calcium

[sparkey65]

hi randy i have used my part two of my bionic and was going to start your 2 part additive but was going to get the 100%calcium chloride from a local poolplace was told it was pure calcium chloride but if i try this how much would you recomend per gallon of mix,to drip and can i finish off the first part of the bionic with it?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I can't be sure that any other brands are of acceptable purity, but if you choose to use something that is "100% calcum chloride", then use 20% less calcium clhoride than Dowflake in the recipes.

You have one part of B-ionic remaining, and not the second? B-ionic is more concentrated than my recipes, so it can't be swapped in 1:1. It stilll can be used, you jsut need to use less. Which of my recipes are you using?

[sparkey65]

recipe#2

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Recipe #2 is 34% of the potency of the original B-ionic. So you need to use about 1/3 as much of the B-ionic to match recipe 2.

[sparkey65]

ok thanks randy now my next question is if i am dripping kalk into my tank how in portant is it to use the two part bionic or your recipe will kalk alone maintain my calcium. I notice that when i add 30ml a day of bionic my calcium stays around 400 but my alkalinity risesto around 4.5 thats why i have more of the #1 left because i stopped adding it everyday only added the 2nd part and the first part like once or twice a week

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Limewater alone maintains my calcium and alkallinity easily enough, but it depends on the demand in the tank and the evaporation rate.

You really ought to use both parts equally unless over the long run one of the two parameters is getting too high.

[sparkey65]

thats what happen around a month ago i askerd you about my alk being to high and cal to low so i stopped using alk untill it came down and calcium was up then i started using both again but it always seems to make the alk high so i am thinking of just using the kalk thats why i was wondering if it would be good enoughto just do that and if i do should i add anything else that bionic has that i should be supplementing

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Using limewater won't have a different skewing effect than B-ionic. They are both balanced calcium and alkallinity additives. You might just not add the alkalinity part of the B-ionic for a day or two and see how it drops, then resume balanced additions.

[sparkey65]

ya thats what i have done and it drops back down but it takes awhile though my calcium has been maintained between 400 and 425 but i have not added the 1rst part of bionic for about 5 days has not dropped at all ph is around 8.1 usually around 8.3 .so thats why i was wondering if i just got the calcium cloride from the pool place and dripped that along with kalk instead of bionic beens it seems i do not need to boost alk. and add baking soda when needed would that be ok to do? confused about this chemistry thing. hope i am not sounding stupid or being a pain. justwant to do it rightr and not waist money on bionic if i am only using the second part seems waistfull thanks steve

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It would be very unlikely that you'd have an ongoing need for calcium that wasn't balanced by a need for alkalinity. About the only way I can imagine that is if you are doing water changes with low calcium water.

It's fine to do that for a while and see what happens, however.

[sparkey65]

hi again randy i just did a water test tonight lights on sunset and only dripping kalk2 table spoons per 3 gallons dripping one drop per every 4 seconds have not added bionic in 5 days heres what i found.
cal-420
alk-4.5
dkh 12.6
ph8.15
sal1.024
phos 0.30
as you can see after 5 days the alkalinity has not even moved down at all cal only dropped from 425 to 420 ph is lower thow from 8.4 down to 8.1 should i just stop the bionic and just add the kalk ? should i add any other elements that the bionic had in it? am i adding enough kalk? and is phosban any good to use is it iron based? rowaphos is so expensive here.sorry for all the questions

[sparkey65]

i am using instant ocean its cal is 400 after mixed with my ro water

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The high level of phosphate may be greatly limiting the rate of calcification in the aquarium, and so the limewater alone may be adequate for now (try it and see what happens). I see no reason to worry much about calcium and alkalinty based on those values, but the phosphate.... that's another story.

Phosban is a fien way to go. Growing and harvesting macroaglae would be even better, IMO.

Here's an article on phosphate:

Phosphate Issues
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/sept2002/chem.htm

[sparkey65]

thanks randy i do have a 20g refuge with macro its been set up about 2 months don't no how long it would taker to start to see a differance in phosphate i would just like to figure out where the phosphate is coming from its not my maker up water tested that and i feed sparringly with brine and cylopsea twice a week. I have alway had phosphate in my tank never could figure out why.

[sparkey65]

randy i was told that if you have a high alk it would reduce the hair algea how true is this?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have alway had phosphate in my tank never could figure out why.

Once it gets elevated, a lot sticks to live rock and sand. That can act as a source for quite a while.

High alkalinity itself won't impact problem algae, IMO, but it can encourage coralline algae and corals to grow faster and use nutrients that the problem algae might otherwise get.

[sparkey65]

thank you randy for all your help sorry if i bugged you

[sparkey65]

randu one nore question i remember tyhe pool place i called about inquiring about calcium also said they had phosohate remover for pools can that be used in a tank??

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd see what it is. Some pool folks use lanthanum salts to precipitiate phosphate (as lanthanum phosphate), but I wouldn't add that to a reef tank.

[sparkey65]

ok thanks randy

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing. :)