pulling calcium up??

[rsxs1212]

whats the best way to go about this.. i dont think a calcium reactor would be cost efficient with the size of my tank, plus i really dont ahve the money seeing that im only 15 and just bought a car im redoing.. my calcium is at 300ppm and alk. at 14dkh so i was just wondering the best way to do this.. i use reef crystals for my water changes maybe a different salt would keep everything at a different level?? i know right when i started the tank kent marine buffers seemed to work well but i nkow alot of people say try to void from using extra additives as much as possible and let the system and salt take care of it.. well in my case i think i need something

i was thinking maybe i could run a phos. reactor or something with some sort of media to bring calcium to where it should be and keep it there and that should bring alk down and keep it steady as well correct?? i dont know that they make a media liek that though so this is where i need your help

or how are some products that i could add to the tank to help this?? which ones are recomended??

thanks in advance

..

[rsxs1212]

looking decent otherwise.. i changed my rockwork from all the way across two two towers kind of with open center

[ek9vboi]

check ur mag to see if it is up to par. around 1300 should do it, from there you can see what u want to do. keep in mind, mag should be 3x what ur calcium level. thus 300 x 3 = 900ppm for mag... mean not good, not bad but u need to bring it up.

the levels in my tank as of right now are:

1260 mag
430 calc
7.6 dkh alk

before my alk levels were in the high 8s and mid 9s, but since i raised my calcium and mag levels up its dropped a little. nothing that will hard my tank, but then again the alk might be low because i began to keep SPS.

[bertoni]

Some calcium chloride, such as Turbo Calcium or Dow Flake, will do the job. This calculator will help with a dose:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Checking the magnesium level might be useful, but magnesium isn't usually an issue.

[rsxs1212]

so mag. and calcium go hand in hand as well??? man alot of things effect each other.. i was only aware of the alk/calcium raise/lowering..

my problem is i had a bad experience with a higher calcium it was at 450, i got good growth out of sps but no color and it eventually died, maybe it had something else to do with the tnak but someone told me it was because the alk was to low and calcium too high.. maybe ill shoot for 400ppm calcium then that would give me 1200 mg and i guess probably around 8 dkh???? anyway ill let you know how the tests go, im gonna go get my saliferts and check them all right now...

[mwwhite]

You're talking about a few different subjects here.

Yes - calcium and alkalinity are very related. Check out the reef chemistry forum for some great articles about exactly that.

I don't think there's a "dose and forget" solution to water parameter maintenance, such as calcium and alkalinity. IMO, your best bet is to:

-Research the reef chemistry forum to understand the parameters - what they mean, what they should be.

-Buy the appropriate test kits. Use them to determine your parameters, and what your usage is.

-Establish a supplementation plan. Again, the reef chemistry forum has a great DIY recipe for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium supplements. Very inexpensive compared to packaged products.

Calcium of 450 ppm is the top of the range - not at all high. It certainly wouldn't contribute to SPS discoloration or death. SPS consume calcium and carbonate (alkalinity) to grow their skeletons. Low alkalinity would inhibit growth.

SPS also need high light and high water flow. One or both of these may also contribute.

[rsxs1212]

thanks mwwhite.. i think i know the basics of alk and calcium relationship, but im sure doing more reading wouldnt hurt, at least it hasnt yet


to my knowledge i have about the best test kits out there?? i have salifert for mag, calcium, alk, and pH.. so i think im okay there?? but maybe not..


i wonder what killed one of my acroporas then, it was from dr. foster and smith, and i had another one die at the same time from a local coral farm.. maybe i had to many impurities in the water or something, actually my tank at the time had only been about 6-8 months old if i remember correctly so maybe it just wasnt establish enough, anyway, whateveer the reason everything is staying alive now i just dont get super far polyp extension and little growth out of my sps.. my other corals seem to be doing well, frogspawn isnt as much but since that has to grow a skeleton im sure the calcium factor has something to do with it

[rsxs1212]

oh i think lighting and flow are allright as well?? high flow maxi and regular 1200 pointed at it to disperse flow randomly and i have a 4x54 t5 HO lighting with slr reflectors bulbs are 2 x 10,000k and 2 x actinic +'s if that means anything too...

[J. Montgomery]

Your equipment sounds just fine, and isn't related to the calcium/alkalinity issue. Like Bertoni stated, you need to add calcium (and probably a lot of it). The added calcium will also bring down your alkalinity (which I'm sure you realize is really high). Its going to take alot of calcium, so do it in batches over a two or three days (try not to increase calcium more than 100ppm per day).

[rsxs1212]

allright... and how soon do you think it will take until i notice improvements with sps?? i would think it would take a little while for me to notice better polyp extension and growth but maybe it would be immediate..

i bet i will be shocked once i have calcium up because i had always kept around 12 dkh alk and a lower calcium for one reason or another, mainly because i was mimicking the show tank at the coral store i go to.. but i guess every system is different

plus when i first started my system it sucked the alkalinity very quickly i had to add a ton of buffer and then suddenly the buffer was no longer needed.. i dont know if everything was just getting settled or what but at any rate, i will start raisin the calcium up

[bertoni]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

That article might help.

[davidryder]

14dkh for Alk seems sort of high. Alk will naturally fall while you dose for Ca alone... once they are both where you want them start dosing a balanced supplementation scheme - for your tank kalkwasser should do just fine - just do a lot of research. You will also have to occasionally dose Magnesium...

A pretty good article on supplementation methods:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2003/chem.htm

[rsxs1212]

allright guys thanks for all the help.. ive pulled calcium up a bit and alk has come down a little bit and i already see a little bit of a difference in polyp extension on the milli.. have to get some more calcium buffer i suppose then ill probably do one of the methods above..

thanks again

sean

[tyoberg]

With balanced supplements (reactor, calc or one of the two part products), for a 10ppm change in Ca++, you'll see a 1.4dKh change in Alk. Consumption by corals, etc happens at that same ratio. They'll go up and down in lock-step. In practice (due to accuracy of test kits and the simple math of the ratio above), you'll see Alk move around a lot, and Ca++ will appear much more stable.

Once you get them both back into their appropriate ranges, you should anticipate a significant increase in the amount of supplements that the tank consumes. Take a look at that ratio again--1.4dKh for 10ppm Ca++. A healthy tank tank will eat up a lot of Alk in a single day, so keep an eye on that.

Always be a little skeptical of the Ca++ kit. If you're Ca++ goes haywire, but Alk is behaving normally, then get a new Ca++ kit. Alk is a better thing to watch for day-to-day purposes and keeping up with you balanced supplement dosages.

Ty

[Billybeau1]

450 ppm calcium did not kill your corals. Anywhere between 380 and 450 is fine.

You haven't mentioned yet if you test for ammonia and nitrates.