Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - Let's talk about Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium in an SPS Tank

Sk8r · 08/07/2007, 09:43 PM

I am in a bit of a situation, or I landed in one, when I moved, had my rock crash and cook because of a delay in setup: I had to go ahead and put all my corals [held at my lfs] into a raw new tank, and I lost the mille. Bear with me: this does somewhat bear:

I have always dosed Kent Turbo Calcium, Kent Mg, and Kent Dkh Alkalinity Buffer, testing every 3 days, never able to get cal much above 400, mg about 1200, alk about 8.3 no matter what I did...in the old setup.

Knowing I was in trouble, I set up a 20g refugium, got a kalkreactor, and now maintain a much steadier 420 calcium, 9.3 alk, and about 1400 mg. The surviving sps are beginning to come back, not yet regrowing rtn'd areas, but thickening tissue in 'good' areas and turning quite strongly green/orange, etc, as appropriate---acropora aculeus [I think] and a definite several montiporas: as yet not a bit of polyp extension, but phosphate levels are dropping significantly [kalk is alleged to precip it out: don't know, but it is dropping, since algae is going away.]

I'm pretty steady at 420 c, 9.3 alk, and 1400 mg, and I'm liking that level, based on the reaction of some really badly abused sps. I'm determined to get this tank back on track post-move, and I'm happy to hear others opine that that's not a bad range to be in.

What else has changed for me is stability. I'm only a 54g, with a 30g sump/refugium, and I've gone from a daily dose and 20 point flux in most readings, to no flux to speak of. Being as small a tank as this is, the kalk is able to hold it steady, with only once a month dosing, and I think this is going to be a vast improvement over my old situation, [I had buffer supplied by the topoff, but had a fierce alk build-up, over time: I know everybody says if you get an alk spike it's harmless and just let it fall naturally---but I lost 4 acroporas in that period. So if I ever get another such alk spike [though the old method of dosing is now done-with] I will be much more aggressive about remediating it with water changes. My current goal is not to let such things happen.

08/07/2007, 09:43 PM	#16
Sk8r RC Mod Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Spokane WA Posts: 34,628 Blog Entries: 55	I am in a bit of a situation, or I landed in one, when I moved, had my rock crash and cook because of a delay in setup: I had to go ahead and put all my corals [held at my lfs] into a raw new tank, and I lost the mille. Bear with me: this does somewhat bear: I have always dosed Kent Turbo Calcium, Kent Mg, and Kent Dkh Alkalinity Buffer, testing every 3 days, never able to get cal much above 400, mg about 1200, alk about 8.3 no matter what I did...in the old setup. Knowing I was in trouble, I set up a 20g refugium, got a kalkreactor, and now maintain a much steadier 420 calcium, 9.3 alk, and about 1400 mg. The surviving sps are beginning to come back, not yet regrowing rtn'd areas, but thickening tissue in 'good' areas and turning quite strongly green/orange, etc, as appropriate---acropora aculeus [I think] and a definite several montiporas: as yet not a bit of polyp extension, but phosphate levels are dropping significantly [kalk is alleged to precip it out: don't know, but it is dropping, since algae is going away.] I'm pretty steady at 420 c, 9.3 alk, and 1400 mg, and I'm liking that level, based on the reaction of some really badly abused sps. I'm determined to get this tank back on track post-move, and I'm happy to hear others opine that that's not a bad range to be in. What else has changed for me is stability. I'm only a 54g, with a 30g sump/refugium, and I've gone from a daily dose and 20 point flux in most readings, to no flux to speak of. Being as small a tank as this is, the kalk is able to hold it steady, with only once a month dosing, and I think this is going to be a vast improvement over my old situation, [I had buffer supplied by the topoff, but had a fierce alk build-up, over time: I know everybody says if you get an alk spike it's harmless and just let it fall naturally---but I lost 4 acroporas in that period. So if I ever get another such alk spike [though the old method of dosing is now done-with] I will be much more aggressive about remediating it with water changes. My current goal is not to let such things happen. __________________ Sk8r Salinity 1.024-6; alkalinity 8.3-9.3 on KH scale; calcium 420; magnesium 1300, temp 78-80, nitrate .2. Ammonia 0. No filters: lps tank. Alk and cal won't rise if mg is low. Current Tank Info: 105g AquaVim wedge, yellow tang, sailfin blenny,royal gramma, ocellaris clown pair, yellow watchman, 100 microceriths, 25 tiny hermits, a 4" conch, 1" nassarius, recovering from 2 year hiatus with daily water change of 10%. Last edited by Sk8r; 08/07/2007 at 09:49 PM.