Peeleca Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 I posted a few weeks ago about my ridiculously low Ca levels (< 300), and yet here I am not getting higher than 320. I have done a greater than 50% water change and changed out 10g with Coral Pro Salt. I changed another 5g today and my Ca is 300! My specs: 30g Volume 1.023 78.6 F pH: 8.0 kH: 7.0 Nitrite: 0.0 Nitrate: 0.0 Ammonia: 0.0 I have 2 clowns, 12 cerith snails, 6 nassarius, 30 micro ceriths (I know entirely too many, Reef Cleaners did my a 'favor', a bunch are coming out). A small trumpet, finger leather, devils hand, frogspawn, and 15polyp zoa colony. The low Ca has been a problem prior to the addition of the micro ceriths. As far as I can tell the coral is happy. They open when the lights come on and close in the evening. I want to add a few small pieces of SPS but can not get this Ca under control. I have no additional equipment in my sump, at the moment. Any ideas as to what it is I'm doing wrong? Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 4, 2014 Share Posted December 4, 2014 Why not try dosing calcium instead of water changes to correct it? Link to comment
Peeleca Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 That is definitely an option. I was advised to do water changes to remedy the situation. I was checking to see if there was anything else I was doing wrong or could check before dosing. I'll look into that, thanks. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 That is definitely an option. I was advised to do water changes to remedy the situation. I was checking to see if there was anything else I was doing wrong or could check before dosing. I'll look into that, thanks. If your salt is testing normal levels then that is not your issue. Once it is low though, doing water changes will take longer to bring it up than dosing. I would just buy Kent Marine Liquid Calcium. It works great for me whenever I need to raise my calc a few points if my water changes are not keeping up. Link to comment
Lawnman Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Why 1.023? Why not 1.025? What test kit are you using? Something is off with your test kit but the levels should come up if you bring up that salinity. Link to comment
LynkUK Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 Are you testing the water just before it goes into the tank? Are you miking the bucket of salt before adding it to the water? The contents can and do seperate and settle. Is the salt clumpy? If so, it has gotten damp. Link to comment
Peeleca Posted December 5, 2014 Author Share Posted December 5, 2014 I haven't tested the salt itself after mixing. I'll do that tomorrow morning. I was told by LFS that 1.023 is best for the coral. I begin bringing up my salinity. I'm using the API Reef master test kit, which is a pain to use. My results were confirmed at the LFS. What does 'miking the bucket' mean? The salt hasn't appeared to be clumping and pours evenly. Link to comment
bevo5 Posted December 5, 2014 Share Posted December 5, 2014 I'd also take some water to the LFS and ask them to test it as well. It could be that your kit is expired or just wacky. I've had two very different readings between two different kits. Link to comment
LynkUK Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 By mixing the bucket, I mean rolling it around. Seperation can occur over time leaving heavier ingredients near the bottom of the bucket and lighter ones at the top. Link to comment
Peeleca Posted December 6, 2014 Author Share Posted December 6, 2014 By mixing the bucket, I mean rolling it around. Seperation can occur over time leaving heavier ingredients near the bottom of the bucket and lighter ones at the top. Understood. I use a pump to mix. I'll turn the pump on in the water and slowly add the desired amount of salt. Link to comment
plainrt Posted December 6, 2014 Share Posted December 6, 2014 S.g is too low and is why cal and alk low Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 7, 2014 Share Posted December 7, 2014 A specific gravity of 1.023 is not going to cause his calc to drop that low, either he has a bad test kit or a bad salt mix or possiblly a precipitation event occurred that was not seen. I don't where this idea that 1.023 S.G. is the cause of low alk and calc but this is not true. Link to comment
Arkayology Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 A specific gravity of 1.023 is not going to cause his calc to drop that low, either he has a bad test kit or a bad salt mix or possiblly a precipitation event occurred that was not seen. I don't where this idea that 1.023 S.G. is the cause of low alk and calc but this is not true. Think about it. If you need 3.5 cups of salt to for a mix of salt to get to 1.025 sg with lets say 8.0 dkh and 420 Ca and it is mixed to 1.023 using 2.75 cups, it only makes sense that you are going to have lower DKH and Ca because less salt is being added to the same amount of water. Now if the mix is supposed to mix to 1.023 and have acceptable levels of Ca and Dkh for corals that is a completely separate issue as to why the OP doesn't have high enough Ca levels. I would also add that 1.023 is on the lower side of optimal sg for corals IMO. Link to comment
CronicReefer Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 Think about it. If you need 3.5 cups of salt to for a mix of salt to get to 1.025 sg with lets say 8.0 dkh and 420 Ca and it is mixed to 1.023 using 2.75 cups, it only makes sense that you are going to have lower DKH and Ca because less salt is being added to the same amount of water. Now if the mix is supposed to mix to 1.023 and have acceptable levels of Ca and Dkh for corals that is a completely separate issue as to why the OP doesn't have high enough Ca levels. I would also add that 1.023 is on the lower side of optimal sg for corals IMO. I understand your point but I don't know of any salt that will mix that low at 1.023. Most salts will tell you what levels mix up at what S.G. Reef crystals for example will mix to 420ppm calc at 1.023 and 370 at 1.021. This is why I said it's not his S.G. as it is not low enough to warrant calc levels of under 300ppm. Link to comment
markalot Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 What test kits are you using? <------ You say you are using Coral Pro ... Red Sea Coral Pro? here is the page that lists the levels at various salinity. http://www.redseafish.com/red-sea-salts/coral-pro-salt/ At 33ppt KH will be around 12KH and calcium around 440. You are testing KH at 7 and Calcium at 320. That sounds about right, you are dropping KH (the important reading) by 5KH which is a huge drop. I dislike Red Sea Coral Pro and their ridiculous levels, but that's just my opinion. People have reported mixing issues with RSCP when using either warm or very cold water. You need to test the mix you make to ensure you are getting what they advertise. As for dosing, IMO ... Always use a quality two part solution to start with when dosing, and dose equal parts both parts. If you want to really screw things up then start dosing just calcium or Alk to try and balance things. Link to comment
RollaJase Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I agree with Mark. Also, what's your Mag at? Mag will effect the Alk and Cal readings also. Also, if your wanting to add SPS I would be more worried about getting the Alk stable rather than Cal. As Mark said above, at your current salinity a fresh salt mix should give you 12dKH. A swing from 12dKH to 7dKH will wipe out any piece of SPS you add, my tank is still recovering from Alk swings months later. Link to comment
basser1 Posted December 8, 2014 Share Posted December 8, 2014 I agree with Mark. Also, what's your Mag at? Mag will effect the Alk and Cal readings also. This.... Link to comment
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