Alk and Calcium

[emoore]

I just set up my 29 gallon and it is currently cycling with live rock. I wanted to get a handle on dosing alk and calcium before I put any animals in the tank in a few months. Currently my Alkalinity is 11 dKH which is a little high and my Calcium is 360 ppm which is low. My pH is 8.2. I have the 2-part Alk and Ca from B-Ionic.

My question is how can I just get my Ca levels up? Doesn’t the B-Ionic need to be dosed in equal parts but I don’t want to raise my KH. Should I use something else to get my Calcium levels up and then use the B-Ionic to maintain the Alk and Ca levels? Thanks.

[MiddletonMark]

Actually, the 2-part can be dosed each part separately, if that works for you.

If you're concerned about running out of one before the other - then you could add another CaCl or such Calcium-only product to raise it.

A number of salts [IO commonly] run with higher Alk and lower Ca something around where your tank is ... it's not uncommon. But if you add Ca in small daily doses, you can bring those #'s up in a few days to a week [only testing can tell] - and then you're back to even amounts of each.

If you mix your own SW, perhaps testing the new water for Ca/Alk might help guide your decision - if Ca is a little low on new water maybe you'll want to figure a regular cheap method of bumping up Ca/Alk.

Randy [in the Chemistry forum] has a nice DIY 2-part recipe - I've found it super cheap and very useful for altering newly mixed water up to proper Calcium levels. [way cheaper than any LFS-type solution]

Keep asking questions ... Ca/Alk I found tricky for a few years - reef chemistry takes time and questions to understand, or so it was for me :) And I understand enough to know that there's far more that I don't know, than what I do.

[emoore]

Thanks for the great reply Mark. That did help a lot. And I am using Instant Ocean salt. I have a bunch of Calcium Chloride that I use for my cichlid tank. Can I use that to raise my Calcium levels? Or is the chloride harmful? It is much cheaper than using the 2-part solutions. Thanks.

[MiddletonMark]

I'd think it's ok, but maybe would post/check about it [with specs] in the chem forum. Pretty sure that's what I'm using ...

Jonathan who is around here a lot could probably answer to the specs too. I don't feel very authoritative on the subject, so defer.

[Paintbug]

you can just use the calc part of b-ionic to see if you can get your levels up. you can use the Calcium Chloride as well. Kent Marine Turbo Calcium is just that Calcium Chloride. i would disolve it in some RO water to make it easier to dose, if the instructions dont say to. see if your calc levels will come up using one of those methods. if they dont check you magnesium levels.

heres a great article on water chemistry. it explains the importance of mag, and all the other important elements.
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php