|
|
|
|
#1
08/09/2007, 12:42 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
KH drops faster than calcium.
Hi All! I've been trying to get a stable parameters here. My calcium was 560ppm and my alkalinity was 7 dKH. For about two weeks I've added baking soda to increase alkalinity and managed to get to 11 dKH. But my calcium only drops to 540.
Then only 3 days ago my KH dropped again to 7 and calcium dropped to 520. Today I did another tests and alk is now 10 dKh and calcium still at 520. Am I doing the right thing? Other parameters: Nitrite: undetactable even though I still see brown algae on my sand. phosphate:undetactable. Ph: 8.0 |
|
#2
08/09/2007, 01:20 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
hello you calcium is way to high you should only have 400 to 460 ppm and you dhk is a little to high for me i like to keep it around 9 10 however you are still within the range the reason that you alk is dropping faster is because it is being used up if you had you calcuim lower around 460 you would see that you alk and calcuim is depleting evenly stop doseing calcium till you get it within the range good luck
|
|
#3
08/09/2007, 01:21 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Not sure how your calcium got that high, but I suppose it doesn't really matter. Alk tends drop much more quickly because there's less (bi)carbonate in seawater than calcium, so, proportionally a larger percentage gets depleted even if they're dropping at the same rate. This is why, if you have your levels balanced and are adding only a balanced supplement, you can usually just test for Alk.
Unless you added a substantial amount of calcium to the water, like with calcium chloride, I would suspect the accuracy of your Ca test. I've heard oceanic salt has high levels of Ca, but I'm pretty sure it's not that high at normal salinity. |
|
#4
08/09/2007, 02:30 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Although it's been a while when I ran Oceanic my Ca was >500 @ 1.026.
To expand further on the other replys. For calcification when you consume 20ppm of Ca you consume 2.8dkh of alk. I can't tell from your results how much alk you are adding every day. I will recommend you stop bouncing alk up and down several dkh if you are or want to keep SPS. Determine your daily usage and from the calculator stickied at the top determine how much baking soda to add to keep your levels steady. |
|
#5
08/09/2007, 03:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I agree that the numbers are consistent with standard calcification, if we take into account test kit accuracy. I also agree that keeping the alkalinity more stable is likely worthwhile. Calcium will drop on its own if none is added. If Oceanic salt is being used, the calcium problem might be long-term, since water changes will spike calcium back up.
__________________
Jonathan Bertoni |
|
#6
08/09/2007, 11:09 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Hi Guys! Thanks for all the good advice. My last water change was done on the 2nd of Aug. and I used Tropic Marin Salt. For the last one month I haven't added any form of calcium at all. Only baking soda was dosed to reach alk of 11 dKh. It only takes a few days for alk to drop to 7dKH but calcium is still too high. I'm using API Kits for all the tests.
|
|
#7
08/10/2007, 02:38 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I would personally just keep an eye on your alk. Calcium levels in the 500's are not going to hurt your tank unless you start seeing cloudiness. (precipitate).
If your tank looks good, it is good. 
|
|
#8
08/10/2007, 04:46 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
I'd just keep supplementing alk and keep an eye on it while allowing calcium to drop down to the 400 - 450 ppm range on its own. It may well take awhile for it to get there and a while of supplementing just alk.
Chris
__________________
FSM ~ Touched by His noodly appendage ~ |
|
#9
08/10/2007, 06:51 AM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
|
|
#11
08/10/2007, 11:52 PM
|
|||
|
|||
|
Quote:
|
|
|
Linear Mode
