Need some urgent help figuring out cal-mg ration in tank

[Dable]

Hey guys got a cherry tank which I'm having trouble getting them to breed in wp are

temp 23

tds 215

ph 7.5

gh 7

kh 1

nitrate <10ppm

ammonia and nitrite 0

theres IAL in tank and mulberry leaves , tanks been set up for 4 months now, feeding mosura bio plus, excel , shirakura silver and bee pollen and snowflake all on seperate days etc and they get fed once a day with every Sunday being a fasting day, got plenty saddled females and adult males just not showing much interest and seeing very little exoskeleton ( which makes me thing my cal-mg ratios are off...

i use use or water with shirakura ca + to re mineralise

i using aquasonic cal test kit ( which gets u to turn water from red to blue) and it takes 1 drop to get water from red to purple which is 25 ppm and takes about 4 -5 drops to get it to a velvet blue which is as blue as it gets ( 100-125ppm cal)

im im terrible at math and read bb sticky on the ratios does my head in all the math haha I tried and it seems to b very off when I do the math can someone possibly calculate or tell me if I'm doing something wrong ??

[smicko]

Hi mate, you could try upping the Kh a little, i found cherries do better at around 5-7kh.

Up it slowly and keep an eye on your ph as it could rise as well, cherries are fine up to 8.5ph.

I'm not sure about the shirakura ca+ as i dont use it but it may not add anything but calcium.

Try using salty shrimp instead, I'm sure gbang uses one of the salty shrimp products for cherries so give him a pm

Hope this helps.

Cheers mick

[Dable]

Sweet as thanks man :-) ye got so many male female adults nothing happening at all lol, what does everyone make of my calcium ??

[2OFUS]

I would do a small water change with straight RO water

i would also drip the ro water back in over Afew hours

[Dable]

Tried a 50% wc couple nights ago probably 2 moults out of 100 shrimp?

I would do a small water change with straight RO water i would also drip the ro water back in over Afew hours

[2OFUS]

The water change is to help drop your calcium levels

maybe it's to high and the shrimp can't moult as the extra calcium will make there shells super hard

[Dable]

Ah I'm following you now ,what is a good amount of calcium for shrimp ? And what is my ratio according to bb formula ? Based on gh 7 and 150 ppm ca? It's giving me negative reading am I missing a step?

The water change is to help drop your calcium levels maybe it's to high and the shrimp can't moult as the extra calcium will make there shells super hard

[2OFUS]

Ah I'm following you now ' date='

what is a good amount of calcium for shrimp ? And what is my ratio according to bb formula ? Based on gh 7 and 150 ppm ca? It's giving me negative reading am I missing a step?[/quote']

Maybe pm bb

I don't understand all that crap :)

[Dable]

Hahahaha neither do I don't worry I will send the master a inbox

[ineke]

Maybe pm bb

I don't understand all that crap :)

Glad I'm not the only one - makes my head spin!:worried:

[Squiggle]

Just want to check, does the test for calcium change from red to blue after one drop or does it stay red till it gets to the sixth drop? :dejection:

[BlueBolts]

The results of your calcium doesn't appear correct..... Are you using a API test kit ? if so....

The API Ca Test Kit Instructions..

5ml

Bottle 1 - 10 Drops

Bottle 2 - 1 Drop - 20ppm

But, for a more accurate result, you may test with a 20ml sample ...

If your Ca is <20ppm, instead of a 5ml, a 20ml can be used, thus...

20ml

Bottle 1 - 10 Drops

Bottle 2 - 1 Drop - 5ppm

If your GH is at 7, I'd suspect your Ca should be 35ppm.... Were you testing on 5ml or 20ml water sample ?

[Dable]

Squigg gh it changes from red to purple in 1 drop then takes about 4 more to make it solid blue, am I just after a reaction I.e purple ?? ( like in a gh or kh test kit??) so would I just classify 1 drop as my target cause I got the chemical reaction ?? Meaning I have 25ppm cal not 150

Just want to check, does the test for calcium change from red to blue after one drop or does it stay red till it gets to the sixth drop? :dejection:

[Dable]

Hey bb not API it's a aquasonic , it was only one lfs had and I needed to check it asap , I the way it works is , u fill a 10ml test tube add one tablet of pinkish powder them 4 drops of a solution shake for a minute ...

then like in a gh or kh test kit u start adding a drop at a time until u go from RED to BLUE , each drop is 25 ppm cal, on the 1st drop there is a instant reaction BUT it doesn't go BLUE as the instructions say it goes from RED to PURPLE then it takes a further 4 drops to make it strong blue , do u think I stop as soon as that instant change of colour happens ?? At 1 drop ? Meaning I only have 25ppm cal?

[jayc]

On a similar note, why is the Ca:Mg Ratio sticky thread closed?

Mods, can you please check?

[BlueBolts]

Dable, suggest instead of using 10 ml, you use 40mll wih the similar testing parameters them my previous post, so that 1 drop = 25/4, 6.25ppm.

[Squiggle]

Squigg gh it changes from red to purple in 1 drop then takes about 4 more to make it solid blue' date=' am I just after a reaction I.e purple ?? ( like in a gh or kh test kit??) so would I just classify 1 drop as my target cause I got the chemical reaction ?? Meaning I have 25ppm cal not 150[/quote']

The indicator is when it first changes from red to blue, so your reading is approx 25ppm. As BB suggested, you need to get a more accurate reading, I did 20ml of water with twice the reagents & that makes it 12.5ppm per drop. :encouragement: