Optimal calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium levels?
 

What is the consensus, or anybodies opinion, on the optimal levels to try and keep calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium at (for a mixed soft/LPS/SPS reef) Also, what is a suitable range for each?

Mine are currently:
Ca: 400
Alk: 7 dkh
Mag: 1410

"optimal" will vary upon who responds but average range for my mixed reef tank is
Ca: 400-425
Alk: 9-10 dkh
Mag: 1375-1450

Bookmark for future reference - http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

Same thing dr said.
Cal-400-425
Kh 9-10
But ultimately if you want the best growth you can get it's about maintaining those levels the best you can. The more stable your alk and cal are the better your growth. That's why people spend more money on reef crystals because after the mix the water comes out almost exactly the same alk and cal as their water in there tank. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the good reference info. I've been up and running 9months (125gal mixed reef). About a month ago I got the mag test kit (only test kit i didnt have) and it tested about 1100, I brought it up slowly over last month to 1400. I had virtually no coraline growth before but it is popping up nicely now. I'm working on raising my dkh up now, very slowly (was getting 6, recently 7-8). I just wanted to confirm what my targets should be. Thanks!

alk 8-10 not 7 not 11
cal 400-450 not 375 not 500
mag 1375-1450 not 1300 not 1500

the idea is to mimic natural sea water

what if your alk and calcium are out of balance? let's say your alk is at 12, but ca is at 390. Could that happen? How does that happen? and how do you fix it?

You could allow the ALK to drop over time and dose Calcium to slowly bring it back into proportion.

Ok so I've been reading lots of threads and tested today since my acros where not to happy . Alk is 9 dkh
Cal. Is 425
But my mag is the problem. Thought it was 1500 but as I'm typing this the color keeps changing so I keep adding more Titrant . And I'm past 1600 .
My question is how do I drop mag slowly

Ok so I've been reading lots of threads and tested today since my acros where not to happy . Alk is 9 dkh
Cal. Is 425
But my mag is the problem. Thought it was 1500 but as I'm typing this the color keeps changing so I keep adding more Titrant . And I'm past 1600 .
My question is how do I drop mag slowly


First you should probably try to find just how high your Mg is.

High Mg isn't a serious issue even up to about 2000. I'm unsure beyond that. You can just let it come down naturally but unless you have a LOT of sps and lps corals it will take a long time (months?). Water changes will lower the Mg level. Just do more frequent smaller changes and the reduction will be slow, although rapid changes in Mg are a serious issue IMHO.

Really? Because NSW is no where near those levels.

NSW:
CAL - 420
ALK - 7
MAG - 1280

We tend to keep our tanks for optimal growth and color, hence the numbers you suggested. But they are no where near NSW.

Our reefs are not the ocean. Anyways the numbers themselves aren't really that important as long as you are somewhere in the range of 8-420-1260 as others have described. Keeping them stable and non fluctuating IS the most important thing here.

Many people including me have ran alk ranges in the 11 or 12 but that isn't something I would suggest unless you have a good reason.

Calcium above 360
Alkalinity above 5.5
Magnesium above 1200 (I feel hypocritical saying this as this system is only 1040)