What are the correct saltwater measurments?

[JayBby]

I was just wanting to know the saltwater fish and reef measurments that my tank should be giving.
I bought my test kit lastnight for the reef..annd i have usually been having a friend help me out with the readings and now i'm kinda ready to just do all of this on my own, sooo if ya'll could please give me some measurements that I need to be going by i would so appreciate it.
Thanks so much!

 

[Ace25]

Salinity - 1.022 - 1.027 is acceptable
pH - 7.9-8.3 is good area to keep it
Temp - 78-81 is good safe area
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Less than 20 preferable
Phosphate - as close to 0 as possible
Silicate - as close to 0 as possible
Alkalinity - 8-11DKH is good, or 2.85-3.9Meq/l
Calcium - 360-460 is good area
Magnesium - 1150-1450 is good area

 

[Almondsaz]

Ace thanks for posting, I find myself looking for those every now and again so it is great to have them in one place.

 

[JayBby]

the test kit that I had bought is soo confusing..gahhh* maybe its just me!
anyhow, I put like 20 drops to turn the farthest test tube to the left blue..
then I put 12 drops to turn the second to the left bright yellow...
Does this sound right or accurate??

 

[Ace25]

Ya, those tests are hard to read. I like the Salifert style that is one color in the vial and you keep adding a drop at a time until the color in the vial changes from say pink to blue, then you look how many drops = what amount on the test. Much easier to read when the liquid changes color dramatically after 1 drop.

Nitrates appear 20-40 range
Phosphates appear around 2.0

Both are on the high side of acceptable. Most of the time my phospates are 0 but when it is real bad in my tank my readings are .2-.5 .. not even at 1 yet. Nitrates in my tank usually run around 2-5.

 

[fsn77]

There's a good online article as well that I refer to frequently for parameter levels:
Reef Aquarium Water Parameters

 

[JayBby]

Wow..
whats the name of the test kit that you use? it sounds sooo much better b/c i just cant decide which color my water matches on the card and its a huuuge pain! lol

 

[JayBby]

Okkay..
another quick question..
best solution to lowering them??
Water change?
also..do i need to do anything like the baking soda, or the charcoal method?

 

[Ace25]

Waterchanges is the most common way to reduce those. Salifert is the brand that makes good test kits that I use.

Here are some of mine.

 

[fsn77]

What tests are the two tubes on the left of the pic? Is the far left calcium and the second one alkalinity? If so, 20 drops to cause a color change for the calcium test equals a calcium level of 400 ppm. "Like 20 drops" is how many... 18, 20, 22? In any case, 18 drops = 360 ppm, which is still ok. If the second tube is alkalinity, 12 drops to turn yellow = 12 dKH. That level is ok, too.

With the levels you're seeing, it would be best to identify the source(s) of the problem.
Can you describe your maintenance routine / frequency?
Do you use tap water, RO, or RO/DI to do water changes and top-offs?
What's your feeding schedule like?
Can you list your tank's inhabitants?

Carbon is good for reducing dissolved organics in the water, but will not remove nitrates or phosphates from the water.

Baking soda is ok to use if you're having issues with low pH / alkalinity.

There's phosphate removing media, but continued use can grow expensive when dealing with phosphate levels this high.