Need Calcium help!!!!

[Reeltherapy07]

Ok im new to the forum and once I can figure out how to fit the pics I will post them. Ive always had a problem with calcium. I get it checked and its off the charts or low. I do what I need to do to correct it and then its fine. Then a week later I test it and its out of wack again. Sometimes Alkalinity sometimes Calcium. I add 2 times a week Reef fusion part 1 and part 2. Every time I add fresh water to the tank which is weekly the fish store advised me that I should add Kalkwazzer every time I add freshwater. Im confussed between, do I add Kalk or buffer? Is there something better than the reef fusion part 1&2? This has driven me crazy for a long time now.:mad2:

 

[Ron Reefman]

A) You ask about calcium and alk but you don't offer numbers. Or how big or old your tank is. Or what kind of corals you have and how well populated the tank is. How can we offer advise? We are just shooting in the dark.
B) You didn't even mention magnesium.
C) You need to start testing for calcium, alk and mag every day, or every other day at least. Once you get things under control you can dial back the testing.
D) Bulk Reef Supply has a calculator that will tell you how much of each you need to add to get to 'normal' levels. I use real calcium and soda ash not something Reef Fusion has cooked up and charges an arm and a leg for. Ask me about it and I'll give you the full story.
E) test every day and add what ever you need every day.
F) After a week or so, you'll see a pattern develop in terms of how much of each you need to add EVERY day. I have a big system and I dose 400ml of calcium and 400ml of soda ash (for alk) every day. I add mag as needed once a week. My calcium is 420, my alk is between 8 and 9dkh and my mag is around 1400. My mostly sps and lps tank is doing fine and the corals are growing well.

 

[Downbeach]

I'm not familiar with that two part product, but if your Mg is low, then you're going to have a problem getting your Alk and Ca to stabilize. What are you using to test your Ca and Alk with? Do you have a test kit for Mg?

 

[beaslbob]

Ok im new to the forum and once I can figure out how to fit the pics I will post them. Ive always had a problem with calcium. I get it checked and its off the charts or low. I do what I need to do to correct it and then its fine. Then a week later I test it and its out of wack again. Sometimes Alkalinity sometimes Calcium. I add 2 times a week Reef fusion part 1 and part 2. Every time I add fresh water to the tank which is weekly the fish store advised me that I should add Kalkwazzer every time I add freshwater. Im confussed between, do I add Kalk or buffer? Is there something better than the reef fusion part 1&2? This has driven me crazy for a long time now.:mad2:

Take a look at this thread:

https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/reef-chemistry-forum/39332-do-yourself-two-part-links.html

Which has the diy two part link.

I was exactly like you untill I followed that method.

You'll be surprised how easy and inexpensive it is and calcium, alk, mag problems will be a thing of the past.

Actually it was so inexpensive I used to give away the ingredients at local club meetings.


my .02

 

[Reeltherapy07]

Downbeach what do you use for Ca and Alk? I see now I need to get a Mg test kit. I do not test for Mg. Which one would you recommend?

 

[Reeltherapy07]

beaslbob I will take a look at that link and hopefully that will help me out. Thanks for the info!

 

[Reeltherapy07]

Reefman thanks for the info. I will get a Mg test kit and test every day and hopefully I can come up with some pattern to help me out. I have a 90 gallon tank by the way. My last calcium test read 500. Once I get more concrete info I will let you know. Thanks

 

[Dan_k]

I use red sea and have no problems with it the mg test is a pain but I think its easier then any other test kit out there

 

[Downbeach]

Downbeach what do you use for Ca and Alk? I see now I need to get a Mg test kit. I do not test for Mg. Which one would you recommend?

I've had good luck with both Salifert and the new Red Sea kits for these tests. The Red Sea Coral Foundation Pro kit has all three test kits: Ca, Mg and Alk. Like Dan said the Mg test it a bit laborious, but if done properly will give you reasonably accurate results. Once you see that your Ca and Alk are stable, you probably won't be testing your Mg that often.

 

[Ron Reefman]

I have both Salifert and API test kits for calcium & alk and salifert for mag (API doesn't make one). People talk about API not being accurate, but the true is, it's just as accurate, it just has a less graduated scale. API is in units of 20 and Salifert is in units of 5. So API will give you a 400, 420 or 440 reading and Salifert will give you 415, 420 or 425. But they both are accurate. Our local club just did a test kit test meeting and there were a lot of API, Salifert and Red Sea Pro test kits. They all produced similar results and who was doing the test seems as important as which kit they are using!

As for what product to dose, I found Dowflake, Magflake (snow melting chemicals in 50lb bags) and sodium bicarbonate (pool chemical in 20lb box) work as well as anything that anybody else sells and is anywhere from 50-90% less expensive. Even BRS calcium in a 35lb (5g) bucket is over $70... that's $2/lb plus shipping. I got Dowflake from a hardware store in a 50lb bag for under $20 and no shipping... that's less than $0.40/lb. Reefers have been using these chemicals for years now with no issues.

Keep us up to speed on your testing and dosing. You'll get it squared away in no time.