Jump to content
Pod Your Reef

Low alk, high calcium


IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut

Recommended Posts

IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut

Hey everyone!

I've slowly been having more and more problems with my tank. It is 20 gallons (recently upgraded from a 10 gallon) and my corals just seem to be withering away. I've been out of the house a lot, so I just got to test parameters recently.

 

 

It turns out that my calcium is super high (close to 600) and my magnesium is well over 1500 as well; both of these were off the API chart, which I know isn't the most accurate but I got a sense for just how unbalanced things were. My alkalinity was also between 6-7 (I am going to order a proper tester from Hanna/salifert soon). 

I understand that calcium is indirectly related to alkalinity, but I don't understand how to dose them. I have never dosed before and really don't have any knowledge of the products available or the schedules needed.

For clarity:

Calcium: 550-600 ppm

Magnesium: 1500-1600 ppm

Alk: 6-7 dKH

pH: ~8.0 @ midday 

 

Corals: zoanthids, euphyllia, toadstool, blasto, acans

~15% water changes every week

 

If someone could point me in the direction of which dosers are best that would be amazing. From what I understand, I would just need to dose alkalinity? 

Also, what could cause something like this? I haven't had crazy coral growth and I don't have any SPS. I use Instant Ocean Reef and have never had problems with it before. Maybe this was just a bad batch? 

 

Thank you!

 

Link to comment

Magnesium being high has never been known to cause issues, some have increased magnesium to treat certain algaes.

 

Low magnesium is an issue as it effects the balance of ca and alk.

 

Alk and Ca do work together so when 1 goes up, the other drops. This can happen if per say someone doses only 1 of the elements.

 

What could also happen is a tank uses up alk but not as much ca.

 

It could be the salt. Have you tested newly mixed salt water to see what it mixes at? 

 

Also before using the salt, its good to stir it or roll the bucket if its in one. This just helps get it all evenly dispursed. 

 

I never had issues with my api test. They were pretty much the same results as red sea and salifert only difference was salifert and RS were right on the dot where as Api is even. You won't see 422 ca with Api but 420 and 422, not a huge difference. 

 

Now for alk, i loved hanna just because it was fast and easy results and i tested alk the most.

 

So what i would first do is test newly mixed salt. We need to know those parameters before we start fixing things.

 

Sometimes a good waterchange can rebalance things and get you headed in the right direction

Are you dosing anything in the tank, even coralline products, ph products?

Link to comment
IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut
44 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Magnesium being high has never been known to cause issues, some have increased magnesium to treat certain algaes.

 

Low magnesium is an issue as it effects the balance of ca and alk.

 

Alk and Ca do work together so when 1 goes up, the other drops. This can happen if per say someone doses only 1 of the elements.

 

What could also happen is a tank uses up alk but not as much ca.

 

It could be the salt. Have you tested newly mixed salt water to see what it mixes at? 

 

Also before using the salt, its good to stir it or roll the bucket if its in one. This just helps get it all evenly dispursed. 

 

I never had issues with my api test. They were pretty much the same results as red sea and salifert only difference was salifert and RS were right on the dot where as Api is even. You won't see 422 ca with Api but 420 and 422, not a huge difference. 

 

Now for alk, i loved hanna just because it was fast and easy results and i tested alk the most.

 

So what i would first do is test newly mixed salt. We need to know those parameters before we start fixing things.

 

Sometimes a good waterchange can rebalance things and get you headed in the right direction

Are you dosing anything in the tank, even coralline products, ph products?

Okay, I just did a mix to 35 salinity. 
Everything was the same except for alkalinity, which was 9. 

Unfortunately, I have an unopened bag of Instant Ocean that I'll try mixing this weekend. Again, I've never really had problems with them, but I guess this was a bad batch.

Link to comment
1 minute ago, IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut said:

Okay, I just did a mix to 35 salinity. 
Everything was the same except for alkalinity, which was 9. 

Unfortunately, I have an unopened bag of Instant Ocean that I'll try mixing this weekend. Again, I've never really had problems with them, but I guess this was a bad batch.

So the salt mixed ca at 600 and alk at 9. The CA seems really off. 

 

Any chance its the test kit? How many drops does it take for the water to turn pink?

Link to comment
IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut
4 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

So the salt mixed ca at 600 and alk at 9. The CA seems really off. 

 

Any chance its the test kit? How many drops does it take for the water to turn pink?

It could be the test kit (though its not expired until 2025 I am pretty sure), but would the high magnesium confirm it?

It took about 26-28 drops of API

Link to comment
IHaveADegreeInMarineBioBut

Okay, I just made a 35 batch with the other bag of IO I had.
It tested 10-11 dKH and 420 ppm Ca. That is in the range that IO states. 

Should I just continue doing small water changes until my alk goes up and Ca comes down?

And I'll probably switch salts after this bag..

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...

As long as you mix a whole bag at once, you aren't at risk for this happening at all.  

 

Scooping/using small quantities out of a large batch of salt is what introduces the possibility of it in the first place.

 

The problem is completely avoidable.

 

Plus, since it happens because of settling via movement during shipping and handling and the natural effects of gravity, every salt mix is subject to the same effects.  Just depends how much it was handled, etc, before you got it.

 

The real answer is to use the correct size batch of salt for the container you're using to mix in.

 

Instant Ocean sells several package sizes to facilitate this, down to 10 gallons.

image.png.cff219b0f3e15a64e14c6a1a11371d7d.png

FYI: Most folks are just cheap so they buy a large size and deal with the hassle/sub-optimal results.  I suspect more people should choose the smaller sizes for better results and a simpler experience, especially newbs.  But that's never been the trend.  🤷‍♂️

 

FYI, there's nothing harmful about the numbers you got, if that's a worry.  As others have said, high Ca and Mg are of no consequence.  Alk is on the low side, but not catastrophically so...only by a point to two, depending on your target alkalinity perhaps 3-4 points.  If you had a mature reef tank and did 10-20% water changes with that water it woudn't hurt anything in the short term.  You'd notice it on tests, just like you did here, and then fix it one way or the other like everyone has suggested.

 

It's something to learn/be aware of.  It's not an indication of salt quality.  🙂 👍

Link to comment

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

  • Recommended Discussions

×
×
  • Create New...