Difficulty dialing in calcium dose

[Picassoclown]

Hello everyone. I am on week 2 of dosing calcium in my 215 gallon system. I am using reef code A & B. I have stopped using part B as my alk is too high and I am waiting for it to come back down before turning on dosing again. I dose in a time frame from 8AM - 7PM with a total of 35ml. I take readings 2x's a day and it never seems to move between 290-310ppm. I am increasing the dose every day by 5ml. I know in time doing it nice and slow will eventually get me to perfect levels, but the questions I have are:

1) It's obvious that the tank will use more calcium during the day when corals and clam are most active, but Is there an optimal time of dosing calcium? I am changing it tomorrow to 6AM to 7PM at 40ml per day.

2) I am a bit nervous increasing too much per day, but can I increase the values a bit more than 5ml increments per day to increase calcium levels?

Thank you for the feedback everyone!

 

[HankstankXXL750]

Need to search @Randy Holmes-Farley thread on two part dosing in his reef chemistry forum. When dosing 2 part you should be dosing equal amounts. I found I was not getting to a balance when I started dosing and asked about increasing one over the other and was told not to. Something about the way they interact.

So I stuck with equal parts and eventually they stabilized. I dose 30ml day equally over 24 hours both parts of Seachem fusion 1&2 in my s1000 which is 210gal actual water volume. Alk 9.06 cal 331 Mg 1408. I just increased it yesterday from 24ml.

Now every tank is different and has different consumption rates so I’m not telling you to use my dosing schedule, but I think you should check dosing only 1 part.

 

[Reef Psychology]

How old is your tank? Are there corals in it? Are there fish in it? When you mix salt, what are the base levels? These things are important.

ALK will fluctuate a lot so it's very important to test at the same time every day. I dose in the early morning through the afternoon and always test at night right before lights out. ALK and Calcium will always try to balance themselves out so the more of one part you add the more screwy things may become and calcium could start falling out of solution. Have I done it? Yep. Is it advisable, nope. It's better to do water changes with salt at the exact levels you want. Eventually, they will even out.

ALK/Calcium swings are not great for your corals. Fish will tolerate it better, but I'd never dose more than 0.3-0.5 alk shift (equiv Caldium if you just dose that) in 1 day. I have no clue what that translates to in mL for your tank.

Lone story short, I'd just do large water changes with balanced mix until your levels even out. THEN start testing to see what your consumption rates are. If you have stuff in there that is consuming add equal parts of both and do a large water change with proper levels this weekend and again Wednesday next week.

Just my 2 cents, but I've ridden this rollercoaster a few times myself.

 

[nereefpat]

How are you testing Ca? That value is pretty low, unless your salinity is low.

1) It's obvious that the tank will use more calcium during the day when corals and clam are most active, but Is there an optimal time of dosing calcium? I am changing it tomorrow to 6AM to 7PM at 40ml per day.

Doesn't matter, as long as it's far enough apart from your alk dosing that the two don't combine and precipitate.

2) I am a bit nervous increasing too much per day, but can I increase the values a bit more than 5ml increments per day to increase calcium levels?

You should be able to dose 50 ppm Ca in a shot.

 

[Picassoclown]

How old is your tank? Are there corals in it? Are there fish in it? When you mix salt, what are the base levels? These things are important.

ALK will fluctuate a lot so it's very important to test at the same time every day. I dose in the early morning through the afternoon and always test at night right before lights out. ALK and Calcium will always try to balance themselves out so the more of one part you add the more screwy things may become and calcium could start falling out of solution. Have I done it? Yep. Is it advisable, nope. It's better to do water changes with salt at the exact levels you want. Eventually, they will even out.

ALK/Calcium swings are not great for your corals. Fish will tolerate it better, but I'd never dose more than 0.3-0.5 alk shift (equiv Caldium if you just dose that) in 1 day. I have no clue what that translates to in mL for your tank.

Lone story short, I'd just do large water changes with balanced mix until your levels even out. THEN start testing to see what your consumption rates are. If you have stuff in there that is consuming add equal parts of both and do a large water change with proper levels this weekend and again Wednesday next week.

Just my 2 cents, but I've ridden this rollercoaster a few times myself.

Tank is 4 months old, post cycle. I have a bunch of fish, inverts, crabs & snails, conches, and LPS/softies in it, along with a nice crocea clam. I know that reef code a & b compliment each other, but I can't do much until alk drops a bit as it is still too high right now. I can no longer do water changes as it is more expensive over time then to just dose calcium and alkalinity. I still do them, but only about 15-20 gallons every 2 weeks.

Thanks everyone for the feedback. I will keep finely tuning it daily. Eventually it will be on the right track!

 

[Picassoclown]

How are you testing Ca? That value is pretty low, unless your salinity is low.

Doesn't matter, as long as it's far enough apart from your alk dosing that the two don't combine and precipitate.

You should be able to dose 50 ppm Ca in a shot.

Salinity is at 1.025 and calcium is being tested with Red Sea test kit. I know it was low and accurate for a while because corals started to shrivel a bit. Once I started dosing, things have sprung back to life (with the exception of 1 torch, luckily it's not my holy grail lol). I will increase it a bit more daily. Thanks for the feedback!