Calcium & Magnesium keep increasing

[Mz. Fix It]

My tank is a little over a year old. I initially purchased every piece of equipment known to man kind for manual testing, automatic testing and dosing. I assumed after reading every forum I could read and watching every video I could find, including the BRS series, that eventually I would need to dose 3 part, cal, mag & alk. However, my tank continues to struggle keeping my alkalinity between 7 & 8 with daily dosing of alkalinity only, but my calcium & magnesium are forever skyrocketing to levels between 650 to 700 for calcium and 1400 to 1500 on magnesium even though I never dose those items due to already high levels. I have begun to wonder if the old saying "for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction" is the culprit to my dilemma.

Should I perhaps dose calcium & magnesium as well even though their levels are already way too high? How would I even know how much to dose since my tank is not depleting either of those elements?

I was initially trying to run the Triton method and the test samples I sent in have come back stating all my levels are good but my nitrates are a bit high at 20ish. I finally threw in the towel on that method requiring no water changes and began doing water changes in the past month along with using some NoPox dosing. I have gotten my nitrates down to 1 but my cal & mag are skyrocketing more than ever now and I'm having to chase my alkalinity to keep it up daily so it doesn't plummet.

I have always kept freshwater tanks and finally took the plunge and started a salt tank because friends/acquaintances kept telling me it is just as easy as freshwater once it's mature/cycled. However, I know now they lied!!! It's always something to tweak, change, remove, add or something. It has proven to be a daunting task and extremely expensive.

Anyone that can offer suggestions/ideas regarding my cal & mag challenge will be greatly appreciated.

Before anyone asks, the I am using Tropic Marin Pro salt. Have been doing weekly water changes for the past 4 weeks.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Well first, you're using excellent salt so I don't think that's the issue. What are you using to test for Cal/Alk/Mag, Salifert, Red Sea, Trident? How often are you testing? What are you using to test your salinity and are you sure that's accurate? Last, what are you dosing, specifically? Is it just some BRS Soda Ash mixed in RODI? Or are you dosing other things as well? Assuming correct testing, that Cal/Mag is coming from somewhere and we just need to figure out what that is.

Personally, I don't consider your Mag skyrocketing. I keep mine around 1400-1425. Also, is there a reason you're trying to keep super low nutrients? What's your phosphate at?

 

[Jen1978]

Dose more Alk. You are correct, lower Alk = high cal and mag. Once you get the alk to around 8.5, the other two should level out. I had the same issue of alk at 7.5 that led to cal of 500 and mg of 1500. Once the Alk was up, the others came down

 

[Jen1978]

So in addition to my above, I am using the same salt. Yes, it mixes to only the 7.5 usually. Have you seen the BRS video of how to find out what you need for proper daily dosing?

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Dose more Alk. You are correct, lower Alk = high cal and mag. Once you get the alk to around 8.5, the other two should level out. I had the same issue of alk at 7.5 that led to cal of 500 and mg of 1500. Once the Alk was up, the others came down

I would recommend against dosing anything additional until the OP gets confirmation on their tests. IMO there is no correlation between maintaining lower Alk and skyrocketing Cal/Mag unless all 3 are being dosed...incorrectly. The OP has said they are only dosing Alk and doing water changes and IMO neither of those would cause increasing Cal/Mag. Many successful tanks on R2R (including mine) maintain close to NSW levels with Alk 7-8.

 

[Jen1978]

I would recommend against dosing anything additional until the OP gets confirmation on their tests. IMO there is no correlation between maintaining lower Alk and skyrocketing Cal/Mag unless all 3 are being dosed...incorrectly. The OP has said they are only dosing Alk and doing water changes and IMO neither of those would cause increasing Cal/Mag. Many successful tanks on R2R (including mine) maintain close to NSW levels with Alk 7-8.

If he doesn't have many corals to consume the calcium and Magnesium though, they will rise if the alk is low. I know because I went through it myself.

 

[Mz. Fix It]

Well first, you're using excellent salt so I don't think that's the issue. What are you using to test for Cal/Alk/Mag, Salifert, Red Sea, Trident? How often are you testing? What are you using to test your salinity and are you sure that's accurate? Last, what are you dosing, specifically? Is it just some BRS Soda Ash mixed in RODI? Or are you dosing other things as well? Assuming correct testing, that Cal/Mag is coming from somewhere and we just need to figure out what that is.

Personally, I don't consider your Mag skyrocketing. I keep mine around 1400-1425. Also, is there a reason you're trying to keep super low nutrients? What's your phosphate at?

I am testing daily with Reefbot using Red Sea reagents (however, this week it has taken a dive so I'm working w/their techs to figure out why it has stopped giving me results), I test daily with Trident, daily with Hanna checkers and daily with manual Red Sea kit, NYOS for nitrates and although I have every kit sold (seriously I'm OCD) I eventually get tired of testing and the time spent so I don't always get around to all the manual test kits daily. I initially relied on the Trident for daily testing and did manual testing weekly. I wanted to get an answer for the variance in readings so I started daily testing a month ago when I converted over to "traditional" reef keeping from the Triton no water changes method.

Salinity, I have the Apex and I also use the Hanna probe for salinity.

I was at ReefAPalooza last October and met with ME founder. After hearing their spill I ordered all their line of additives. I also have in my arsenal but haven't used any of it, all the Seachem products and Red Sea line.

I dropped my nutrients from 20ish down to 1 because the Triton method, as well as everything else I was reading about, talks about high nitrates being the culprit for everything bad that happens in life. So I used the NoPox but have turned that dosing pump off at this point.

Phos is at .1, which was pretty much where it hovered before NoPox but I was running GFO in a reactor. However, that too currently is shut off.

I am dosing only the ME alkalinity and nothing else. I have emailed Seachem yesterday and should hear back from them tomorrow regarding my thoughts on using their Reef Fusion 2 once I run out of my ME alkalinity. I chose ME product over all the others in my arsenal because it was the only one that states it's alkalinity only. The others seem to allude to the fact that it has "other" things than just the alk so I am unsure about going that route.

Thanks for answering my plea for suggestions.

 

[Mz. Fix It]

Dose more Alk. You are correct, lower Alk = high cal and mag. Once you get the alk to around 8.5, the other two should level out. I had the same issue of alk at 7.5 that led to cal of 500 and mg of 1500. Once the Alk was up, the others came down

I have mainly stayed between 7 and 8 on the alk reading because I was running the Triton method and that is what they want you to keep it at. However, as of a month ago I've converted over to the "old fashioned" reef keeping method with weekly water changes. Will still have Triton do my water samples but with their no water changes method I couldn't seem to keep my nitrates down.

 

[Mz. Fix It]

If he doesn't have many corals to consume the calcium and Magnesium though, they will rise if the alk is low. I know because I went through it myself.

She does have a tank full of corals. Apparently they aren't consuming the cal & mag.....never have actually.

 

[DivingTheWorld]

Something is still off because tanks don’t increase Cal/Mag on their own. While you’re using a salt which is close to NSW, there’s always the possibility that it’s either being mixed wrong or you have a bad batch. Test the next batch you mix up for Cal/Alk/Mag.

Regarding your Salinity testers, Apex is crap. It’s more of a novelty which may or may not be accurate. I can’t speak to the Hanna because I haven’t tried one, but it might be good to double check with a good old fashioned refractometer. I like tech too, but I regularly verify with old fashioned testing.

 

[Mz. Fix It]

So in addition to my above, I am using the same salt. Yes, it mixes to only the 7.5 usually. Have you seen the BRS video of how to find out what you need for proper daily dosing?

I did look around on BRS videos and the only calculating video I could find was how to use their products and calculate. When I decided to try it anyway (their calculator) when I entered my high calcium reading it gives me an error message stating I need a lower reading so it can help me choose what I need to dose. Very frustrating.

However, I did watch another of their videos regarding best dosing products, etc and they talk about Triton being their best but expensive. Since I already have all the Triton products I'm going to go back to using them instead of anything else I have since they include all the trace elements. Perhaps turning off their dosing due to not needing anything more may have been a contributor to some things starting to look bad, hence why I stopped doing the Triton method (no water changes) and converted over to the weekly water changes. I'm going to forge forward with my weekly water changes and start dosing the Triton parts 1, 2, 3a and 3b....but I'm still unclear if dosing the part 1 and 2 (cal & mag) will have future bad side effects. The Triton products have trace elements in their products so perhaps stopping parts and 1 & 2 a couple of months ago is contributing to the decline in some of my corals where as I assumed it was the 20 nitrates. I'm perplexed but I'll keep trudging forward one day at a time and hope for the best.

 

[Jen1978]

I did look around on BRS videos and the only calculating video I could find was how to use their products and calculate. When I decided to try it anyway (their calculator) when I entered my high calcium reading it gives me an error message stating I need a lower reading so it can help me choose what I need to dose. Very frustrating.

However, I did watch another of their videos regarding best dosing products, etc and they talk about Triton being their best but expensive. Since I already have all the Triton products I'm going to go back to using them instead of anything else I have since they include all the trace elements. Perhaps turning off their dosing due to not needing anything more may have been a contributor to some things starting to look bad, hence why I stopped doing the Triton method (no water changes) and converted over to the weekly water changes. I'm going to forge forward with my weekly water changes and start dosing the Triton parts 1, 2, 3a and 3b....but I'm still unclear if dosing the part 1 and 2 (cal & mag) will have future bad side effects. The Triton products have trace elements in their products so perhaps stopping parts and 1 & 2 a couple of months ago is contributing to the decline in some of my corals where as I assumed it was the 20 nitrates. I'm perplexed but I'll keep trudging forward one day at a time and hope for the best.

If cal and mag are high, then those numbers should not be put into the BRS calculator. Only add the Alk to their calculator as that is what you should be dosing.. I would strongly suggest to not dose anything your tank doesn't need. If you only need Alk, dose just alk for now. I don't even think I'd consider the triton method for myself until my tank is established and at least 2 years old.