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smt91278
Guest
i was curious if it was a good idea to add a calcium supplement to the tank, with just the cleanup crew? what else does the calcium do behinds help the shellfish stay healthy and grow?
escape2thewater
Active Member
Too much CA can make your water turn white! also can affect other stuff, Do a search on alkalinity and you will find a post originally by broomer5 on water chemistry. It will "clear" things up some for you.HTH.
Kyle
Kyle
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thomas712
Guest
Originally posted by ajroc31
calcium can never hurt. From what I read, even in excessive amount.
Really? Ever had calcium seize up one of your pumps due to precipitation? Not a pretty thing to have happen, especially when its your return pump.
Thomas
broomer5
Active Member
IMO I don't think it's a good idea to add calcium to a tank - unless you are also dosing something for alkalinity as well.
One without the other often leads to worse water conditions than just doing water changes with new saltwater now and then.
In most cases ( most ) if we just add a calcium supplement without dosing a similar alkalinity product - the calcium will rise as expected - and our alkalinity will drop off substantially.
This will lead to an imbalance - one that can affect our pH too.
Dosing without testing is not so good either - hard to judge if you're making improvements or not.
Anything alive in the tank that likes calcium likes carbonates too - and when we think of calcium we should think of carbonates at the same time.
One without the other often leads to worse water conditions than just doing water changes with new saltwater now and then.
In most cases ( most ) if we just add a calcium supplement without dosing a similar alkalinity product - the calcium will rise as expected - and our alkalinity will drop off substantially.
This will lead to an imbalance - one that can affect our pH too.
Dosing without testing is not so good either - hard to judge if you're making improvements or not.
Anything alive in the tank that likes calcium likes carbonates too - and when we think of calcium we should think of carbonates at the same time.
broomer5
Active Member
Yep dreeves !
Kalk to maintain calcium/alkalinity/pH and Kents DKH builder/buffer for adjusting alk, and Kents Liquid Calcium for raising calcium ( or any good two part balanced product, or Seachems calcium & alk products or ..... the list goes on and on )
As long as you are addressing the calcium and alkalinity needs, and not neglecting one over the other.
Kalk to maintain calcium/alkalinity/pH and Kents DKH builder/buffer for adjusting alk, and Kents Liquid Calcium for raising calcium ( or any good two part balanced product, or Seachems calcium & alk products or ..... the list goes on and on )
As long as you are addressing the calcium and alkalinity needs, and not neglecting one over the other.