[ItsMee]

Hello! I am somewhat of a no0b when it comes to ca and alk. I have been studying Randy's articles and decided to use limewater as a means of a balanced ca and alk supplement. When I first tested, the calcium was at 340-360 ppm and alkalinity was around 6 dkh. I have no corals, but I do have a fair amount of coralline algae. I have never used any additives in this tank before (it is fairly new, but completely cycled). I decided to attempt to raise my calcium and alkalinity by adding more ca and alk via limewater per day than my coralline can consume thereby slowly increasing my levels to normal and to not use any other calcium or alkalinity additives other than limewater. I first started by replacing all my top-off water with 16 ounces a day with a concentration of 1 teaspon per gallon of water (I never use limewater older than 2 days). I test my ca and alk in the morning and at night with my PH readings. I noticed that since I drip this 16 ounces slowly at night that my PH readings do not change too much so just recently I bumped the concentration up to 2 teaspoons per gallon 16 ounces at a time.

My questions are: My calcium has increased to only 380 ppm while my alkalinity is now at 10 dkh - so my plans are working, but are these levels balanced? It seems that the calcium is a little on the low side (as I have heard is normal with Instant Ocean salt). Like I said, I am new to this and would like to get it down pat before introducing any corals. I would like confirmation that what I am doing is correct and I would also like to know where I should go from here. Should I add 20 ppm of calcium and then continue the balanced limewater, or should I only continue the balanced limewater without worry of adding anything un-balanced? It seems as if the ca and alk demands are fairly low considering how ca & alk have increased with how little limewater I have added - which makes sense if the coralline is the only consumer? Once the ca and alk are at levels which are balanced and just need to be maintained, what is the best way of going about finding a good approximation of what I should dose daily to not increase these levels, but just maintain them?

Also, I would like to thank you Randy, for the many articles you have spent the time to write as they have proven to be truly invaluable on my journey to a better reef! Thanks!