EMHRiverdale
New Member
Hi All! I've been in and out of the hobby for 20 years, but never run a well stocked mixed reef. Excited to have some new challenges!
Tank is 32 gal AIO with 1x XR15, 6 months old with LR. Calcium had been in the mid 400s, but began trending down along with Alk. I started 1/2 tsp of kalk to the ATO, which has stabilized Ca at 360 for 2 weeks now. Alk is up from 8 to 9. Phosphates are 0.1, Nitrates 10, both via hanna checker and stable for weeks. pH improving from 8 to 8.3 with kalk. Not testing Mg, but will if you all yell at me about it.
Corals (mostly hammers, zoas, a torch and a couple of acans) haven't been growing, and are generally lackluster but alive and stable. I target feed reefroids 2x week, and mysis to the fish. I'm testing flow and lighting (independently) to see if those are the issues.
My impression is that I have stabilized my calcium with the kalkwasser, but need to correct the low level in addition to maintaining. Is this interpretation accurate? What would be my most straightforward method to go about this for a newbie who is not eager to get a dosing pump added to the mix.
I greatly appreciate the gut check and recommendations!
Tank is 32 gal AIO with 1x XR15, 6 months old with LR. Calcium had been in the mid 400s, but began trending down along with Alk. I started 1/2 tsp of kalk to the ATO, which has stabilized Ca at 360 for 2 weeks now. Alk is up from 8 to 9. Phosphates are 0.1, Nitrates 10, both via hanna checker and stable for weeks. pH improving from 8 to 8.3 with kalk. Not testing Mg, but will if you all yell at me about it.
Corals (mostly hammers, zoas, a torch and a couple of acans) haven't been growing, and are generally lackluster but alive and stable. I target feed reefroids 2x week, and mysis to the fish. I'm testing flow and lighting (independently) to see if those are the issues.
My impression is that I have stabilized my calcium with the kalkwasser, but need to correct the low level in addition to maintaining. Is this interpretation accurate? What would be my most straightforward method to go about this for a newbie who is not eager to get a dosing pump added to the mix.
I greatly appreciate the gut check and recommendations!
