need help. h20 parameters fluxuating

[Craig]

Did a 20% h20 change yesterday. decided to test some parameters this evening and it just scared me.

ph 7.8
calcium 460
dkH 7.4

After the water change last night i put in 2 capfuls of seachem calcium supplement. it reccomends 1 cap for every 20 gallons. I have a 46 so I put in two capfulls. My calcium at the time was 400.

What did I do wrong, and more importantly, what do I need to do to stabilize my parameters?

 

[Deanos]

Which parameter scared you? :scratch: Nothing there is far from 'normal'.

 

[Craig]

ph has always hovered 8.2 never seen my dkh so low with my calcium so high.

i've always done the same thing after every water change and my parameters have always been rather stable for months.

i'm still a newbie to reef chemistry...but are these numbers ok? what can i do to get my numbers back to "normal" levels? or are these levels still considered normal and i'm just paranoid?

 

[Deanos]

Reef Aquarium Water Parameters

 

[Craig]

I guess my parameters arent too bad, but what could cause a flux like this? What can I do to gently raise my ph and lower calcium?

 

[herman]

Craig,
You said that you just did a waterchange. Quite frequently (more so than not) the calcium and alk levels are off when you first mix in the salt. People have experienced this with all major brands of salt.

Secondly when you are dosing the seachem stuff although you dosed the recommended amcan we effectively help you.ount, you still dont know what is being used up and how much.

The best way is for you to list how much rock and livestock and general info on your setup. Since we are picture whores you might as well include a pic. Then and only then

 

[Craig]

here's the scoop.
46 gallons. 85 lbs liverock and 40 lbs sand.

corals:
Frogspawn, Torch, large Pagoda Cup, Montipora Danae, acro, Candy Cane, Sun Polyp, Leather, assorted Zoos, GSP, micromusa, bubble, Pulsating Xenia, Plate, ricordia, mushrooms, yuma, blue milli, and blue tort. Almost everything is just a small frag

fish:
2 Maroon Clownfish, Spotted Mandarin, lawnmower blenny

filtration:
floval 305 with only carbon and phosban, prizm skimmer
(no jokes on the filtration please. i'm switching to a sump with an aquac urchin pro within a month)

flow:
maxi jet 400 , seio 1100, and return spout from fluval

lights:
36 inch t5 with 5 blulbs. 3 10,00k and 2 actinic

It's still a young tank at approx 8 months. Apologies for the lousy pic

 

[wxl14]

What kind of water are you using. One thing i noticed with using tap water before is that I see flux in paramater in my tap water. So what i do now is i use RO water and check the paramaters before you put the water in your tank. try to match them up to what you want them to be then do your water change. I have a fowler tank but this method has worked for me.

 

[Craig]

No tap water. I don't want any algae.

I've having hookup problems with my RO unit, so I've been using premade water from a local store until I can get a plumber over.

It has just dawned on me that the water went from my car to my tank within a 2 hour span. :headache:

Are there any plumbers on this board that want to make a few bucks and a few beers on a job that should only take them a half hour?

 

[House of Laughter]

<<<<< searching for house frags in 46 BF

:google:

House

 

[Craig]

It's a bit of a crap pic...but if you notice the green plate on the sandbed look to the right and you'll see two little sps frags sticking straght up and a monti cup to the right. If you hit the clam then you've gone too far. I'm keeping them down low for a few days till they get settled in. There's a nice empty space on the top rock that is reserved for the House frags.

 

[reefman]

this