Newbies with a little problem

[GCamp13]

First of all, we are Greg and Karen from North Alabama. We have just gotten interested in saltwater aquariums and have a 20 gallon and a 75 gallon. I took water samples to LFS today and had them test for me. Ph was 7.6, Alkalinity 16 and Calcium 500 in our 20 gallon. The 75 gallon was 7.6 Ph, 11 alkalinity and 350 Calcium. They said we need to get Calcium down some, Ph up and alkalinity down in the 20. Any suggestions?

[chefcoraldan125]

Originally Posted by GCamp13

First of all, we are Greg and Karen from North Alabama. We have just gotten interested in saltwater aquariums and have a 20 gallon and a 75 gallon. I took water samples to LFS today and had them test for me. Ph was 7.6, Alkalinity 16 and Calcium 500 in our 20 gallon. The 75 gallon was 7.6 Ph, 11 alkalinity and 350 Calcium. They said we need to get Calcium down some, Ph up and alkalinity down in the 20. Any suggestions?

Well you want to have your PH at around 8.0-8.4 and you Alk 8-10 your calcium i prefer 350 but anywhere from 400 to 500 is fine do you dose your tanks? if you do you got to test each time you dose and know where your levels should be at ad go from there or you can start dosing your tank with a drip system and you can keep you levels on the same level with kalwaxser. the way you can fix this is by doing water changes do a 20 % water change and wait a day and do another and check your water levels once more and see where you at if you need to do another water change you can do so. cuz once you put new salt mix in your ph and alk and calcium go back to their normal levels since most salts like reef crystals have these elements mix in them already. so do that and get back to us and let us know

[DJChesnutRabbit]

Welcome guys!
Here's some good reading for you; Chemistry and the Aquarium
And
http://www.reef-keeping.com/issues/2.../rhf/index.php
Take the "-" from between reef-keeping. I couldn't get the link to work properly.

The only thing I'd be worried about is bringing the PH sightly up and the Alk down in your 20g. Your 75 is ok, I would raise the PH a bit. This is all assuming your Alk is being tested in dKH not meq/L.

High calcium concentrations will cause no harm to your tank. As a matter of fact, I try extremely hard to get, and keep, mine in the 450ppm range.

The last thing I would do is add limewater (kalkwasser) to your tank.
1. You Ca is high enough.
2. Limewater has a natural PH of 12.5
3. Limewater has a natural Alk of 40 meq/l
4. Limewater has a natural calcium content of 800 ppm
Limewater is used, and best used, once your parameters are stable.

I would just do water changes to try to correct your Alk and PH issue. If you try to raise your PH, you will in turn raise your Alk.
What brand salt are you using ?
Some are very high in Alk, and can make things worse.
I would also suggest getting your own test kits and monitor your tank. You can also get free software to keep track of your parameters. I use Aqualog, and have found it very useful to track my progress, AquaLog