Help with CA

dallassvt

dallassvt

Member
Hello fellow reefers!!
i am having trouble maintaining a CA level where I like it, around 400ppm. I have also noticed that my Mg was very low, around 1150 when it should be above 1300. So I have been adding Mg crystals every morning but seeing very little movement in levels.
I also use Seachem's Reef Complete Ca, which includes Mg.
Should I be dosing both the Reef Complete and the Mg crystals until I get the required levels or one than the other? is there a better CA i should be using?? thanks
Should I also keep dosing dKH buffer to keep the dKh from falling?
Water:
S.G. 1.025
Na 5ppm
PH 7.7
CA 300ppm
dKH 12
Mg 1150
Dallas
 
smokingreefer

smokingreefer

Member
I would be more concerned with your extremely low pH. What do you have in your tank? if you don't have anything in there than there's nothing to worry about :)
If you add dKH buffer than it's going to make it go up not stabilize it. Just keep testing and adding your Ca supplements until you get it where you want it. Follow the recommended dosage on the bottle and you'll be fine.
 
dallassvt

dallassvt

Member
Yea the Ph is what worries me to. I have always herd that PH will only be in the 8.0 -8.3 range when tour CA, dKH and Mg are in the right areas.
If this is not correct,how should I go about getting my PH up to 8.0??
thanks
Dallas
 
smokingreefer

smokingreefer

Member
Originally Posted by DallasSVT
http:///forum/post/2650237
Yea the Ph is what worries me to. I have always herd that PH will only be in the 8.0 -8.3 range when tour CA, dKH and Mg are in the right areas.
If this is not correct,how should I go about getting my PH up to 8.0??
thanks
Dallas

I would add a little ph buffer. It will make your dKH go up slightly but it's better than having your pH too low. The dKH will drop back down on it's own.
 
dallassvt

dallassvt

Member
I was adding buffer and had my dKH at around 14. But, I know to fix the problem I have to get my CA up and to do that I also have to get my Mg up around 1400. So I am trying to fix all three at once, if that is possible.
in the tank there are LPS, soft coral, inverts, and a couple of fish. about 50lbs of live rock and 30lbs of live sand in a 39gal tank.
Tank is about 3 yrs old. recently had bad salt, tons of PO and macro algae problem. all was fixed with new salt, a couple of very large water changes (50+ %), and scrubbing of the live rock!!
Dallas
 
T

tizzo

Guest
Forget your PH for now! Ph is a symptom of other water params, and without you realizing it, you pretty much found the problem.
If your calcium is low AND your alk is low, your ph can be OK, because even though they are low, they are balanced.
Your calcium is low and your alk is sky high, so of course your pH will be off.
Magnesium keeps calcium in solution. Your calcium is precipitating out of your water.
First, get your magnesium levels up. If those crystals aren't doing it try something else.
Kent makes good supplement products.
You can add all the calcium you want, but the levels will keep dropping until your mag is in check.
Don't add buffer cause that's alkalinity. In a lot of tanks, the alk is naturally depleted, so adding a buffer is really what they need. Yours is not the case. Your alk level is already at 12! More alk is not what you need.
 
T

tizzo

Guest
I just reread your post.
If you want your alk to be at 14 dkh, then your balanced calcium is 460 ppm.
Both numbers are unnecessarily high imo.
If you raise up one, the other will drop. So you must first balance them then raise them up together.
But you cannot do that til you get your mag fixed.
Once your mag is fixed, bringing up your calcium will cause a slight drop in your alk. You want that. As I said, once they are "balanced", you raise them up together.
HTH
 
dallassvt

dallassvt

Member
Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/2650640
I just reread your post.
If you want your alk to be at 14 dkh, then your balanced calcium is 460 ppm.
Both numbers are unnecessarily high imo.
If you raise up one, the other will drop. So you must first balance them then raise them up together.
But you cannot do that til you get your mag fixed.
Once your mag is fixed, bringing up your calcium will cause a slight drop in your alk. You want that. As I said, once they are "balanced", you raise them up together.
HTH
Thanks,
So, the Mg is what needs to be corrected first correct? then my dKH and CA will fallow together?
BTW, where do you get a chart, or something that will show the ballanced CA at different dKH levels. Ideally I want my dKH at around 11-13
Dallas
 
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