Dosing alk and cal

[NanoJosh]

I have a six month old ten gallon sps LPS tank that I'm constantly low in all and cal what are the safest ways to dose such a small system thanks for any input


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[bnumair]

any cal supplement liquid or dry , baking soda for alk. use a reef calculator and get the dosage amounts. also dose on opposite schedules. one in morning other in evening,

[downbeach]

How often do you do WC's, with what salt mix? Whats your SG, what do you measure it with? What test kits are you using? What is your Ca, Mg and Alk reading?

[bertoni]

A 2-part like B-Ionic is an easy way to get going. For that size tank, it should be okay, although you could save some money by using a DIY version. As far as I've been able to tell, all the commercial 2-parts are okay, although the cost probably differs.

[NanoJosh]

How often do you do WC's, with what salt mix? Whats your SG, what do you measure it with? What test kits are you using? What is your Ca, Mg and Alk reading?

Ca 320 yesterday 300 today alk is 7-8 yesterda 7 today i need to get mag tested SG .023 .024 2.5%WC daily or evry other day and 20% weekly reef crystals the alk on new salt mix is 8-9 API test kits and a refracto to measure SG if alk and Ca is low im guessung mag is low too. What about purple up for Ca is that ok too use to raise Ca thanks for the help my other two tanks are fine but the other 10 gal is zoa dominant and the 55 is slowly being stocked with mixed softies and sps its only 2 months into life and the zoa tank is 6 months old like the sps,lps tank which all params are low I'm guessing its cuz its chock full of sps,lps thats eating up all the elements. :headwally::headwallblue: :headwally:

[Michigan Mike]

Dow flakes or mrs wages pickling lime (kalk) for calcium & baking soda for alk.

[downbeach]

Ca 320 yesterday 300 today alk is 7-8 yesterda 7 today i need to get mag tested SG .023 .024 2.5%WC daily or evry other day and 20% weekly reef crystals the alk on new salt mix is 8-9 API test kits and a refracto to measure SG if alk and Ca is low im guessung mag is low too. What about purple up for Ca is that ok too use to raise Ca thanks for the help my other two tanks are fine but the other 10 gal is zoa dominant and the 55 is slowly being stocked with mixed softies and sps its only 2 months into life and the zoa tank is 6 months old like the sps,lps tank which all params are low I'm guessing its cuz its chock full of sps,lps thats eating up all the elements. :headwally::headwallblue: :headwally:

First, I would get your SG up to 1.026, this will increase your Ca, Mg, and Alk. Use a refractometer that has been calibrated with a solution (http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=18717) that is at the refractive index of the sample your testing, if you're using RO/DI water, for calibration @ '0', the device may be off @ 1.025/35ppt. Secondly, I would get test kits that have a better resolution, i.e. Salifert, Elos, or the new Red Sea Pro, for testing your Ca, Mg and Alk, Red Sea sells a kit that contains all three.
Forget using the Purple Up. As mentioned you're going to need some kind of two part solutions, either the commercially available, or one of the DIY recipe's, that are simple A&H baking soda for Alk, and Calcuim Chloride for Calcium. If you do regular WC's it's unlikely you'll have to dose any Mg.

I would also slow down, a six month old tank isn't really stable/mature enough for sensitive inverts, especially if it's chuck full of them.

[bertoni]

I agree with raising the SG to 1.026 or so. Purple Up is mostly just fine sand. It won't do much. I'd stick with a 2-part, but baking soda and calcium chloride will be fine if you're careful when dosing.

[Hal]

Agree with the above: use a 2 part solution, whether it's store bought or home-made. Read Randy's article on DIY, but as I understand it, know that Dow flake isn't recommended anymore for weekly additions because it now has a contaminant (I believe its bromide), but is ok for one time calcium adjustments. I'm still trying to find out what the DIY'er crowd can use in lieu of the Dow flake. For now I just buy the calcium supplement from BRS. I already have a kalk reactor hooked inline to my auto-topoff, but need more calcium.

For your alk supplement, baking soda or baking ash are easy as pie and dirt cheap. Use them.

Don't forget your mag. BRS is my hookup there too for a mix of mag chloride and mag sulfate.

[bertoni]

The Dow Flake appears to be okay still, although it does have more bromide. Lots of people seem to be using it successfully.

[Hal]

The Dow Flake appears to be okay still, although it does have more bromide. Lots of people seem to be using it successfully.
I believe that Randy does NOT recommend that it be used week-in and week-out to supplement calcium. I believe he said it's ok for a one time "get your calcium up to where it needs to be" event, but that's it. I'd love for someone to correct me if I misheard.

[bertoni]

You need to check some of the newer threads on the topic. A search should pull up some.

[NanoJosh]

Thanks guys I'm buying a mag test this weekend and already dosing the cal and alk that my fav lfs sells in bulk and cheap 3$ for a ziplock bag full of alk/baking soda thanks for the input sometimes it's hard to get responses here I finally asked the right ? Woohoo


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