Calcium and Alk
 

Hi folks,

I’ve been struggling with what I feel are high numbers for both. Fresh off a 5 gallon water change last night and I’m showing calcium at 470 and Alk at 8.9. I’ve been doing a weekly water change with Red Sea coral pro and those parameters have been pretty consistent.

I have 3-4 montipora pieces in the tank. A cap frag, 2 encrusting monti frags and a digita frag. Out side of that a few LPS pieces and a toadstool.

Tank is a JBJ 24 and like I said before I’ve done weekly 5 gallon changes. Tank had been set up for 3 months, has a Tunze 9001 skimmer, mp10 and a Kessil 180 light.

Polyp extension on the Montis isn’t great and coloring is ok.

I’m just trying to find out why the parameters are high and see what I should do long term.

Thanks https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...bfb21ad1ab.jpg


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Testing with Salifert test kits for both BTW


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Tested your new salt mix? Your a little high, but certainly well within normal limits.

Red Sea Pro mixes very high in the ranges on purpose.
If you like Red Sea but want lower numbers, use the light blue bucket instead of the black one.
Also, make sure mag is in the 1250-1350 range

I have not. I should probably do that on the next water change. Thank you


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Honestly I’m not sold on the salt. The directions say to change the water within 4 hours of being mixed and I like to leave some salt made up on hand just in case. I was using instant ocean and may go back to that. I’ll have to check the mag tonight. I’m assuming that with my coral load and weekly changes I shouldn’t really have to dose.

I have 2 part ready to go just in case. Thanks for the feedback.


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Many successful tanks use regular old purple box IO, myself included. The old saying of "if it aint broken, why fix it?" is a good saying for reefing.



Only thing I do for IO is lower the alk as it consistently mixes up to 10DKH. Every other parameter is spot on.

Very nice tank by the way, love the clown, nice mix of corals, well done.

4 hours, I don't do this, nuts.

To me, salt is salt, the difference IMO is the mix, the higher the range, likely a bit more expensive. That said, I have seen the most beautiful tanks using RC and IO.

MG prevents the AlK and the CA from just coming together quickly, before the coral can uptake. Low MG makes both harder to maintain.

Pick your salt firstly from what ranges you expect to keep constant and with a minimal load, the WC should be sufficient.

Ugly stages absolutely no fun. I find it better to keep the water quality consistent rather than "clean", i.e., I only do WC based on nitrate and phosphate levels. When my nitrate gets 5ppm and /or phosphate exceeds .1, then I do a small change. This change drops nitrate to 2.5 ppm and phosphate .05.

Maybe some of this helps, maybe not, it's just one way.

Your going to be really pleased when the ugly stages end, but yes, oh yes, annoying and frustrating during.

Best of luck!

+1 This

Not to sound completely retarded but what do you do to lower the Alk? I’ve kept reefs of and on for many years. Almost always LPS based tanks where I hardly ever checked Alk. Now I have a much smaller tank with swings and a few SPS pieces.


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Thanks for the kind words. I’m hoping to add a little more rock up top and a few more corals and let it grow. Here’s to hoping.

I agree with the don’t worry about super clean water and worry about consistent parameters. I think I get in my own head a little with a small tank and think I need to change water constantly. I’ve been debating slowing that down and keeping an eye on the parameters.

I do need to start monitoring mag more because I couldn’t even tell you the last time I checked it. Thanks again for the input.

Rick


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Those numbers are safe as is, for most setups, so I wouldn't worry much yet. I agree that testing the salt mix is the first step. I suspect that the product in question mixes up at about those levels or higher.

Lower alk with muriatic acid.



Calculations for figuring out dosage...


water volume x DKH drop x 0.123 = amount to add in ML.



Example:

25 gallons of water, 2.5dkh drop x .123 = (this is my typical calculations for my 25G brute)7.68 or in my case I would just add 7.5 and test. This will usually take me to just around 8.5DKH.


Just keep in mind that the PH will drastically fall when adding the acid. Let your SW mix for another 24 hours before using to bring the PH back up.



And for the love of all things salty, under no circumstances should acid be added to a running system.

Thank you! I like the “for the love of all things salty” I could just see someone dumping acid in their reef [emoji23]


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You laugh, but it's been done. Thats the reason for the disclaimer.

Sadly I’m sure


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Your alk is not that high so I wouldn't go out of the way to lower it. You run the risk of doing more harm than good.

Your tank is only 3 months old and looks pretty good so I would just sit back and enjoy for a while.

If you want lower alk switch to a salt that doesn't mix so high. I'm about to go from RC back to IO for that same reason.

That’s the plan. I just mixed up a new water change and the parameters are calcium 440 alk 10.0 mag 1400. I’m just going to leave it alone and continue us water changes for now.

Thanks for the help folks!


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