Calcium and alkalinity

Laura and Jim will be hosting the May meeting this Saturday the 12th and it will be the usual of food, drinks, raffle and fun.
 
Doors will be open at 6:00 pm for social talk and the meeting will start at 7:00.  Parking gets a little tight and the city says you can't park on 4th but there is a parking lot a block away.   Meeting is usually held in the backyard so feel free to bring your favorite lawn chair, weather permitting of course.

If you need address/directions, contact a club member.

Best if you park at Mini Mall (where the spaghetti establishment use to be)
 
You will get to see his new frag tank set up in the making.
 
Hope to see you there!

•    About the Club
•    MCMAC 2009
•    Constitution
•    Bylaws

[Guest]

Welcome, Guest.
Please login or register.

1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever

Login with username, password and session length

[Ron]

I have been reading about calcium and alkalinity levels and which salt should be used to maintain them.  The more I read, the more confused I get.  Could someone just give me the bottom line.  I use Oceanic salt and I have calcium levels well over 500, but my alkalinity is only 1.2 to 1.5 meq/l.  I was told (Aquatic Dreams in Spokane) that that was a common problem with Oceanic and that I should switch to Instant Ocean.  I only have a few soft corals in my tank, so I do not think I need the high level of calcium.  I have been adding Kent Marine Tech-CB, Part B to get the alkalinity up, but it is not helping.  I need to buy salt soon.  Should I switch brands?

[Ed]

Ron,
    It would be easier to switch to Instant Ocean and then add calcium slowly or every other day test until you get a formula down for your tank.   You could also let your tank balance itself out without using any additives.   There are so many different oppinions on Oceanic salt.   Both Oceanic and Instant Ocean have had bad Mixes of Salt.   You are right,  Soft corals do need calcium just not as much as Stoney corals.  Again, you want to try to maintain your alkalinity so your coral absorb the calcium properly,  Kevin recommends,  Kevin is honest and  has a lot of experience, that you  keep your calcium 400-420 ppm.   Kevin taught me to keep my alkalinity between 2.8-3.5.   That way your corals can easily absorb calcium.     You could go with Oceanic with High Calcium concentration and High Magnesium concentration Or You could go with Instant Ocean and maintain your calcium and Alkalinity easier by adding one part additives.  
One thing I had to learn was not to use combination additives.   I recommend not using a additive that has other elements in it.   Such as a additive that has Strontium and Magnesium when you only need Strontium.   Does this make sense to you?   You could have too much Magnesium.   Hope this helps..
Its good to see you on here,
Ed

[Ron]

Thanks Ed,
My tank had pretty well settled out at 500+ on calcium and less then 2 on alkalinity.  I don't think I need that much calcium, but I need the alkalinity up.  That is why I started adding part B, but it has not seemed to raise it much.  I think I will switch to Instant Ocean.  The calcium will probably drop to 400, but hopefully I can get the alkalinity up.  I just wanted to check with you guys to make sure I was not making a big mistake

Ron

[angelscrx]

I use the Oceanic and haven't had a problem with alk.  I started using Lime Water for buffering purposes though.  

Rick thanks for the dosing suggestions they seem to be working great.

[Zulreef]

I have been reading about calcium and alkalinity levels and which salt should be used to maintain them.  The more I read, the more confused I get.  Could someone just give me the bottom line.  I use Oceanic salt and I have calcium levels well over 500, but my alkalinity is only 1.2 to 1.5 meq/l.  I was told (Aquatic Dreams in Spokane) that that was a common problem with Oceanic and that I should switch to Instant Ocean.  I only have a few soft corals in my tank, so I do not think I need the high level of calcium.  I have been adding Kent Marine Tech-CB, Part B to get the alkalinity up, but it is not helping.  I need to buy salt soon.  Should I switch brands?

Ron,

What salinity number do you use on the hydrometer or thermometer?

[Rico]

Ron,

Maintaining the proper balance of CA & ALK can be a very challenging task.  I would strongly recommend reading the article at this link.  It will provide you with help in understanding how the balance of CA & ALK work and why increasing one will lower the other.  There is a very good tool for fixing the imbalance that often occurs in our reef tanks.  Book mark it, give it a good read and then use it when things get out of whack.  I think it will help you understand the issues and how to fix them much easier than getting varied advice from the forum.

Rick

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

[Yellotang]

Also a lot of times people are trying to force the numbers to be perfect. do not push for perfection, just harmony. I at one time had to add acid to my tank in low doses to bring down the alk level so that I can up the calcium level.    Or was that the calcium down and alk up??? oh I forget. :?