KH not going lower since adding fuge

[jamesonwhiskey]

I added a small 3 gallon hang-on back refugium (with Miracle Mud and Chaeto) to my 54g corner bow with 10g sump. Since then my doesn't seem to go down when I do water changes. If I do a 4 or 8 gallon change and only add salt my KH still remains the same. I have noticed the PH has dropped very slightly... from around just under 8.3 to just under 8.2.

It's at 11-12 dKH but I was trying to get it down to 10. Would getting it to 10 (vs 11-12) be beneficial? All my other parameters are in check.

SG - 1.025
PH - 8.17
Nitrates - 0
Mag - 1375
Calc - 360

 

[NYreefNoob]

what salt are you using ? and are u dosing anything and miricle mud will elavate some of the numbers also mud

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

reef crystals... i've dosed calcium a little as needed but for the past 2 water changes (8 gallons each) i have not dosed anything. so i find it odd that the kh hasn't dropped. when testing it always turns yellow-green on the 11th drop and yellow on the 12th.

 

[DJYoshi]

I added a small 3 gallon hang-on back refugium (with Miracle Mud and Chaeto) to my 54g corner bow with 10g sump. Since then my doesn't seem to go down when I do water changes. If I do a 4 or 8 gallon change and only add salt my KH still remains the same. I have noticed the PH has dropped very slightly... from around just under 8.3 to just under 8.2.

It's at 11-12 dKH but I was trying to get it down to 10. Would getting it to 10 (vs 11-12) be beneficial? All my other parameters are in check.

SG - 1.025
PH - 8.17
Nitrates - 0
Mag - 1375
Calc - 360

try dosing 1ml extra of CA per day over the next 3 days, then test again.
the kh will drop as your ca rises. I used to use reef crystals when I 1st started & ever since I moved to Tropic Marin Pro, Ive seen a HUGE difference in the way that I have to dose to keep up with depletion or having any issues with unwanted things like phosphate or nitrate in the salt mix. it's definitely worth the extra few bucks/pound. Online it's CHEAP

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

As of yesterday my KH is at 11, my Mag at over 1500 and my Calc at 480... and all I've been doing is salt-water changes. I haven't dosed anything since adding the fuge. Could the Miracle Mud really be raising my values that much? I used 3lbs of Miracle Mud (about 2" thick") at the bottom of the fuge. I did a few big water changes (8g each) last week and my PH dropped to around 8.1. I was going to dose buffer but figured I would wait and sure enough it's back up to around 8.25.

Could the Miracle Mud be providing everything my tank needs? Is there such a thing as Mag or Calc being too high?

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Can anyone help with this?

I was thinking of switching to h2ocean salt when my current stock of Reef Crystals runs out but now I'm not sure if my levels would get too high.

 

[DJYoshi]

James what coral are in the tank now? and do your fish/coral look stressed or have had a change in temperment?

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

ha.... my name is Steve. Guess you never heard of Jameson Whiskey also my PS3 name if anyone wants to play COD. Add me as a friend with reefs in the message.

My current stock is listed on my profile... corals are doing very well opening fully everyday they don't look stressed at all.

Actually there has been a change in temperament. My Mandarin and Six Line Wrasse were both killed by either my Arc Eye Hawk or Flameback Angel in the past few weeks... now my Purple Firefish is a little beat up too. My automatic feeder broke and I didn't realize for a while so I chalked the aggression up to lack of food.

Could high mag or calc have caused the aggression? My mag is just over 1500, if i do a couple water changes it will lower to 1400 but then creeps back up over a few days (again, is this due to the Miracle Mud?)

 

[Breakin Newz]

"As of yesterday my KH is at 11, my Mag at over 1500 and my Calc at 480"

Your parameters are fine in my opinion, as long as its stable I would just leave it alone....

 

[DJYoshi]

"As of yesterday my KH is at 11, my Mag at over 1500 and my Calc at 480"

Your parameters are fine in my opinion, as long as its stable I would just leave it alone....

TRUE on the leave it alone. I know some people that have had cal spikes to 600+ & their livestock was still healthy.
I'd personally not touch anything dosing wise for a week..test again...let it go another week then test again.... from your list it doesn't seem like you have a ton of coral in the tank..but that can be an outdated list.
when I had high levels like this, I just let it go..didn't dose anything and just let it naturally drop on its own.. but that's from my own personal experience.
and I realized about the Jameson after I clicked send

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

TRUE on the leave it alone. I know some people that have had cal spikes to 600+ & their livestock was still healthy.
I'd personally not touch anything dosing wise for a week..test again...let it go another week then test again.... from your list it doesn't seem like you have a ton of coral in the tank..but that can be an outdated list.
when I had high levels like this, I just let it go..didn't dose anything and just let it naturally drop on its own.. but that's from my own personal experience.
and I realized about the Jameson after I clicked send

I understand what you're saying but my levels (Mag and Calc) are doing the opposite... they are naturally rising on their own which I think is due to the miracle mud. I did leave a couple corals out but yeah I don't have too many... still slowly building up.

 

[DJYoshi]

Steve, I can only speak from experience. I'm still a newbie and learning everyday on this. I did read that after using miracle mud, you're not supposed to have to keep on dosing anything... I don't use it so I can't really comment on the truth behind it

 

[Boomer]

jameson

KH is at 11, my Mag at over 1500 and my Calc at 480...


That is fine but you are starting to push the limit. I question Miracle Mud adding any Ca++ or Mg++ and will assume a testing error, unless "they" are adding something to it, which I highly doubt. Since it is marine mud the pH in that mud would have to get really low to release that much Ca++ and I do not buy that Mg++ at all.

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

Ok, so my calc is at 460 and my mag at 1350 as of last night. Not the high values I thought I had (I tested under better lighting this time) but I still haven't been dosing... guess it's a good thing, I'll keep an eye on it

 

[batt600]

First what test kits are you using ?. It just could be your test kits not reading right > buy a good test kit like salifert or elos

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

API for the basic tests... Salifert for the Mag

 

[DJYoshi]

just let it go down on its own. if your coral and fish don't look stressed..then don't stress yourself out.... test again on Monday & see where you're at. Test at the same time on Tuesday and see how much you've dropped in the categories to figure out how much you're using up, then dose accordingly. Again, I don't have miracle mudd, so I'm only giving advice based on my experience when I had calcium at 500 mg at 1150 and kh at 11.4. took a while to get them to the right levels..but now they're all balanced

 

[jamesonwhiskey]

yeah that's the plan...

what do you keep your levels at?

 

[DJYoshi]

yeah that's the plan...

what do you keep your levels at?

until this past weekend & having to replace the bubble counter on my reactor, I was running at
ph 8.2 kh 8.3. mag 1320. ca 450 and I was getting great growth.