Calcium Level question

[Bill Nye]

I have been dosing Calcium for the last couple days to see if I could get my levels up to about 430. I use IO salt and these were the levels when I started out. I keep my salinity around 1.025.

 

pH - 8.4

Calc - 380

kH - 12

 

I have been dosing since 5/7 and today I just tested and my levels are

 

pH - 8.3

Calc - 380

kH - 11

 

I have been dosing 2.5 mL of Bi - Ionic Calcium (pt 2) every day since the 7th and my calcium level hasnt risen but my kH has gone down by 1. I do not have a magnesium test so Im imagining that maybe I have a really low Mag level and it is keeping my calc very low as well. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

edit

 

My tank is 5.5 gallons and I have been dosing as if I had 4 gallons of water in the tank. I have about 6 or 7 lbs of rock and 5 lbs of sand. I also have a ac 70 mod on it.

[Amphiprion1]

I have been dosing Calcium for the last couple days to see if I could get my levels up to about 430. I use IO salt and these were the levels when I started out. I keep my salinity around 1.025.

 

pH - 8.4

Calc - 380

kH - 12

 

I have been dosing since 5/7 and today I just tested and my levels are

 

pH - 8.3

Calc - 380

kH - 11

 

I have been dosing 2.5 mL of Bi - Ionic Calcium (pt 2) every day since the 7th and my calcium level hasnt risen but my kH has gone down by 1. I do not have a magnesium test so Im imagining that maybe I have a really low Mag level and it is keeping my calc very low as well. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

 

edit

 

My tank is 5.5 gallons and I have been dosing as if I had 4 gallons of water in the tank. I have about 6 or 7 lbs of rock and 5 lbs of sand. I also have a ac 70 mod on it.

 

Use the following calculator: http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html --you'll need flash player.

 

Enter your tank volume, desired concentration, and current concentration and calculate the amount of B-Ionic you'll need in total. Try not to exceed 20-25 ppm increases per day and divide it up accordingly. Then dose normally. You should have the issue resolved within a couple of days, after which you can easily resolve the alkalinity. After both are on target, you can continue to dose normally again.

[cheryl jordan]

Definitely look towards Mag to stablize your Alk and Ca+.

 

[Bill Nye]

Use the following calculator: http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html --you'll need flash player.

 

Enter your tank volume, desired concentration, and current concentration and calculate the amount of B-Ionic you'll need in total. Try not to exceed 20-25 ppm increases per day and divide it up accordingly. Then dose normally. You should have the issue resolved within a couple of days, after which you can easily resolve the alkalinity. After both are on target, you can continue to dose normally again.

 

 

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html Ya thats the same one I was using. It told me to add about 12.4 mL to get from 380 to 430. I have added about 8.5 mL over 3 days and havent seen a rise in Calc but have seen a decrease in kH of one (which isnt a bad thing since my kH is 12 just from adding IO salt).

 

Im guessing that my Mag could be the problem. Im thinking of just ditching the rest of this IO bag and getting something better cause the levels are so bad in it.

[ulver982]

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html Ya thats the same one I was using. It told me to add about 12.4 mL to get from 380 to 430. I have added about 8.5 mL over 3 days and havent seen a rise in Calc but have seen a decrease in kH of one (which isnt a bad thing since my kH is 12 just from adding IO salt).

 

Im guessing that my Mag could be the problem. Im thinking of just ditching the rest of this IO bag and getting something better cause the levels are so bad in it.

 

Yeah, for sure test your mag and get that up and then dose for calcium. Once you get your mag up, you shouldn't have to dose it too often, or course that depends on if you have a lot of SPS and/or coralline. If you're already using IO you could switch to reef crystals which has higher calcium, alk and mag. A lot of people with reefs use regular IO but just dose to get they're levels just right. If your mag levels are correct, just test and dose, test and dose. It took me a long time and a lot of headaches to get my KH up to where I want it. I have to dose about 7ml a day with BRS recipe 1 to keep my alk up. I can go a couple days without dosing to keep my calcium up, which I like it around 420 ish.

[Bill Nye]

Yeah, for sure test your mag and get that up and then dose for calcium. Once you get your mag up, you shouldn't have to dose it too often, or course that depends on if you have a lot of SPS and/or coralline. If you're already using IO you could switch to reef crystals which has higher calcium, alk and mag. A lot of people with reefs use regular IO but just dose to get they're levels just right. If your mag levels are correct, just test and dose, test and dose. It took me a long time and a lot of headaches to get my KH up to where I want it. I have to dose about 7ml a day with BRS recipe 1 to keep my alk up. I can go a couple days without dosing to keep my calcium up, which I like it around 420 ish.

 

 

Thanks for the advice..looks like Im going to have to spring for a salifert MG test and a Mag supplement. I really didnt want IO ..i ordered reef crystals but they sent me the wrong thing I guess. I was thinking of getting some DD H20 or Tropic Marin Pro reef salt so I wont have to dose as much in a small tank.

 

The funny thing is that I have nothing but a clean up crew in my tank at the moment so theres nothing really sucking down Calc. From the link you provided in my other thread it says IO should have about 1300 magnesium which isnt that low. I wonder why I cant get my Calc to get higher.

[Asureef]

I used to have the same problem, I dosed Kent pt. A (3ml) for a week to bring my cal from 380 to 420. Now, I'm getting the opposite effect, low Alk & PH. PH hovers around 7.8-8.0, Alk at 6-7. I've been dosing pt. B for a week with little results. Though, calcium stay consistent around 420-450 without dosing. But, I do plan to increase my water changes to about every 3-4days. Hopefully, that will balance out the problem.

[reefer916]

If you switch over to Reef Crystals, just check your alk after you mix the water. For some reason the last two buckets of salt I've gotten has been testing with the alk at 7. I have to dose it with Mg and some Alk buffer to get it up to 10, where I keep my systems.

[Bill Nye]

Wow this is so annoying.

 

For 5 days I have been adding 2.5 ml of the Bionic PT 2 to a 5 gal tank and my calcium has not moved at ALLLLLL. My alk has gone down to 11 and now some how went back up to 12 without adding anything but Calcium since I started. Could my Mag levels really be causing this? Maybe Bi-ionic is messing with me and its just milky water in the bottle. Could not be more frustrated.

 

Im thinking im gonna dose a crap ton in my water change bucket and test the levels there to see if they will elevate so I can just use that water to raise my calcium level without doing little by little every day.

[timdanger]

Wow this is so annoying.

 

For 5 days I have been adding 2.5 ml of the Bionic PT 2 to a 5 gal tank and my calcium has not moved at ALLLLLL. My alk has gone down to 11 and now some how went back up to 12 without adding anything but Calcium since I started. Could my Mag levels really be causing this? Maybe Bi-ionic is messing with me and its just milky water in the bottle. Could not be more frustrated.

 

Im thinking im gonna dose a crap ton in my water change bucket and test the levels there to see if they will elevate so I can just use that water to raise my calcium level without doing little by little every day.

 

it doesn't matter how much calcium you put in your water if your magnesium is too low to support it in solution (i.e. keep it from precipitating out as CaCO3). your magnesium is going to have a direct effect on how much Ca your water can hold in solution.

 

Randy Holmes-Farley speaks directly to this issue here: "How does magnesium impact the balance of calcium and alkalinity23 in reef aquaria? In order to answer that question, one has to have a basic understanding of the calcium and carbonate systems in seawater. These systems have been discussed in detail in a variety of previous articles, so I won't go into them here in great detail. In short, calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is supersaturated in seawater,24 meaning that given enough time calcium ions will interact with carbonate ions and precipitate as calcium carbonate. If you push the concentration of either too high, CaCO3 will start to precipitate. Magnesium interferes with this process, permitting both calcium and carbonate to be elevated above where they would be in the absence of magnesium."

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm

 

i'd also recommend reading here for more information:

 

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-07/rhf/index.php

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

[Bill Nye]

Well I just ordered some ESV Magnesium and a Salifert Mag test from aquacave today. Well see how low my mag is when it gets here. Im gonna stop dosing calc till then.

[streetsong]

I was having the same issue. I was using IO and then upgraded to IO Reef Crystals. My tanks are all maintaining their calcium levels between weekly water changes.

[marinekeeper]

not me, i use reef crystals and all my levels need supplemented.

[Pilg0re]

I use RC, and with my API Calc test I get around 580-600 and my kH is 9.

[timdanger]

I use RC, and with my API Calc test I get around 580-600 and my kH is 9.

 

at what specific gravity?

 

if i did a Ca test that told me my Reef Crystals salt, at 1.024-1.026, was giving me 600ppm of Ca, i would get a new SG measuring device and/or Ca test.

[marinekeeper]

For sure, at 1.025 my ca reads 360 on API

[Pilg0re]

yeah mine is at 1.025 per refractometer, might need a new test lol