calcium is super low

[tboy]

please help
I started this hobby almost 2 years now and I couldn't never get the calcium right. Different test kit give me different reading. I just got a 26 gal 12 weeks old and everything was fine even that i know my calcium is not right. but the past couple days all my purple algae started turn in to white and grayish. I just bought a new test kit from Seachem reef status and tested. the result came out only 100. is it possible? everything else in the tank seem fine only because I been do my water change every other day.

 

[murph145]

yeah thats possible..... do u have any corals in your tank now??
besides the coraline algae any other calcium users??
coraline doesnt use tons of calcium .....
what kind of water are u using for your changes?
do u add any supplemements to try and raise your calcium levels??
u should start it will take a while toraise it back up....
is all your coraline turning white/gray?

 

[tizzo]

Originally posted by murph145
do u add any supplemements to try and raise your calcium levels??
[/B]
Do you add supplements to raise your alkalinity?? Or better yet, a "buffer"?
What's your alk levels?
What kinda salt do you use.
Can you test for magnesium? Do you have a kit for that?

 

[tboy]

I have a lot of coral and polyps in there even with a sea apple. My alk is always 1.1 to 1.7 which is low and i have no clue how to raise it up. (Please help.) I try all kind of different salt and I will focus at the to see what is the difference. don't have magnesium test kit yet because i been trying to boot up my calcium. PLEASE HELP

 

[tizzo]

I am stealing this from Salifert...
"To low magnesium concentration makes maintaining correct calcium and alkalinity concentration difficult."
If both are low, you hafta test your mag levels!!
Take a sample to your LFS and ask them to do it.