SeaFish Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 i ran both the calcium and alk tests twice to make sure. both of the test for calcium and alk are made by salifert ca and salifert alk test kits. my readings on for calcium =445ppm and alk =3.5973meq/L or 10.08 dKH on Feb 22, 2003. then i ran another test and my ca=425ppm and my alk=3.426meq/L or 9.6dKH. is a drop in calcium and alk normal? my ph=8.2 i have two spawn corals, two pulsing xenias, three mushrooms, orange rim zoo and a purple corcea clam(2in in size). i have a sabae clown, neon dottyback, coral beauty(very small) and a few hermits and about 8 margarita snails. i have about 25lb of live rock and 30lb or live sand. i am running a proquatics 300gph hang on filter witha aqua c remora skimmer with maxi jet1200 as teh driving force. my tank is kept at a constant temp of 80.1 F and my lights on on about 9 hours a day at 144watts intensity. are these drops in my readings normal for my 20gallon tank? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted February 24, 2003 Share Posted February 24, 2003 yes. it is called natural biological elapse processes. yer corals and stuff are using the minerals and Ca. as they do, well, it drops. kinda like having a 10 pound turkey. yeah its a lot, but once its all gone, yer still going to be hungry and usualy all the white meat goes first.... you still have Turkey, but really wanted more breast.... topping off your tank with a 2 part Alk/Ca blend will help to keep higher. actualy, yer tank even with your dropped levels, is still acceptable. your tank is also still fairly new, so stability is not solid yet. hth Link to comment
SeaFish Posted February 24, 2003 Author Share Posted February 24, 2003 thanks dave. i will try to find the range for the stability. i use 2 part b ionic calcium/alk additive. the weird thing is i add about 20ml of ca every two days and 2 ml of alk every two days. is it me or does that sound like a lot of ca and alk in a two day period. these dose are just so i maintain my ca at 425-450 and my alk at 9.0-10.0 i know the dosage really depends on the requirements of the tank, but with the instruction on b ionic, it said do not exceed 1ml/gal on any given 24 hour period. it just makes me think i am dosing a lot of ca and alk. am i just paranoid? the 20gal i have now is from my original 12g which was original of my 7 gal. got new tanks cuz my gf kept going big on me. from 7gal to 20gal i say it is about a little more then a year. am i just paranoid, tramatize and worrying way too much from my recent alk accident? Link to comment
Dave ESPI Posted February 25, 2003 Share Posted February 25, 2003 you should be dosing side A into a stream area of high flow, waiting around 5 minutes then dosing B. if you are OVER dosing in that great of differences of the parts consistently, check your magnesium. your test kit relys on Mg to be within range of 1200-1400 PPM for acurate results. try a supplemental calcium supp or kalkwasser to keep your CA up. Link to comment
SeaFish Posted February 25, 2003 Author Share Posted February 25, 2003 ok thanks dave. i will check mg tomorrow morning when lfs opens. what Mg do you recommend in the event that it is low. what is dependable and produce the best Mg result? Link to comment
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