Calcium and Alkalinity

fernalfer · 10/19/2016, 02:28 PM

Ok i have my reef pretty stable now. My Calcium was like 540, Alk was 7, and magnesium was 1250. I switched to reef crystals and do a 10% water change every friday. I have added Baking Soda Daily to up my Alk which is now at 8.5dKh. It took about a month but my Calcium has now dropped to 480 and i supplemented Magnesium and it steadily sits around 1450

Current parameters are:

Calcium = 480
Alk = 8.5 dKh
Magnesium = 1480
Ph = 8.2

With these parameters my corals have looked the best and would love to keep these parameters as stable as possible. But how i ask? I have Kalkwasser from BRS should i start dosing that in my auto top off and add mag supp when needed?

Just trying to find the easiest way to stay right around these numbers.

Or is it ok to keep dosing Baking soda to keep my alk around 8.5 and let the water changes keep the calcium and mag hopefully steady. I feel that my Alk goes down everyday thats why i dose the baking soda everyday.

shadowmonster · 10/19/2016, 02:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernalfer

Ok i have my reef pretty stable now. My Calcium was like 540, Alk was 7, and magnesium was 1250. I switched to reef crystals and do a 10% water change every friday. I have added Baking Soda Daily to up my Alk which is now at 8.5dKh. It took about a month but my Calcium has now dropped to 480 and i supplemented Magnesium and it steadily sits around 1450

Current parameters are:

Calcium = 480
Alk = 8.5 dKh
Magnesium = 1480
Ph = 8.2

With these parameters my corals have looked the best and would love to keep these parameters as stable as possible. But how i ask? I have Kalkwasser from BRS should i start dosing that in my auto top off and add mag supp when needed?

That's what I do, although I'm only using one Teaspoon of Kalkwasser per gallon though. You may have to experiment with the dosage before you get it dialed in. When I need to bump up the Magnesium I just use Epsom Salts.

jacksonpt · 10/19/2016, 02:35 PM

I don't know if this is the best way to do things... but I got my params right about where they should be, then didn't do anything for a week. No dosing, no water changes, nothing. At the end of the week I retested. I used that as a baseline for how my params change over the course of the week (basically how much ca/alk/mg my tank uses), then started dosing 2-part alk and ca via dosing pumps. It took me a couple of months to get the dosing amounts dialed in, but things are running pretty well right now and things have been pretty stable.

I'm curious to see what other responses/suggestions you get.

fernalfer · 10/19/2016, 02:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowmonster

That's what I do, although I'm only using one Teaspoon of Kalkwasser per gallon though. You may have to experiment with the dosage before you get it dialed in. When I need to bump up the Magnesium I just use Epsom Salts.

Do you dose the Kalk in your Auto top off? And you can use epson salts? I like these cheaper alternatives.

fernalfer · 10/19/2016, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jacksonpt

I don't know if this is the best way to do things... but I got my params right about where they should be, then didn't do anything for a week. No dosing, no water changes, nothing. At the end of the week I retested. I used that as a baseline for how my params change over the course of the week (basically how much ca/alk/mg my tank uses), then started dosing 2-part alk and ca via dosing pumps. It took me a couple of months to get the dosing amounts dialed in, but things are running pretty well right now and things have been pretty stable.

I'm curious to see what other responses/suggestions you get.

Yes i'm glad it worked out for you. I just want to know the best approach going forward to keep those parameters i listed above steady.

jacksonpt · 10/19/2016, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernalfer

Yes i'm glad it worked out for you. I just want to know the best approach going forward to keep those parameters i listed above steady.

In my experience, the best solution is the one you're going to actually do/stick with long term. There are lots of ways to skin this cat.

shadowmonster · 10/19/2016, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fernalfer

Do you dose the Kalk in your Auto top off? And you can use epson salts? I like these cheaper alternatives.

Yes & yes.

I have a 5 gallon bucket that sits next to the tank. The ATO is on a timer so once every 6 hours or so the tank will be topped off. When I need to use the Epsom salts I just refer to the link below for the exact amount. So far so good.

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

fernalfer · 10/19/2016, 02:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shadowmonster

Yes & yes.

I have a 5 gallon bucket that sits next to the tank. The ATO is on a timer so once every 6 hours or so the tank will be topped off. When I need to use the Epsom salts I just refer to the link below for the exact amount. So far so good.

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

ok i have the Tunze auto top off that fills everytime it drops below the sensor line only adding small amounts of top off water which should be fine. I guess the hardest part will be figuring out the amount to put in the ATO.

tkeracer619 · 10/19/2016, 10:49 PM

As long as you're doing regular water changes you can use Epson salt. It's. Best to use both mag chloride and epson salt.

10/19/2016, 02:28 PM	#1
fernalfer Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 553	Calcium and Alkalinity Ok i have my reef pretty stable now. My Calcium was like 540, Alk was 7, and magnesium was 1250. I switched to reef crystals and do a 10% water change every friday. I have added Baking Soda Daily to up my Alk which is now at 8.5dKh. It took about a month but my Calcium has now dropped to 480 and i supplemented Magnesium and it steadily sits around 1450 Current parameters are: Calcium = 480 Alk = 8.5 dKh Magnesium = 1480 Ph = 8.2 With these parameters my corals have looked the best and would love to keep these parameters as stable as possible. But how i ask? I have Kalkwasser from BRS should i start dosing that in my auto top off and add mag supp when needed? Just trying to find the easiest way to stay right around these numbers. Or is it ok to keep dosing Baking soda to keep my alk around 8.5 and let the water changes keep the calcium and mag hopefully steady. I feel that my Alk goes down everyday thats why i dose the baking soda everyday.

10/19/2016, 02:35 PM	#3
jacksonpt Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Vestal, NY Posts: 3,679	I don't know if this is the best way to do things... but I got my params right about where they should be, then didn't do anything for a week. No dosing, no water changes, nothing. At the end of the week I retested. I used that as a baseline for how my params change over the course of the week (basically how much ca/alk/mg my tank uses), then started dosing 2-part alk and ca via dosing pumps. It took me a couple of months to get the dosing amounts dialed in, but things are running pretty well right now and things have been pretty stable. I'm curious to see what other responses/suggestions you get. __________________ Jackson - All advice I give is based on my first hand experience. YMMV. Current Tank Info: 38g (mostly LPS) with a 20g sump/fuge and all the other standard goodies

10/19/2016, 10:49 PM	#9
tkeracer619 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Westminster, CO Posts: 17,289	As long as you're doing regular water changes you can use Epson salt. It's. Best to use both mag chloride and epson salt. __________________ Hobby Experience: 9200ish gallons, 26 skimmers, and a handful of Kent Scrapers. Current Tank: Vortech Powered 600G SPS Tank w/ 100gal frag tank & 100g Sump. RK2-RK10 Skimmer. ReefAngel. Radium 20k.