Help with low calcium

[coastie81]

I am currently setting up my 110 gallon. I have a question about my calcium level in my 55 gallon. I have 2 cinnamen clowns and a yellow tang in it right now till my 110 is completely ready for me to transfer everything over. I have 75 pounds of live rock and 70 pounds of live sand. Also alot of corals (LPS,softies,shrooms and ric's.
I have tested my calcium yesterday with salifert's calcium test kit. I finally figured out how to test it with that kit. Well I tested numerous times and it was saying my calcium was 120. I have tropic marine bio-calcium that I have started dosing with. I put APPX 1 spoonfull of the powder into my return pump chamber. ( I don't want to put the powder directly into my tank) The bottle says appx 1 spoonfull shall raise calcium appx 28ppm. Sould I put just 1 spoonfull per day to ease the calcium up or can I put a couple of spoonfulls in and still be safe to my reef. The bottle doesn't really state how much you can put in in a day. Someone please help me out here.
I also do a 15% water change every week, I use coralife salt and it is pre mixed at my house with ro/di water and it sits with a powerhead and a heater in it for about 4 days before I even use it for a water change. Is the calcium always dropping because I have a heavy bio-load?

 

[deejeff442]

check your new saltwater.it should be at least 400 calcium.
if you have alot of corals the waterchange wont keep up.
if your new water is at least 400 i would do a 50% water change.
you can definetly add more calcium supplement than it says
dont go crazy though.maybe triple the suggested.
but do the water change first.if your new saltwater calcium is low switch brands.
i use coralife salt and do a 20% change weekly and my calcium is 500 i never have to add it.
there is a post on here somewhere that shows all the brands and thier suppliments just search for it.

 

[nycbob]

120 level? with weekly water change, it should be sufficient for the most part. i hv clams and sps, and dont dose at all. what is ur alk? perhaps a bad test kit?

 

[bang guy]

120ppm Calcium indicates a severe problem. First test to make sure you don't have a defective test kit. Mix up some saltwater and test it to make sure you get a reasonable number.
at 120ppm Calcium your rock should begin to dissolve unless your Alkalinity is really really high. This is the second thing to check. If your ALK is too high then you can all all the Calcium you want to the tank but it will never rise to normal levels.
I agree with NYC than a water change will most likely fix everything. I don't mean 15% though, more like 80%.

 

[coastie81]

my ALK is pretty high it is 4.00meq/L I will do a big water change today. I am gonna test the calcium level of my saltwater that is ready for a water change. The test kit I have is good. Plus the date on it is 2013. I have been dosing and the calcium is slowly coming up but I have not been dosing alot due to me not really wanting to shock anything in the system. What could be the problem? Someone please help me out here.

 

[coastie81]

bang guy or nycbob, or anyone else with any ideas..... any other solutions to whay my calcium is so low and my ALK is high?

 

[coastie81]

anyone???

 

[legion]

magnesium too low? I used instant ocean for some time and had a batch that the mag was way too low and I could never get my calcium above 300. It wasn't 120, but all these may have a combined influence on calcium.

 

[coastie81]

I do not have a test kit for magnesium. But when I tested my water change water the temp is 79. SG is 35 and it has been mixed for 4 days. I tested the calcium in it and it is appx 20 gallons of water and it is 300ppm. I don't know what is going on

 

[veni vidi vici]

Test a new batch of saltwater and see what your parameters are for Calcium ,Alkalinity,and Magnesium.Make sure its not the salt you use.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by coastie81
http:///forum/post/2854939
I do not have a test kit for magnesium. But when I tested my water change water the temp is 79. SG is 35 and it has been mixed for 4 days. I tested the calcium in it and it is appx 20 gallons of water and it is 300ppm. I don't know what is going on
If your new batch of SW is testing at 300 ppm then you either need to supplement what your lacking or change salts. Do some research on Kalkwasser or 2 part additives.I would just change salt though if i where you.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by Legion
http:///forum/post/2854666
magnesium too low? I used instant ocean for some time and had a batch that the mag was way too low and I could never get my calcium above 300. It wasn't 120, but all these may have a combined influence on calcium.
They do ,Calcium ,Alkalinity, and Magnesium all work hand in hand.One affects the other.

 

[bang guy]

Originally Posted by coastie81
http:///forum/post/2854611
bang guy or nycbob, or anyone else with any ideas..... any other solutions to whay my calcium is so low and my ALK is high?
How did your ALK get high? If you overdose alkalinity it can crash the Calcium. Are you adding any type of "buffer"?

 

[coastie81]

Originally Posted by Bang Guy
http:///forum/post/2855000
How did your ALK get high? If you overdose alkalinity it can crash the Calcium. Are you adding any type of "buffer"?
I have never added anything to my tank till yesterday when I started adding tropic marine bio-calcium and I only added 2 spoonfulls of the powder to my return pump side of my filter.

 

[deejeff442]

hello do i hear an echo?
everyone said the same thing i did.
change salt 300 is really low.what brand are you using?
the salt should have everything in it mag,cal,ph,everything.
you have a bad salt supply.
coralife is 520 calcium i believe.
do a big water change and keep them up and you should not have to add any supplements.

 

[coastie81]

I just tested my calcium from my water change water and it is 720ppm but I am going to test it again. I finally found out how to do the calcium test correctly and now it is showing my display tank at 520ppm. Someone please help me out here now that I found the correct level of calcium.

 

[b0b82]

Stop adding stuff to your aquarium. Test your tank and then decide what you need. Too many people just add stuff to their tank and make everything out of whack. SLOW DOWN. It takes a long time for your aquarium to chill out saltwater aquariums take 6 months to balance this is about the normal time. (I don't care what you did to speed up your setup) Don't get in a hurry. If you do you will only make it harder than it really is. Please believe me, I have been playing with saltwater for a long time 1985 is when I started. Just SLOW DOWN it takes time for YOUR aquarium to establish it self. Don't push Mother Nature she will push back.

 

[veni vidi vici]

Originally Posted by coastie81
http:///forum/post/2855063
I just tested my calcium from my water change water and it is 720ppm but I am going to test it again. I finally found out how to do the calcium test correctly and now it is showing my display tank at 520ppm. Someone please help me out here now that I found the correct level of calcium.
Did you check out the link for the video on how to use the Salifert Cal test?If you did and your found out that your calcium is up to 520 ppm and your alk is 4.0 Meq/l. Stop doseing with calcium and let it drop naturally and through water changes.I would still check a fresh batch of SW for alk,cal,and mag just to see where its at.

 

[coastie81]

BOB, I have taken my time and have gone slow. I have had my 55 established for almost 2 years so I know patience. My 110 has only been up a month but that one is doing good. As far as dosing this was the first time that I have ever put anything into my tank and it was like 2 spoonfulls.
VENI; I seen that video and it helped me out alot, tomorrow I am going to re test everything and see where all my levels are,thanks again for that link. Also tonight when I tested the calcium in my water change water it said it was a like 720ppm, isn't that a little crazy, I will double check the level tomorrow.

 

[dennis210]

Just a thought for you. Whenever a test you perform on your system gives a result that you feel is out of whack, retest. If you get the same result then fine if not keep performing until you get repeating answers.
Every time I open a new bucket of salt I have found it beneficial to test the newly mixed water for pH, Alk, Ca, and Mg. If you know what your change water is then you can tell to some degree how large a water change you need. Example - you have a 75 gallon tank with a sump and refugium. After displacement is accountated for you find your total system volume of water to be 70 gallons. Your nitrates have edged up to 50 mg/l (ppm) and you want to get it down to a safe for all fish, corals, and other inverts level. Say in the 10 to 15 range. How much water do you need to change considering you are sure your change water has zero nitrates. Perform a 35 gallon (50%) water change will drop your levels by 50 % or down to 25 ppm. So immediately after the first water change of 35 gallons you performed another
35 gallon water change your nitrates would be down to 12.5 ppm. Two points are being pushed upon you here - first you have to know newly mixed saltwater parameters and second that water changes do replace vital trace elements but fixing problems with your systems parameters with water changes will take major water changes to accomplish!

So try not to let things get out of whack!