Guy Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 The title says it all. I have a 10 gallon and a recently set up 29 and was wondering what most folks are using to maintain calcium. Thanks Guy Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 thread on "What additives are U using?" its like 3 pages back. it should help ya. Link to comment
Metznreef Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 i use sea chem reef builder like once a week and my calcium stays at 500-550 ppm Link to comment
NanoReefer53 Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 dude metz, that's a lil high for calcium. use b-ionic, it mantains at calcium & alkalinity at perfect levels. If u didn't know, alk and CA have a relationship in terms of balance, search google and you'll find long long articles on it. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 Reef Complete @ approx 25% of recommended dose. Link to comment
Satchmo Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 B-Ionic here too. Easy to use and cheap for small tanks. Link to comment
Sahin Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 I have a 24G tank stocked with clams, a few SPS corals and some LPS corals. I use midweek; kents liquid calcium, and weekends; C-balance. Link to comment
Guy Posted August 31, 2002 Author Share Posted August 31, 2002 Thanks for the reposnses. I actually have a fairly large supply of bionic from my 55 gallon set up. it was a bit too costly for that size tank, but i will give it a shot on the smaller and see how it works out. I have used seachem in the past as well but it was a bit harder to keep the levels from getting into the 550+ range for me. Thanks guy Link to comment
Metznreef Posted August 31, 2002 Share Posted August 31, 2002 how does high clacium(more than 500 ppm) affect a reef? does it have detrimental affects? Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 Hummm I don't know... LOL, I do know that you should try and keep it between 400 and 500, closer to five if possible... But I honestly don't know what happens if you have too much... I tried looking it up in the books I have here, but nada! I too would be very interested in this answer... I have never heard this question posed before, nor have I ever pondered... strange... Link to comment
tinyreef Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 i believe : the ca will drop out of solution around 650 mg/l crashing your alk and ca at the same time by forming calcium carbonate (caco3). never had this happen to me so i'm just feeling around on it, don't quote me. i'm a b-ionic man. Link to comment
Todd March Posted September 1, 2002 Share Posted September 1, 2002 I use B-ionic too, but I also drip Kalk with a Kent Aquadoser. I find that dripping kalk just does something to a tank, and it seems to run smoother and grow much less algae. I know that kalk precipitates phosphates out of solution, so that is one factor, but my tank never had phosphates to begin with...? I swear that as nice as B-ionic is, using it in combination with kalk has just worked great for me. I can't imagine running a tank of any size without kalk top off water. It's a bit of a pain in the ass to mix and drip, but I really consider it worth it... Another plus is that I have never had to worry about calcium dropping below 420 ppm... You can up Ca with B-ionic alone, but then your pH goes up as well (unless you use the new Bi-carbonate B-ionic)... Kalk is also very cheap, and saves on B-ionic costs too... Todd 20 gallon tank Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 ya know.. thats a good question....... IME... Calcium will "snow" at around 580 ppm and the alkalinity will not be able to keep carbonates in check. Also the enzymes needed to break down sand by bacteria are accelerated... in essence making a calcium "bridge" between the substrate grains... in essence... Cement. Also if you keep high calk, some of the softies will slime toxicaly due to over production of muchucs. Im going to look into it... It will be a good thread topic. Link to comment
Metznreef Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 i have noticed that sometimes grains of my aragonite sand will sort of stick together. is this what you are talking about dave? i am definately dose calcium less often and try to get it around 450. Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 yep.. given time.. it will be rock solid. I had to tear down a 90 gall reef of a buddys that was like 6 years old.. he ALWAYS ran his calccium around 5-600 cause his Acros ate it up so fast that the alk never had issues..... BUT his LS did. We needed a chizel to get it out in some spots...... Link to comment
Metznreef Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 so do you think i should just dose small amounts of calcium like once a month? i don't want this "bonding" of sand to persist. my entire SB will end up being a concrete block. there is bubbles in the Sand bed so i know it is denitrifying. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 This is probably the most interesting conversation that I have ever read here!! Thanks guys! I had heard of this happening when dosing with Kalk, but i thought it was a product specific thing... Very informative and interesting! Guess it is a good thing I have never overdosed... Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 well metz U need to "learn" your tanks required dose.... Test often fer a few weeks every 4 days... if the dosages stay the same, but the calcium drops, U need to add more..... If the CA levels remain the same... U need to decrease the supplement untill u reach homeostasis (ooooohhhh big word).. at 450. Try to adjust accordingly. once U know the required dose to keep it a t 450, test every 2 weeks.. as corals grow, they will require more..... BUT it will depend on self sustanance.. remember that as PH drops over night, CA and alkalinity respond accordingly throught dissolution of aragonite LS. Hope this helps. I dont want to loose yall... I could Go WAYYYYYY into this. Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 Feel free to let us have it Dave... I am thoughly enjoying this post! Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 NO ! Buy my book >>>. LAMO Link to comment
printerdown01 Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 I have just never had that "I wonder if..." pop into my head on this subject -which is HIGHLY unusual with me, lol! So I have been flowing this one closely... PLEASE if anyone has additional info on this post it! THIS IS COOL STUFF! Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted September 2, 2002 Share Posted September 2, 2002 I wonder if .....I can #### off Saddam Hussain if he ever post here? Chances are? 90 % I get him to blow his brains out..... Link to comment
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