Water Changes Instead of Dosing

[rsw686]

I've been dosing B-Ionic with mixed results. I can't seem to keep my alk / cal levels stable. They go down quickly. I checked the magnesium and it was 1280. I added magnesium to bring it up and the calcium would stay at 440, but the alkalinity would drop rather quickly.

Looking at the cost of magnesium and the two part solution isn't it cheaper just to change out 10% a week for a small system instead of dosing?

10% for me is about 10 gals. A bucket of salt makes 180 gals so that bucket would last 18 weeks or 4.5 months. At 30-40 dollars a bucket and with water changes being beneficial if that keeps my calcium and alkalinity stable it seems to be a better solution.

I found a website where somebody tested out the alk / cal concentrations of different salt brands.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume.../Salt/salt.htm

Seems to me that if I switched to Seachem Reef Salt I would be on target for all the levels freshly mixed. Over a weeks period as long as the tank didn't consume 10% of the cal / alk it would be replenished with the water change.

I am using Reef Crystals currently and it mixes lower in calcium at 340 so I'm thinking I would still have to supplement calcium to use it.

Or maybe the issue is I don't know what I'm doing. If Reef Crystals mixes to 340 cal and 3.5 meq/l alk do I just dose the calcium part supplement to bring it up or do I dose equal two part?

[HowardW]

Although small frequent water changes are a good idea IMO, unless your tank has a light bioload and a low alk / calcium / Mg consumption rate, it can be hard to maintain these levels with small water changes alone.

[HowardW]

BTW.........I think some people here would disagree with the results of those tests in the link you posted. I have been using Seachem Reef Salt for a long time in all my tanks and it has ALWAYS tested out to between 440 - 470 on calcium and 8.3 on pH and 3.5 on alk. using RO/DI water and both Seachem & API test kits.

I also think many have reported getting at least 430 - 440 on Calcium using Reef Crystals.

[rsw686]

Yeah I couldn't find another site with test results. I'm making up water to perform a water change tomorrow as I want to clean out my sump and paint the inside of my stand. I will test out the Reef Crystals I mix up and post it on here.

[sditch]

My RC mix tests out to be alittle over 400 ppm on the cal. side.

[bertoni]

Many tanks require daily dosing. How much is the alkalinity dropping per day?

It's fine to dose the salt mix to a good Ca level using just the calcium part of B-Ionic, but that's rather expensive over time. A product like Turbo Calcium or Dow Flake will save some money.

[ek9vboi]

at what salinity are you mixing the new batch of water? for me at 1.025 the calcium level is at 350 and thats using IO. what i have been doing for the past weeks or so is adding techM by kent to bring up the mag and then adding reef complete by seachem to bring up the calcium level. the alk level is already good. reason why i have been adding a mag supp. is because i would add the reef complete and it caused participation in my mixing container. mag from an bucket of IO is around 1100 or so and bring my calcium level up to 450ish is more then 3x the amount of mag.

450ppm (calc) x 3 = 1350 (mag level should be)
i've also noticed my alk levels a little low in my tank, but i am trying to dose more kalkwasser to bring the alk levels to normal.

[davidryder]

It's normal for Alk levels to fluctuate over a period of a few days. It's the long-term fluctuations you should be concerned about...

[Percula9]

Alkalinity and calcium are going to fluctuate due to the fact they are being consumed by your corals. Alkalinity is also consumed by your biological filter. Try dosing with Seachems Reef builder to raise and maintain carbonate alkalinity. You might try Liquid reactor by Kent, this is a calcium buffering system in one. Add it at night because it clouds the water for some time. Water will be clear by morning. If you want good Mag levels try Tropic Marin salt. A little more expensive then the others but worth it. Takes a little longer to dissolve because it's higher in mag then other salts.Magnesium salts take longer to dissolve then sodium salts. I gather PH is okay. Try adding some buffer to your top off water.

[Billybeau1]

I think you have salinity measuring problems or faulty test kits.

Reef Crystals measures, freshly mixed, about 420 calcium, 12 dkh alk and 1260 mag.

If you are measuring RC at 340 calcium, then either you are not mixing at 35ppt or your calcium test kit is trashed.

340 is more like Instant Ocean numbers.

Magnesium at 1280 ppm is not going to cause you problems with your cal and alk. NSW is 1290 ppm.

I would personally get a grip on what your real salinity is. Then work from there.

I wouldn't buy a salt mix just on magnesium levels. Mag is easy to supplement and salt mixes with better ionic balance are better choices.

Opinions on Tropic Maine are mixed from what I've seen.

[rsw686]

Alright the batch of saltwater I made yesterday with Reef Crystals mixed to 1.025 (used refractometer) came out to 11.5dKh and 360ppm calcium. I used API test kits, both are new.

Granted this was salt used from the bottom of the bucket. I can't afford to buy it in bags and use it all at once. I can get the buckets on sale for around 35 a bucket so its much more ideal and since it seals up tight I can use it multiple times.

Anyway its 360ppm calcium bad for coral growth, or should I dose calcium. I'm worried with the alkalinity at 11.5 it will precipitate out of solution if I bring the calcium up to 440ppm which would balance it out.

In my tank I have small dots floating around that look like precipitated calcium and part of this water change is to reduce that.

[bertoni]

Alkalinity isn't necessarily consumed by the biological filtration. As you've noted, the nitrification step consumes alkalinity, but denitrification releases it back into the water. The articles I posted in the other thread go into details.

Liquid Reactor is ground aragonite, and is essentially useless as an alkalinity or calcium supplement.