corals bleaching/browning

I heard Salifert were the best and bought most of their kits, the alk kit was way way off, reading 14kh on freash made water that was reading 8 and 9 with two other test kits.

I have now switched to the “NEW” Red Sea Pro kits part of their new reef care program and they have seemed to be the most in line with what my salt mix states as levels for 35 PPT.

Ok, so since I JUST got back from the lfs with a Salifert test I will be driving a good old sample of water to them tomorrow to test! And then test on my own. I hate test kits in general. There are sooooo many variables that can affect the results. If I had a severe dificiency my corals would not be doing good so I am going to go by that too. I am going to hold off on supplementing with mg anyway since it is so easy to od on it. They are better off with no supplements. I am sure the crew is getting enough from the food they are being fed and the salt I use. So I am not too worried about it.
A side note. I think things are improving because I noticed my Kenya tree shed a couple of branches and if there is a new growth on the back of the leather. I have NEVER had coral growth in the tank so this is a good sign.

I threw all my Salifert boxes and reagents out over a year ago. Not having any issues with them now. Only thing I have left is the FW Exit and I’m keeping an eye on a new brand of flat worm killer.

Celebrate Kenya Tree spreading now, lol. Soon you’ll be flushing it down the toilet weekly.

Sharp salinity swings can do a lot of harm to a lot of animals.

my question is what are you using to check the salinity??? swing arm hydrometers are worse than a bad test kit. make sure that you have an accurate means of testing s.g. before you go making radical switches to the salinity. refractometer calibrated is the best way.

Good call Paul. I hadn’t even thought of that.

[quote=“Gordonious, post:25, topic:4082”]
Good call Paul. I hadn’t even thought of that. [/quote]

Me neither, i’ve just got it in my head that everyone has a refractometer… lOl

but seriously, they should

make sure it’s calibrated.

Just a little tip most ATC units are based on ambient temperatures and most of us have around a 10° difference, it might be worth it to let your calibration fluid float in your sump to bring it up to temp.

[quote=“JCoyne, post:22, topic:4082”]
Ok, so since I JUST got back from the lfs with a Salifert test I will be driving a good old sample of water to them tomorrow to test! And then test on my own. I hate test kits in general. There are sooooo many variables that can affect the results. If I had a severe dificiency my corals would not be doing good so I am going to go by that too. I am going to hold off on supplementing with mg anyway since it is so easy to od on it. They are better off with no supplements. I am sure the crew is getting enough from the food they are being fed and the salt I use. So I am not too worried about it.
A side note. I think things are improving because I noticed my Kenya tree shed a couple of branches and if there is a new growth on the back of the leather. I have NEVER had coral growth in the tank so this is a good sign.[/quote]

Curious if you’ve tested, and how you made out?

I have not. I am going to buy a refractometer this weekend. I have been using a swing arm and I don’t want to use it again.

Thats great, if i didn’t assume you already had one, that wouldve been my first advice verdict_in
I thought i was at 1.025 when i first started using a swing arm, then found out it was really 1.021 when i got a refractometer. And to throw yet another thing out there, the calibration fluid is worth spending the $5, or just bring it to the next meeting, and somebody (chris) can bring his solution for you.

[quote=“saltcreep, post:31, topic:4082”]
And to throw yet another thing out there, the calibration fluid is worth spending the $5, or just bring it to the next meeting, and somebody (chris) can bring his solution for you.[/quote]

Ya know I am afraid to check the calibration on mine. For once things are growing very well and I don’t want to disprove all of the theories about proper salinity levels at one time. ;D

I have used distilled water to calibrate mine in the past.

Couldn’t agree more with you Craig, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. If everything in your tank is doing well, then just keep using the same methods that got you there.

Ok, so I just got my refractometer. I am kind of confused because the instructions say to calibrate it to 0 and the calibration fluid bottle says to calibrate it to 35 ppt.
When I calibrated it to 0, the reading I got was 0 so I am thinking this is wrong?

calibration fluid bottle says to calibrate it to 35 ppt.

Follow the calibration fluid instruction to 35 ppt not 0

The instrucitons that come with the refractometers say to claibrate it to 0 with RODI water. When using calibration fluid calibrate it to 35.

Don’t forget to make sure both the RODI water and calibration fluid are at the right temp.

[quote=“Cdangel0, post:37, topic:4082”]
The instrucitons that come with the refractometers say to claibrate it to 0 with RODI water. When using calibration fluid calibrate it to 35.[/quote]
A agree with Craig, you should calibrate at 35 and not 0.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/index.php

So how did you make out with calibrating it? and curious how close the old swing arm was to being accurate?