Add calcium?? And Buffer??

[Mrspit66]

I have a 75 gallon tank. I have about 80 pounds of LR, a couple of crabs, several snails, and a nice piece of trumpet coral I just bought a couple of days ago. I took readings today and my pH is 8.3, alkalinity is 3 and calcium is right at 400. Should I add some liquid calcium? And if so, should I also add some Super dkH buffer to keep my pH up?? No ammonia or nitrites. Nitrates is 5. This is still a pretty new setup. Just set it up first week of April.

Thanks for your help!

Cathy

[tyoberg]

Cathy,
Corals, coralline algae and crustaceons use calcium and alkalinity (carbonate) to make calcium carbonate parts--over time, both calcium and alk will drop, although the alk drop is much more apparent. On a new tank, this demand for calcium/alk is typically very low, or even imperceptible. On a heavily stocked tank, an alk drop of 1.0 meq/l each day is not uncommon.

Typical numbers are 2.5-4.0 meq/l for alk and 400-430ppm for calcium. I'd say it looks pretty good right now.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

As Ty pointed out, things look good now. As they drop in the future, you'll need to supplement both calcium and alkalinity.

There are loads of ways to accomplish that, including liquid calcium for calcium. Other ways, which are generally preferred to liquid calcium, are the two-part balanced additives (like B-ionic), limewater, and calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors.

[dogman]

This may seem like a dumb ?, but where does one get limewater (as a calcium additive)?
Can one use an emperor 400 power filter as a sort of refugium, by just using caulerpra inside it instead of filter pads, bio-wheels?
If so would some sand be good to add to the bottom of the filter box, or just fill box with caulerpra? THANK YOU for all input.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

To make limewater (also known by the german word kalkwasser), you just dissolve lime (calcium oxide or calcium hydroxide) in water. You can buy lime from grocery stores as pickling lime, from marine hobby suppliers, or from construction supply companies (it is used to make cement).

I don't know how big that filter is, but to have an impact, a refugium will need to be a reasonable size. To simply grow amphipods and similar things, small is OK. To grow caulerpa you have to light it, and that filter may not be large enough to grow much. It isn't large enough that a sand bed in it would be particularly beneficial from the standpoint of the nitrogen cycle (e.g., nitrates).

[dogman]

I don't mean to sound to ignorant, but I assume the pickling lime comes in a bottle. Is it diluted with freshwater then added to the tank or just poured in the tank straight,(amount)? This pickling lime is in place of Kent liquid Calcium and alk buffer,,, correct?
Any things to be carefull of when using this? Just a reminder this tank is a 125g folrls. THANK YOU for your assistance.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Lime is a solid powder that must be dissolved in fresh water (up to about 2 teaspoons per gallon) and added very slowly (over many hours by dripping). If you add it too fast, you'll hurt the tank with a pH spike.

It takes care of all pH, calcium, and alkalinity needs in many tanks.

Look for threads on how to use limewater (kalkwasser). There are hundreds, maybe thousands, of such threads.

[dogman]

THANK YOU!

[tyoberg]

Just so's you know what you're looking for, low grade lime is used to mark the lines on baseball diamonds and such--a very fine white powder.

Ty

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ty:

Is that really lime that is used to mark lines, or ground limestone being misnamed lime? I'd hate to land face first on a true lime line

[tyoberg]

Had to check my facts for a second, but here's what I've got:

The foul lines and all other playing lines indicated in the diagrams by solid black lines shall be marked with wet, unslaked lime, chalk or other white material.

Ty

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hmmm, sounds nasty to me.