Cal issues!

[MizTanks]

What the heck am I doing wrong? I've been dosing Kents Parts A&B at 2ml each. Everyday!

Monday I did WC 1g with an sg of 1.025. My cal tested at 440, yahoo cause I haven't been able to get it up above 380 in forever. Kh 10

This morning I did a 1g WC with an sg of 1.025. Tested and my cal is 380 again. Remember I've been dosing everyday since Monday at 2ml each. Kh is 10 and has pretty much remained there.

Now, I have noticed coraline popping up everywhere, mostly on the LR. Do I need to raise the doses from 2ml to 4ml of both or just the cal to 4ml and leave the alk at 2ml.

[whitetiger61]

i'll try to help you..my tank stays a constant 430.. i do a 5 gal water change every week and dose calcium ( cant remember which one as i dumped it into a pump bottle that give me 5 ml's a pump) i use 3 pumps every other day unless i reach a maxium of 60ml a week. Coral line is good for your tank.. If your coral line is growing then its out competeing your other bad algae..380 is getting down there..it needs to be brought up to at least 400.what coral do you have in there again..anything with a skeleton will use calcium.. hammers, acans, favia, just a few of what will use calcium. i Hope that helped

Rick

[ReeferRob]

MizT, I wouldn't get too alarmed about your calcium dropping as you don't keep many species that need a ton other than your rocks and coraline. But I maybe mistaken.

I would suggest testing your mag levels and get them rock solid first then your Alk and Calcium will balance out nicely. That has been my most recent experience with my tank param issues. And that is what Sir P, and Beaker suggested. Once I got my mag where it needed to be it was easy to maintain the alk and calc levels. Plus a slightly elevated mag will help combat byrosis if you have any.

[MizTanks]

I just got a small frag of favia the other day~other then that all softies~Yup I did notice a raise in my cal when I was dosing 8ml of mag a day while trying to combat bryopsis~I stopped dosing mag and my cal dropped~I can't find a mag test around here~LFS doesn't sell em~one reason I stopped dosing with it.

[ReeferRob]

Shhh, don't want to get the param police sent on me...............but I only test cal, alk and mag these days.

[whitetiger61]

i wouldnt worry about it to much..whatch that favia..it will tell you if its unhappy..but try to keep it around 400..i was thinking i read something about people having bio cubes having an issue with keeping their calcium levels up somewhere but i cant remember where it was as it was a long time ago and im getting old...lol.. Rob is right if you can find one get a mag test kit and test for that..i dont dose mag because of the big water change i do, that and i cant find a test kit either and im afraid to dose it.

Rick

[Tom@HaslettMI]

I sounds like dosing Mg is the solution. When dosing Mg your Ca was up and when you stopped it dropped.

As for not having a test kit for it... I wouldn't worry about it. Mg can be kept at very high levels and not cause any harm to desirable inhabitants (think bryopsis killing). Therefore, it is my opinion that you can use it and not test for it. The reason everyone says "if you can't test it don't dose it" is for things like iodine where too much is toxic.

[whitetiger61]

ok i think i will start dosing mg..i would really like to know what my lrvels are though

Rick

[Tom@HaslettMI]

I agree, it is good to check once and awhile just to know where you sit with various water parameters. One option that may be available is having your LFS check your Mg. The one near me provides free water testing services.

Just saw the Mg test kit thread... makes this post not too helpful.

[carbon-mantis]

What's your water changing schedule, and what brand of salt are you using?

[MizTanks]

WC=1g 2x weekly
Salt=Reef Crystals.

[Fishgeek88]

Shhh, don't want to get the param police sent on me...............but I only test cal, alk and mag these days.

lol, well i only test alk and cal :mouth_zipped:

[MizTanks]

That's about all I test for~keeping an eye on my sg/ph too.

[dejavu]

My guess is the there was a error in the first test of 440 ppm. If you see an increase like that in a day I would test twice.

[MizTanks]

It wasn't an increase in a day~I had been dosing Magnesium at 8ml daily for a week to combat Bryopsis however being unable to test for Mag levels I stopped dosing with it~4ml daily of Kents Part A&B at the same time I was dosing with Mag~After stopping the Mag I did a 1g WC~tested and my cal reading was 440~I'm sure the Mag dosing had something to do with the raise in cal levels~I don't know the chemistry of SW therefor I really don't understand the the correlation between Mag/Cal dosing. Does this make sense?


Update as of 11-21: Tested cal and readings are 400 after having dosed this morning with Mag and cal.

[whitetiger61]

400 is looking better.keep up the good work..your tank is amazing..when it grows in .. it will be amazinly outstanding..:)

Rick

[MizTanks]

Reef Crystals. WC 1g 2x weekly. May increase it to 2g 2x weekly only cause my tank is maxed.

[RaysReef]

what is your MAG testing out? Ideally you want it around 1350-1400, to combat bryopsis you want to be somewhere around 1600+

Also MAG typically stay constant after reading...Doesn't drop like CA daily. Also you do not want to raise your MAG by more than 50 points at a time. So don't jump from 1300 to 1600 it should be evenly stretched out 4-5 days worth of MAG dosing.

[tazzy695]

I dont think she has a mg test kit yet

[at]

I use Brightwell aquatics kalk. It has magnesium and strontium in it I dont test that often but usually cal is around 420 and mag 1350

[MizTanks]

Nope~no mag kit yet~didn't realize they were that expensive~gotta chose between a new master kit or a mag kit~hmmmmm