Calcium and alkalinity!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
ok! i'm going to add the salt to my water probably right after i post this! I let the water circulate with the ph in the contaner over night, as well as let it heat up. I will most likely do the water change tomorrow either in the morning or possibly after work. I'm going to try to go out and purchase a calcium and alkalinity test kit from salifert (if i'm gonna get one i might as well spend the extra money to get one that everyone says is great) if i do, tomorrow b/4 i do the water change, i will test the new water for salinity, ph, am, trites/trates, ca and alk. Then i will do as all of you suggested and test over the next couple of days.
*If i understand everyone correctly*
When i find that the levels are droping i should then that night or the next morning b4 the lights come on does the tank? correct? and do i need a buffer to raise anything first or will B-Ionic 2 part system work fine when i dose the tank?
Thanks
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
B-Ionic 2 part is all you need. Find out your consumption rate and dose it everyday if you can to maintain steady levels.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Originally Posted by roadrunner
even in a 26 gal tank i should dose everyday?
In my opinion the smaller the tank is the more volatile the trace elements. So, I think smaller tank should be dosed much more often than larger tanks.
You consumption rate will have a lot to do with this though so you need to test often until you can get a "feel" for how often and how much you need to dose. Documenting your measurements will help a lot with this.
Best of luck!
 
jonnywater

jonnywater

Member
PH what to the water? I also aerate my water while I am mixing it. I have a 35 Gallon rubber trash can. I drilled a hole about 6 inches above the max water line and run the venturi (air tube for the powerhead) through that. Then I suck the powerhead to the side and turn the venturi all the way open. I let the heater heat it till it gets to the proper temp, then add my salt and wait about 12 hours. Usually start the heating Friday night and add the salt Saturday morning then do the water change that night.
It seems that two of us have the same opinions about dosing. I didnt mention it and dont recommend it just yet - but I use an eye dropper to dose my tank every day about 48 hours after doing a water change. I think it's, i dont know though, about 8 drops per day equals a cap per week based on my tank needs. So that is what I do.
 
hkdonreefs

hkdonreefs

Member
Before you use a 2 part additive you have to have alk and cal at proper levels or they will never get in line. If you have high cal you wont be able to raise alk and vice versa. Add a buffer get your alk up then dose trust me. I have read many articles about this.
 
roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
Bang told me that the 2 part addative of B-Ionic is all i need and although i dont know what my number are exactly, i know that there both low alk - 1.4 and ca - 300 so....
O does anyone know if RedSea test kits are any good?
 
hkdonreefs

hkdonreefs

Member
1 is calcium and the other is a buffer. They are designed to raise each equally so if you levels are out of balance to start with they will remain that way. You could use just one to raise one of the levels or more of one than the other but then you will run out of one faster. I use red sea calcium but I heard they are junk thats what my lfs uses and they are a very good store I dont go anywhere else.
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
Part A is to raise Alkalinity and part B is for Calcium. There are also other trace elements like Magnesium and strontium.
There's no problem supplementing with baking soda to raise ALK or Calcium cloride to raise Calcium to put your water back in balance.
 
roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
I'm going to dose...my lights just went out...should i dose now so that the pH stay up over night or should i wait and do it in the morning? do i turn my skimmer off or do i just let it to continue to run?
 
T

tizzo

Guest
I really skimmed through this cause I wanted to see if one thing had been pointed out and I did not see it so I will put it...
Either way, everyone is right your alk is low, but alk is measured in 2 different values. dKH and meq/l.
A normal tank has a dKH of 8-10, but that same amount in meq/l is 2.86 to 3.60. So if the LFS said your alk is 1.4, he may have been saying 1.4 meq/l which is about 4 dKH.
As I said, it IS low, but it may not be as low as you think...
Leave the skimmer on and do not raise your calcium more than 50ppm's at a time. I did that and my corals really got mad at me and my star got a white spot (which has since healed).
 
roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
i was wondering...i tested the calcium and alkalinity tonight with Red Sea test kits...i know that there no good and i agree after using it the first time tonight...dont worry i didn't buy these and i plan on getting salifert...soon...
but if i did it right...calium would be around 350 and alkalinity in meq/l would be around 2.0...are these numbers balanced enought that the B-Ionic will work?
so with those number i need to raise to around 400-500 for calcium and 2.8-3.6 meq/l
o yea when should i do the addatives...tonight or in the morning?
 
T

tizzo

Guest
You can add them tonight. Just make sure that the alk is in a high flow area. It looks milky when you put it in but it will not stay that way. As soon as it mixes well with the tank water, it will go clear.
 
roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
so kust make sure i put it into a high flow area...that it? and keep running my skimmer...ok...well here i go! o when i raise the alk. and ca my pH will raise correct!?!
right now its about 8.2
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Your PH may stay stable.
You know how much to add right??
Yes, keep the skimmer on, it will not be affected.
 
roadrunner

roadrunner

Member
i followed by what the bottle said...it said 1meq/l per 4 gals...26 gal tank...6.5 meg/l of each part...at least the Red Sea Test kits are good for something (good labels on the test tube!)
haha
 
T

tizzo

Guest
For future reference, it will be good to write down exactly how much you added. If you can stay up for one hour and retest then you will get the most accurate result. Add in your "log" exactly how much it raised each.
Then you can tweek the amount so you will have to dose less, but I cannot stress enough not to raise the calcium more than 50 ppm's at a time. At least wait 2 hours before redosing.
Or you can wait til tomarrow, but some will have already been used up. More or less depending on what you have in your tank.
 
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