Questions about water parameters and other questions - first sw tank

[Carissa]

I've been reading the stickies on water parameters and have a few questions.

Firstly, here are my current water parameters (33g/20g sump fowlr):

pH: 8.2
KH: 170ppm
nitrate, phosphate, ammonia, nitrite: all undetectable
Calcium: 520

From what I've been reading, my calcium is a bit high, but my KH doesn't appear to be too low. Should I add baking soda to increase my KH and pH? Or leave well enough alone?

A few other questions I have:
1. Is it normal to have a scum on the top of the water?
2. I seem to be getting large numbers of tiny white calcerous worms which I've identified as pileolaria, is this a problem?
3. I also have large numbers of pods on the glass, rocks, sand, etc. anywhere you look, is this good? bad?
4. There is a tiny feather duster of some type living on one of my astrea snails. Is this a problem? Actually I think there are two on that snail.
5. I have some kind of very slow growing algae growing on my live rock closest to the light. Basically it just looks like my rock is turning a pale light grey (sort of purplish) color in patches. Is this coralline or something else? I also have one small spot of very neon green algae on my rock which appears to have the same consistency as the grey stuff (no hairs etc.). My snails are not interested in it. This algae did not appear until after I upgraded to a 36" dual T5 light fixture from a 36" dual (ODNO) T12 fixture.
6. I have what looks like fine dust on my glass, it's not thick enough to even know what color it is or care that it's there, some type of algae no doubt. My snails and lawnmower blenny seem to like it. Is this a problem? Should I slack back my lighting (right now, 12 hrs/day)? Or wait and see?
7. Should I be running activated carbon? Right now all I'm using is the skimmer.

[Seige]

Hi Carissa. Lot of questions.

Can you provide any pics? What type of skimmer? How long have you had your tank? How deeps your sand bed? Other then Astreas what's in your cleaning crew? You may need to add a certain type of snail to clean the new algae.

What part of Canada are you from?

[Carissa]

The tank has been set up for 8 months with just snails and I just added the first fish a week ago. I have astrea snails and nassarius snails. The sand is about 2 - 3" deep. The skimmer is a VisiJet skimmer (not rated very well, but it is pulling stuff out especially since I got the fish, I'm getting a few tablespoons of skimmate every two or three days).

[leebca]

I'll try to address your questions (and thanks for making this a new thread).

1) No.
2) No.
3) Good.
4) No.
5) It may be an invertebrate (like soft coral) finding its way into the light. Hard to tell without some kind of photo. Since the coral would not survive most fishes, you can 'poke at it' and see if it is soft, strongly attached, etc.
6) Mother Nature has a built in 'life above all else' factor in the organisms on this planet. That is to say, you can lower the light and then find another organism will live in that light level. The control of algae by controlling light is a bit of a joke to Ma Nature. Lower the light and Nature will fill the spot with an organism that likes lower lighting. Nature doesn't let nutrients go to waste. To control algae effectively: snails, export nutrients (water changes), setting up competition (refugium macro algae), chemical filtration, removal of excess organics, and those things that will make for pristine water quality. Lastly, it is elbow grease. Keep removing it if you see it and the snails will have to eat that which you can't get at.
7) The post on What is Water Quality indicates that a skimmer does NOT remove all kinds of proteins. One of the large molecules it doesn't effectively remove are those that are in the 'oily' group. I note you are having a scum problem. If it has any kind of shininess to it, these oily products may be involved. Carbon on the other hand will remove those oily molecules. So the two go hand in hand to make for a very low dissolved organic content of the aquarium water.

Your test kit readings on magnesium, alkalinity, and calcium need to be in balance with each other. The balance controls the buffering ability of the water AND will help establish the correct pH. Put them into balance according to the chart given in the same post that has more info on your questions: What is Water Quality. As directed in that post, changes are made very slowly, and you need to allow a couple of days for the change to take full effect before testing again, and making any more changes.

[Seige]

The tank has been set up for 8 months with just snails and I just added the first fish a week ago. I have astrea snails and nassarius snails. The sand is about 2 - 3" deep. The skimmer is a VisiJet skimmer (not rated very well, but it is pulling stuff out especially since I got the fish, I'm getting a few tablespoons of skimmate every two or three days).

Glad Lee answered your questions since he has about 9,999,999,999,999,999.975 times more experience.

I'm pretty positive theirs a online supplier in or near NL. Can't find the link at the moment. I've heard Big Al's will ship for free though. Not sure if that's true. I wouldn't consider Big Al's a great store but you could do a lot worse.

Good luck. Hope your fish gets better.

[Carissa]

Ok so back to the calcium/alkalinity issue. My calcium is apparently too high, and alkalinity too low for the calcium, if this makes sense. So I should be adding small amounts of baking soda to bring it up, right?

And I'm going to add carbon to the sump to try to control the oily scum. Is there some particular kind, or is just regular activated carbon for fish tanks ok?

If there's an online supplier in Atlantic Canada, that would be great. In my eight years of fishkeeping, I have yet to find one that I can recall.

[leebca]

You seem to be a very resourceful person, so I choose to answer your last concern first. . .Search the Internet for Canadian suppliers. As Seige has indicated, there is a BigAl's in Canada I believe. Check with USA suppliers and find the ones that are willing to ship into Canada.

I would first choose a good calcium number. Since yours is a FOWLR system, choose a calcium near the top of that table. Then start making any changes to bring the others into line. If one is too high, allow it to come down on its own. The one(s) too low should be raised slowly.

You do not add Baking Soda to make the kinds of adjustments you may need. You have a great choice of chemicals to use/add to control those three chemistries. Better check out this reef calculator, since it offers many ideas on the additives you have at hand to make the needed adjustments: Reef Chemistry Calculator. When you go to this site, click first on "Traditional" then when you get the next window click on the drop downs under each of the three. The drop downs are next to "Pick a Product" words. Play with that calculator and you'll see listed the chemicals you have to choose from. It will also help you calculate the quantity you want to add. BUT BE CAREFUL. You don't want to make any sudden, large additions.

[Carissa]

Ok. So the issue I have is really that my Ca is too high to have a KH to correspond. So do I just wait for water changes to bring down the Ca and then once it's down to a normal (high) level, adjust KH if need be at that time? I had thought that having more KH would at a certain point cause Ca to precipitate out of solution (and thus bring it down).

Also, do I need to be testing for Mg? If so, how do I do so? Is it important enough for me to worry about it? I suppose I could just test for Ca and then GH, then subtract the ppm's of Ca from the GH to get my Mg level, but this seems like a lot of hassle, besides the fact that it will probably totally deplete my GH test kit by the time I get done with one or two tests.

[leebca]

As long as the calcium level is on the table, then let the calcium come down on its own, from lifeforms using it and water changes. Just don't put additives in that contain calcium.

As the calcium approaches the desired level, begin to exert some control over the alkalinity and make small additions to learn and get a 'feel' for the effects your additions have on this reading.

Magnesium IS necessary. It is part of the three chemical components that, together with calcium and alkalinity, controls the pH and buffering ability of the water. Get a magnesium test kit that titrates the magnesium.

Once numbers are where they belong, you'll find you can test water only once a month or after a large water change, whichever comes first. After a few years, you can reduce your testing because you'll learn the right additions to routinely make. Then, you'll be checking the number to correct any drift.

[Carissa]

Thanks, I didn't even know you could get Mg test kits. I don't remember seeing them before but I will look for one now. The Ca is off the scale a bit, at 520. I'll test it again in a few days and after my next water change and see how fast it drops.

[Carissa]

Oh by the way, I added carbon to the sump. The water itself has extremely good clarity now and the algae on the glass seems to have gone away (not sure if that's related or not). However the scum is still there at least for now.

[Seige]

Here's a kit. Rather expensive for you though to bring in. Maybe your local supplier can get it. Start bugging them. ;-)

Elos Aqua Test Magnesium Test Kit

I just happened to put it on my order list from JL earlier today. Haven't seen a Mg kit in the Toronto area.

[leebca]

Some marine salts are overdosed with calcium because they are more (or less) aimed at the reef aquarium market. I would like you to measure the calcium and alkalinity of freshly prepared water -- the one you will use to make the water change -- so you can seen what is going into your aquarium.

Otherwise I would ask why you think the calcium got so high? Did I miss that you were putting additives into the water?

[Carissa]

A nice while back when I was first getting the tank established calcium was low, so I added some calcium chloride at the time. I probably added too much and/or nothing was really using it, and since I didn't have much livestock in the tank until recently I hadn't been doing a lot of water changes. That's probably where the extra calcium came from. I'm using Instant Ocean which I understand has fairly low calcium, so I'm thinking water changes will balance things out eventually.

[leebca]

Good.