THE BIG 3: Where to keep your Cal, Alk and Mag in your reef tank?

[NDIrish]

I might try that too, yeah, but it seems a good idea to do the test in the house first, just to see if the extra aeration from the airstone is what’s raising the Ph, or is it really just the air used -outside vs. inside -scientific method and all

I have any air pump with air stone already in my sump when I tested mine.
If it's CO2, your air pump will be pulling the CO2 from inside the house.

 

[Dburr1014]

Last time I checked
Alk 9.4
Cal 455
Mag 1230 (low, so I bumped up auto doser)
I was checking weekly cuz dinos was creeping in. That lead to low sg. It went to 1.021. That lead to coral struggling. Found the problem and lost nothing and now my reef is thriving.
My last testing date is May 3rd. I have been meaning to do a series of testing but life gets in the way sometimes. Still have some dinos and can't seem to get rid of them but they haven't killed anything yet.
Pic from August 4th.

 

[Bob Escher]

See most successful aquariums have Alk, Calc, & Mg dialed in.

Just curious what is the PHCARX ? can you give us the settings for it? It doesn’t look like PH
Thank you

 

[PeterC99]

Just curious what is the PHCARX ? can you give us the settings for it? It doesn’t look like PH
Thank you

PHCARX is the pH for my calcium reactor.

Solenoid for the CO2 for the calcium reactor turns on when pH gets to 6.3 and off 6.2

 

[Panama Brown]

I test all 3. Alk I test about every other day to make sure my Kalk doser is keeping up with any changes I make from adding / selling coral. I test Cal & Mag every Saturday. However, in theory if I test Mag, my true Cal should be 1/3rd of what my Mag reading is. So it's almost uneeded to test Cal, in theory.

I run the Reefers Moonshine Theory, so I do not do water changes, so it is imperative I keep track of these values. Also running Kalk i find my Mag is used up faster than normal. Below are the values I do my best to keep consistent...

Alk - 8.25 / Cal 420 - 440 / Mag 1350 w/ Salinity of 1.025, Temp avg 77f

 

[Timfish]

1. What do the numbers look like for you when it comes to Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium? What's your target?

2. How important are these three numbers for you? Do you have a hard time keeping them consistent?

1: I don't have specific numbers I try to keep them at. Reef systems are dynamic and I expect some change. As long as they are in an acceptable range I'm happy.

2: Very important! Most of the time I don't have issues with them changing much. However, over the decades I've maintianed multiple ssytems I know from experience a system may stay realtively consistant for months or years and suddenly have significant changes in a short time. All three should be monitored regularly. However an aquarist choses to dose or adjust them, products should be on hand to use at all times.

 

[Tidal Gardens]

1)Our Target
Alk 8.5
Cal 450
Mg 1350
2) It is super important to keep everything steady and to know what they are at all times. Not a hard time keeping them... only sometimes if we miss a reactor that ran out of Co2

 

[Cool tangs]

Alk always comes first for stability! Followed by calc and mag.

I test alk every 1-3 days depending how lazy i get. I normally test calc and mag once a week or once a fortnight.

I also test nitrate and phosphate, keen to get well established to test less, but in saying that i feel more secure to protect my investment testing more reg.

 

[Thank Space]

My tank keep
Alk 7-7.5
Ca 400-420
Mg 1350++
K 400-420

 

[revhtree]

My tank keep
Alk 7-7.5
Ca 400-420
Mg 1350++
K 400-420

Wow unbelievable!!!

Do you have a build thread here?

 

[Thank Space]

Wow unbelievable!!!

Do you have a build thread here?

I've been posting for af and orphek groups but it's been a long time.

 

[revhtree]

I've been posting for af and orphek groups but it's been a long time.

Please start a thread for us here!!!

 

[Thank Space]

Please start a thread for us here!!!

Please start a thread for us here!!!

Ok bro

 

[puffdragon]

I run a 2 stage calcium reactor; kalk top off with a dosing pump that doses every hour. Alk 9.0 ; Ca 450 and Mag 1500+; k 420

 

[Treefer32]

I am two part dosing. Baked Baking soda about 3/4 cup powder dissolved in 1.5 liter of RODI. and I dose around 240 ml of that a day which is starting to not be enough. I may have to go to 11 ml an hour 264 ml per day. Right now when I do a water change it goes up to 9dkh, and over 3-4 weeks drops down to 8.1. So, I know I'm consuming more than I'm dosing. My calcium stays consistently at 500-525 dosing calcium chloride (BRS). I dose the same amount of this per day 10 ml an hour right now.

I recently added in magnesium sulfate and magnesium chloride on a doser as well, and I'm only dosing 48 ml per day of that.

Mainly to ensure the reef has some sulfates. My magnesium has always tested at or over 1500.

Alk I test weekly
Calcium and Magnesium every 4-6 months.
Phosphates every 2-3 days, salinity only if there looks to be problems.
I keep my salinity around 1.025 with my calibrated refrac..


I dose red Sea ABCD trace elements 30 ml a week.

Thinking of transitioning to no water changes going forward to save on water.

 

[Gup]

I want to start introducing corals, so I'm currently making adjustments to the Big 3 right now

 

[StewL6]

Calcium 475 - 500
Alkalinity 8.0 - 8.5
Mag 1360 - 1380
Dose 12 ml of All for Reef a day
Ca and Alk Hanna checkers Mag Red Sea Pro
Test Alk almost daily Test Ca Weekly Mag Monthly
Mostly LPS and Zoe's just now starting to Add SPS
Tanks 22 book shelf Nano 9 months, 28 JBJ January 2012
110 gallon new build 30% done
Old fresh water guy that tore down fish room 2 years ago adding the SW to my Man Cave Area. Wife claimed old fish room for craft room C'est La Vie.
Always have used Reef Cystals

 

[Wolters_88]

My calcium is always at like 520 and I’m not even dosing it. How bad is that?

 

[Laith]

Are there any auto-testers that do PO4 or NO3?

The GHL ION Director tests for NO3 (as well as Ca, Mg, K and Na).

 

[725196]

1. What do the numbers look like for you when it comes to Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium? What's your target?

2. How important are these three numbers for you? Do you have a hard time keeping them consistent?

Although my alkalinity is low for what I like it is stable. I don’t chase numbers I chase stability. I do like to have a number range but it is more that it stays within a range than pegging it to a number.

alkalinity and pH are the most important of these followed closely by Calcium and Magnesium. I keep track of them all, which is easy with the Trident. Even before I had the trident I tested Alk and pH every day, calcium weekly and Magnesium bi-weekly. I don’t seem to have any difficulties keeping them approximately where I want them.