View Full Version : Calcium
tinyfish
10/03/2010, 05:09 PM
I went from a 20 gallon to a 75 gallon tank and cannot seem to get the hang of dosing Ca. I have a 30g sump that contains 25g when running.
I am using Reef Calcium. The bottle says 5ml raise 20g total of 3mg/L. I am not good at math but this is what I think.
I measured Ca=300, I know its way too low. Its because I mis-dosed before and then had to go out of town. I am thinking that I can add 25ml each day to raise the Ca level by 15mg/L in a 100 gallon system.
I don't know if my math is correct or if this dose is OK with the corals, SPS.
My total Calcium dropped from 400 to 300 in 36 days so I am guessing 3mg/L is what is being used each day.
Can someone please check my math? Am I proceeding OK?
HighlandReefer
10/03/2010, 05:32 PM
The easiest way to calculate out your situation is to use the Reef Chemistry Calculator, select the SeaChem Liquid Reef Calcium as the supplement for calcium. Enter in your total acutal water volume and the calculator tells you exactly how much you need to add for your system to raise your level or how much to use to maintain a given level. ;)
Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html
mike_cmu04
10/03/2010, 07:04 PM
You will likely need to dose alk also. If you dont dose these together then your calcium will not stay steady and will be all over the place. These 2 are related and need to be balanced.
bertoni
10/03/2010, 11:37 PM
It's true that the alkalinity needs to be measured and kept in the 7-11 dKH range for stony coral and coralline algae growth, but there's no real concept of "balance" between calcium and alkalinity. As long as magnesium, calcium, and alkalinity are in the recommended ranges, the tank should be fine.
HighlandReefer
10/04/2010, 05:35 AM
I agree with Jon,
The balanced information provided by the calculator is very misleading.
tinyfish
10/05/2010, 10:52 AM
I wish someone had recommended a product for raising Ca and how fast. I did go and use the dosing calculator which helped a lot. I ran out of the liquid, but I bought Kalkwasser Mix instead of the advanced Ca.
I will post my readings later today.
HighlandReefer
10/05/2010, 10:58 AM
Using Kalk water to raise your calcium level is not a good way to go. The reason is that kalk water is good for maintaining both alk and calcium levels once your levels are where you want them. If you raise your calcium level with kalk you will also raise your alk level along with the calcium. For about every 15 ppm kalk raises calcium it will also raise your alk up 1 dKH. So kalk water can drive your alk level through the roof when trying to increase your calcium level. ;)
Calcium chloride is the best to use to raise calcium levels. BRS sells it cheap considering it is food grade.
tinyfish
10/05/2010, 04:36 PM
Too late:
Ca = 330
Alk = 3.43
Mg = 1350
I know I did not dose enough to make the Alk go that high before the Kalkwasser unless the liquid Ca had Alk in it also.
I went back to the LFS and got Kent Turbo Calcium which I think is only Calcium Chloride.
I wish the labeling on additives was printed large enough for me to read and it told everything that was in them.
I seem to always have trouble with Alk getting too high when I dose. That is why I quit using those all in one or the two part products.
bertoni
10/05/2010, 10:31 PM
The usual recommended limit for calcium is 100 ppm per day. A calcium chloride product like Turbo Calcium is a fine way to go. Dosing just the calcium part of a 2-part is fine, but it can be expensive.
tinyfish
10/07/2010, 12:44 PM
OK. I got a little frustrated at my readings and was telling my LFS about them. They offered to test my water, so I broght them some.
Using API test kits:
Ph = 7.8
Salinity = 1.025
Alk = 2.86
Ca = 480
Mg = They never test for this.
Using my Salifert test kits and using the same sample of water and 10 minutes later:
Ph = 7.8
Salinity = 1.025
Alk = 3.2
Ca = 400
Mg = 1230
To me the difference is statistically significant for Alk and Ca. I have no idea what to do other than to ask someone else to sample with their testing kits.
bertoni
10/11/2010, 08:15 PM
I think that the alkalinity numbers are fairly close, because the resolution is only 1 dKH, and there's issues about freshwater vs saltwater design. The calcium numbers are a fair amount off, but both levels are acceptable. Test kits are not a shining spot in this hobby, unfortunately.
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