Low alk / high calcium issue

[Djkoleohn]

hi I’m new to reef tanks but have been researching a lot . I’ve been testing my water daily for the past couple weeks and can’t seem to figure out how to lower my calcium while raising my alk . The past 4 days my alk has steadily dropped from 7.62 down to 7.17 today while my calcium has been up over 500ppm .... when I first started to test my water alk was right at 9dkh and calcium was 480 . That was about a month ago , since then I added sps frags and noticed my calcium raise ? The past 2 weeks I’ve started to dose just the alk part b-ionic 2 part hoping calcium would lower to the point that I’d be able to dose equally .... I keep raising the amount I’m dosing and literally it keeps dropping . I’m up to dosing 180 ml a day of alk busy still dropping .... is this a normal amount ? I would have expected it to be a lot less . Would love to have my tank at stable 9dkh and about 420 cal

Alk 7.17
Cal 500+
Mag 1425
Ph 8.2
Po4 .17

 

[Djkoleohn]

Here’s a pic of my tank to get an idea of how many frags are in it

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

hi I’m new to reef tanks but have been researching a lot . I’ve been testing my water daily for the past couple weeks and can’t seem to figure out how to lower my calcium while raising my alk . The past 4 days my alk has steadily dropped from 7.62 down to 7.17 today while my calcium has been up over 500ppm .... when I first started to test my water alk was right at 9dkh and calcium was 480 . That was about a month ago , since then I added sps frags and noticed my calcium raise ? The past 2 weeks I’ve started to dose just the alk part b-ionic 2 part hoping calcium would lower to the point that I’d be able to dose equally .... I keep raising the amount I’m dosing and literally it keeps dropping . I’m up to dosing 180 ml a day of alk busy still dropping .... is this a normal amount ? I would have expected it to be a lot less . Would love to have my tank at stable 9dkh and about 420 cal

Alk 7.17
Cal 500+
Mag 1425
Ph 8.2
Po4 .17

I don't know about B-Ionic but as far as I know 2 parts should be added the same.

 

[Anthonykp17]

2 part should be dosed the same. also 180ml seems like a lot in a new tank like that seems a lot, but i haven't used b-ionic. nut i am assuming its similar to brs 2 part and if so than 180ml is a lot.

 

[Djkoleohn]

If I dose them equally wouldn’t my calcium just continue to rise ? It’s over 500 right now , but my alk continues to drop

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

If I dose them equally wouldn’t my calcium just continue to rise ? It’s over 500 right now , but my alk continues to drop

I use Randys recipe 2 of for 2 part + Mag. I recently had prettt much the same thing. Cal was 650+ an Alk was up and down I quit dosing and things have began to get normal again oddly my Calcium has dropped am Alk has risen back up it was 12 the last test 11 before that but over the last couple weeks it has dropped 20-50 ppm every couple of days. I'm going to test again later today and see what I get. I do top off with a mild kalkwasser mix.

 

[WWIII]

2 part should be dosed the same. also 180ml seems like a lot in a new tank like that seems a lot, but i haven't used b-ionic. nut i am assuming its similar to brs 2 part and if so than 180ml is a lot.

B-ionic is 1.5x the strength of BRS 2 part. So actually he's dosing similar to 270 ml of BRS equivalent.

I assume bad alkalinity tests, what test kit are you using @Djkoleohn ?

 

[cracker]

It's got something to do with the 2 prts being balanced. If You ad an amount of one you should add the same of the other. Even though the CA is high now.It balances out after a while. Mr Randy told me that. He's the chemistry expert here. Also it takes a lot more of the Ca part to raise it a lot, while just a litte of the ALK can raise it a lot . Search here of on the net for "Using balanced 2 pats additives." There should be info out there.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

B-ionic is 1.5x the strength of BRS 2 part. So actually he's dosing similar to 270 ml of BRS equivalent.

I assume bad alkalinity tests, what test kit are you using @Djkoleohn ?

That's good to know and for what little frags are in the tank that seems like a ton imo

 

[Djkoleohn]

I’m testing alk with Hanna and the cal with Salifert ..... would you guys recommend me to stop dosing all together or should I lower the dosing amount of alk and add equal parts of cal and see what happens ?

 

[Djkoleohn]

I’ve kind of been going on a sps shopping spree of late , I have 7 more coming on weds haha

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

I’m testing alk with Hanna and the cal with Salifert ..... would you guys recommend me to stop dosing all together or should I lower the dosing amount of alk and add equal parts of cal and see what happens ?

Hopefully the doctor will chime in lol but that's what he recomended I do and not to worry about dosing unless the alk dropped below 7Dkh

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

I’ve kind of been going on a sps shopping spree of late , I have 7 more coming on weds haha

I feel your pain as my screen name states Reef addict high I my names Mike I'm addicted to reefs LPS and softies are my coral of choice...

 

[Djkoleohn]

Hopefully the doctor will chime in lol but that's what he recomended I do and not to worry about dosing unless the alk dropped below 7Dkh

Fingers crossed haha , looking forward to getting this issue ironed out , btw think forgot to mention the tank is 90g Abe sump 30

 

[william.sting]

I'd suggest two of Randy's articles.

The first is published in advanced aquarist:

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

This covers your situation and gives advice on how and when to correct. I used this advice and it worked like magic, or maybe science.

The second article it also spot on. From reefkeeping.com:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?

Randy may also weigh in as well. Let us know if these articles solve your problem.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

I'd suggest two of Randy's articles.

The first is published in advanced aquarist:

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

This covers your situation and gives advice on how and when to correct. I used this advice and it worked like magic, or maybe science.

The second article it also spot on. From reefkeeping.com:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?

Randy may also weigh in as well. Let us know if these articles solve your problem.

Both great reads found them googling when I first got back into the hobby. The reason why I use his 2 part. I make a gallom of calcium for about 2 bucks and alk os about 1.50

 

[Djkoleohn]

I just found it , I’m gonna read up on it soon as I get out of work .... working weekends now to support this hobby haha , thanks the suggestion

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The first thing to do in such a scenario is to determine how much you are actually dosing in terms of dKH or meq/L per day. We would use that to determine if the dose seems excessive.

To calculate that, we need the tank water volume. What is it?

 

[Anthonykp17]

Think he said 90 and 30. So 120 minus rock and little because tank not filled to the top

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If the total water volume is 100 gallons, then the daily dose is 4 dKH, nd that is high for such a tank

All that raw rock is likely acting as a seed crystal for calcium carbonate precipitation.

Here's a copy and paste commentary from another person with a similar situation:

It is not uncommon to have substantial precipitation of calcium carbonate, especially in newer tanks with lots of raw calcium carbonate surfaces to nucleate more precipitation.

There are a lot of things that can be done to reduce precipitation, but the easiest is to lower the pH (use baking soda or a two part based on baking soda for alk, not a higher pH system based on carbonate, which the B-ionic you are using is) and to lower your alk goal for a while to let the precipitation surface "cool off" and get coated with the stuff that normally reduces precipitation (phosphate, organics, magnesium, etc.).

I'd target just 7.0 dKH for a while. Everything is fine at that alk, and consumption will be lower. When you do additions, add to a very high flow area (not into a powerhead, but maybe just after it). Don't dose next to a heater, since calcium carbonate will precipitate onto it.

If you want calcium lower, just don't dose it for a while. The salt mix likely had excessive levels (assuming the test was correct).