seawater:

1. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in seawater: VII. The dissolution kinetics of synthetic aragonite and pteropod tests. Morse, John W.; De Kanel, John; Harris, Karen. Rosenstiel Sch. Mar. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Miami, Miami, FL, USA. Am. J. Sci. (1979), 279(5), 488-502.
2. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. VI. The near-equilibrium dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate-rich deep sea sediments. Morse, John W. Rosenstiel Sch. Mar. Atmos. Sci., Univ. Miami, Miami, Fla., USA. Am. J. Sci. (1978), 278(3), 344-53.
3. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. V. Effects of natural inhibitors and the position of the chemical lysocline. Morse, John W. Dep. Oceanogr., Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, Fla., USA. Amer. J. Sci. (1974), 274(6), 638-47.
4. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. IV. Theory of calcite dissolution. Berner, Robert A.; Morse, John W. Dep. Geol. Geophys., Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn., USA. Amer. J. Sci. (1974), 274(2), 108-34.
5. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. III. New method for the study of carbonate reaction kinetics. Morse, John W. Dep. Oceanogr., Florida State Univ., Tallahassee, Fla., USA. Amer. J. Sci. (1974), 274(2), 97-107.
6. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. II. Kinetic origin for the lysocline. Morse, John W.; Berner, Robert A. Dep. Geol. Geophys., Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn., USA. Amer. J. Sci. (1972), 272(9), 840-51.
7. Dissolution kinetics of calcium carbonate in sea water. I. Saturation state parameters for kinetic calculations. Berner, Robert A.; Wilde, Pat. Dep. Geol. Geophys., Yale Univ., New Haven, Conn., USA. Amer. J. Sci. (1972), 272(9), 826-39.