What is the best way to add calcium to a sumpless tank?

[brucoh]

I do not have a sump or a calcium reactor and I'd like to know the best way too add calcium and other elements to my tank in order to sustain good coralline growth. I've been using aragamilk, but it doesn't seem to get much going. I have a few spots here and there, but nothing really takes off. I have a couple of pieces of LR that were covered pretty good in purple, but I am in the process of "cooking" my rock due to a hair algae problem that won't go away. I figure that when it's done "cooking", all the coralline I had before will be gone and I'll have to start from scratch. I also got a couple of new pieces of base rock that are bright white that will need some algae growth. Would using a product like a Kent Marine Aquadose (the gravity fed IV type dosing system) work if I dripped it into my skimmer? Or would that cause my skimmer to go crazy? It's not good to drip it straight into the tank, right? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

[egdevilboy]

i use b-ionic

also check into seachem's reef builder.

Check the chemistry forums.

Calcium is directly related to alkalinity which is related to PH, etc...

[mg426]

Never tried that skimmer tihng you are asking about.hard to say allthough it dont take to much to freak most skimmers out. drip kalk in the tank at night???

[LaDonaDorada]

why isn't it good to drip right into the tank?

[brucoh]

Not sure why, I thought I heard that dripping kalk straight into the tank wasn't good. I don't know if I am right or wrong about this.

[brucoh]

bump

[SDguy]

Originally posted by brucoh
bump

You can drip kalk straight into the tank, just do it right in front of your strongest flow pump outlet, and only use the clear, settled liquid (no kalk particles in the tank please ). If it's a small tank, I'd recommend maybe a 2 part system like B ionic instead. Also, make sure to check your Mg level, since coralline tends to really take off when your Mg level is up to par.

Check out the Chemistry forum for all sorts of other info.

[mg426]

Thanks thats what I meant. You added a bit more detail thanks.

[Drewpy]

seachem reef calcium and reef builder for maintaining and reef advantage calicium (powder concentrate of reef calcium you mix with top off water) to increase calcium levels when needed.

[brucoh]

Thanks for the replies, BTW it's a 29 gal. so I guess B-ionic would be best.

[chip721]

I have a sumpless 54g. I use a 2ch. dosing pump to add about 30ml of B-Ionic every night between mid-night and 4am. You can use a gravity fed device. But for B-Ionic, the components need to be added equally and seperately. I drip directly into the tank in a high flow area. I have to stay diligent about scraping the coraline algae off my glass. I don't think you mentioned what corals you have or are contemplating (softies, LPS, SPS). I'd measure ca and alk, and then dose accordingly to stay in the 7-11 dKH, 380-450 ca range. IMO, I wouldn't add anything into the skimmer.

[brucoh]

IMO, I wouldn't add anything into the skimmer.

Yeah, the only reason I brought that up was because I have a BakPak 2 and I was wondering about dripping the I.V. into the return section of the skimmer. That way it just be immediately returned to my tank through a high flow area. The corals I have right now are just softies and that's all I plan to keep for now. I'm only running 130w of PC and won't buy anymore lights until I upgrade to a bigger tank.

[fishdoc11]

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

I've been using Randy's "first" recipe for several months now and it works very well.

hth, Chris

[johnydart]

I've used a 5 gal. bucket (with a hanging hook in the ceiling over the tank) and used an old air hose as siphon, with a knot to slow the siphon to a drip and dripped the fluid in over the course of an hour, also have done this with a hyper salt-mix to bring SG back up.