help me get my param's in line

[jasonmartin1313]

ok all I am trying to get my parameters in line, I have a total volume of 175 gallons, i recently added a ca reactor and have started more routine testing. I have been adding more and more suppliments daily and can not get any of my values to budge noticably. I currently dose either two little fishies system, B-ionic ca/alk or turbo calc. and also seachem mag. my values are as follows

Ca 310
Alk 8
Mag 950

I tried a few online calculators and they all show that i would have to add tons of each like close to 100 ounces of b-ionic and mag. what is the best way to get on target? massive water change? also what is the best way to maintain the values?
thanks for your help all!

[Dave Dunbar]

Hello
Need to know what kind of salt your using and also what kind of test kit? How old? What kind of water? tap RO-DI? What are you using for a Calc. reactor? I know this is alot of ?'s but you need to take it one step at a time. Your Mag is very low so you should try and raise that to at least 1250 - 1350 but do it slow. With Mag that low you will never get your Calc. up. Have you ever tried
Randy's 2-part? Instead of wasting all that money on the store bought 2-part try Randy's. He also has a Mag additive thats very cheap and easy to make. Epson salt from the drug store. Look at the thread at the top of the page where you posted this and try it. But remember to go slow!!! I'm not an expert but have been doing this for a long time. What do you have in your tank, what kind of filter, what is your flow, and what do you have for substraight? All these things come into play on water parm's. Once you get in the ballpark your reactor should keep up. How much Live rock & Live sand if any? Most of reef keeping is learned through mistakes. Dont give up and stop buying all these additives!!! Use Randy's!! All the stuff needed you can get at the drug store or super market. Try to post again or PM me with some details of your tank and I'll try to help!!
Dave

[Billybeau1]

Well, first you'll want to get your mag up some. I am not fond of the Seachem magnesium additive. I use a lot of their products but don't care for this one. Kents Tech-M may be a better choice for raising magnesium. Try to limit your increased to about 100 ppm per day.

Then your Turbo calcium will work much better when your mag gets to around 1300 or so.

[jasonmartin1313]

wow thanks for the detailed feedback, to answer your ?s

Need to know what kind of salt your using Instant ocean reef crystals

and also what kind of test kit? all salifert

How old? ~ 6 months

What kind of water? tap RO-DI? well water/ RO/DI TDS ~1

What are you using for a Calc. reactor? Milwaukee controller/ Coralife 250

~3" Sand bed in tank, 175 lbs of LR, fuge packed with plants 4" sand bed.

2 maxi 1200's, iwaki 30 return

I will do some reading on randys. I bought Epsom salt last keek and did some research but got scared about the silicate part especially doing that big of a jump. I never really tested my tank much in the past, it just always did good but lately it seems as if colors are fading and we recently lost a bubble coral and a open brain. everything else is amazing and growing. so i started testing things and found how out of scew they were. mainly mag and calc. i got the calc reactor for xmas abd that is where i am at!
thanks again for your help Jason

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What is the salinity that you use? If it is low, all the ions will be low.

[jasonmartin1313]

io rc 1.024 on the money

[Billybeau1]

You'd be surprised how much your calcium and magnesium numbers would jump if you went to 1.026

I would do it slowly over the coarse of the next few water changes.