Thoughts on Coral-Up

Wbflyer · Apr 2, 2020

Hello all,

I have a few bottles of Coral Up and a new bag of Kalk. I am not currently dosing anything since I only have a few corals however my levels are not where they need to be in order to support more LPS or SPS. Because of that I have been using Coral up to increase my Ca, Kh and ph levels. Maybe I am not using enough but I'm not seeing much changes. Ca is around 380, KH is around 7.6 and ph is around 7.7. 50 gallon display with 20 gallon sump. As you can see in the pic, I don't have a lot of corals yet but again trying to ready for when I do :)

ndrwater · Apr 2, 2020

All those numbers should be higher IMO. I would increase your dosages slightly as well as testing daily to see where you are at.
Most people find a lot of success in the 8.5-9 range as far as Alkalinity goes. The other 2 parameters should follow in line as your Alkalinity increases

Wbflyer · Apr 2, 2020

ok, perfect, do you mean I should keep dosing Coral Up or Kalk? I haven't dosed Kalk yet but not sure if I should get individual numbers up first.

ndrwater · Apr 2, 2020

Hypothetically both.
Just be sure to be testing regularly an hour or so after dosing. You need to find the "Sweet Spot" for how much to dose to keep things in line.
Kalk works for many people by not only buffering pH, but adding Alk as well. Your Calcium is probably fine where it's at with the amount and type of corals you have, but the other 2 parameters could use some help.
When you get to where things are looking super happy, take note of your Alk and pH. Keep them as stable as possible. You'll have great success.
Just keep in mind, as things start to thrive and grow, or, if you add more corals, you will have to adjust your dosing to keep parameters in line with your "Sweet Spot"