Balance Blocks

[dc]

I figure I didn't drive you crazy enough on the last one so I will try again!;) First of all they put out a new label listing the ingredients as: Magnesium, Cloride, Calcium, Sulfate, Carbon, Sodium, Potassium, Lithium, Boron. And then a big list occurring naturally in trace amounts. My problem is that my Calcium is 990 according to my Salifert test. I tested twice. Before that I had a Seachem kit that registered 900. I was sure it was faulty so I bought the Salifert. Everything in the tank looks good. Mostly soft corals, with one Sun Coral and one Bubble Coral, which look great. My PH is7.9 and my Alk has dropped to 1.49 I have Reef Carbonite but I can't seem to find it so I haven't taken steps to raise it yet. Will have to go see if I can get some at the store here. I have not dosed anything, in fact I was going to Kalk drip about a month ago and my mushrooms all shriveled up and it took a week and a half to come back to normal. Would it help if I sent you a piece of this thing and the label? Also my temp is between 80-84. I'm wondering if that would make the block dissolve faster? It seems to last the 2 months it says it will. So what do you think?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know close to nothing about Balance Blocks, but I'll make some comments anyway:

1. There's no way that such a block is smart enough to dissolve to the point where every chemical is at the optimal level in a tank. It simply dissolves at some slow and steady rate that some lab decided was good for tanks.

2. The higher the temp the faster it will dissolve. The higher the water flow at the block, the faster it will dissolve.

<< My problem is that my Calcium is 990 according to my Salifert test. I tested twice. Before that I had a Seachem kit that registered 900. I was sure it was faulty so I bought the Salifert. Everything in the tank looks good. Mostly soft corals, with one Sun Coral and one Bubble Coral, which look great. My PH is7.9 and my Alk has dropped to 1.49 >>

If the calcium is really 900+ ppm, it isn't surprising that the alkalinity is so low. If these numbers are right, you should dose nothing but an alkalinity supplement until the alkalinity rises substantially and the calcium drops below 500 ppm. Don't use limewater, a balanced additive, or a calcium reactor.

Sodium bicarbonate/sodium carbonate would be good. Your pH is already low, so I would not use just sodium bicarbonate.

Oh, and you might forgo the blocks for a while!

[dc]

Found my stuff. What I have is Seachem Marine Buffer and Reef Carbonate. I will try these as I don't have access to anything else. Turned down my heat a hair. Guess a water change won't hurt either. The block is in my refugium so it's practically a no flow area. Well thanks for your ideas.:D

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Those would be good choices.