Need some help raising Calcium lvl's

ovenmitt

Member
Ok the Calcium dropped and I have been trying to raise it over the last week and a half. It was at 300, I have been dosing a Cap full of Kent Marine Liquid Calcium and 1/4 Teaspoon of the Kent Marine Turbo Calcium granules every day. I have gotten no higher then 320. What do I need to do to get it back up to 400?
 

sjimmyh

Member
Add more than you are doing. I know, it sounds too simple... but that's the answer. I think liquid Calcium is sugar based though with that brand so I would increase the turbo since it is Calcium Chloride and won't add organics. Keep an eye on the Alkalinity and pH during dosing. As long as these don't change a lot you could continue to add calcium until you are at the desired levels. I try to keep mine around 400-460.
Another option is to do a large water change with a salt that you know has higher calcium levels. There are many out there. I have personal experience with Reef Crystals and Oceanic which both have good calcium levels.
 

teen

Active Member
its probably not that you need to dose more calcium, its more likely that your magnesium is too low. if your magnesium is too low, you wont be able to get your calcium levels to where you want them and then maintain them.
pick up a magnesium test kit and find out what your magnesiums at.
 

sjimmyh

Member
Good point Teen. Magnesium does play a big role in your calcium levels in a tank. If you salt is calcium deficient than it stands to reason that the Mg would also be low.
 

trigger11

Member
With Calcium being at 300 my guess is the alkalinity is also going to be very low. I would make sure that is ok as well. The three usually go hand in hand. Calcium, Alkalinity, and then the magnesium. Magnesium seems to be the strange element. It usually is most often ok. But if you do infrequent water changes like me then it can get low and as previous posters have mentioned once it does then the calcium will not go up.
 

ovenmitt

Member
Ok so if I get a Mag test kit and it is low then what? How do I raise that is it by using this product? Kent Marine Liquid Reactor?
 

teen

Active Member
you would have to get a magnesium additive. i use a kent product. its pretty much crystals that you dissolve in ro water and add it to the tank.
 

eastland

Member
What kind of salt are you using ? I use Coralife and mine stays 450-500 without ever adding liquid calcium...I have 2 bottles of it, but they sit idle.
 

teen

Active Member
you probably dont have many hard corals/ clams that deplete the calcium. either that or you do lots of frequent water changes.
 

ovenmitt

Member
We only have one clam and I sure one of the other parts are low and that is causing me to not be able to raise the calcium. What is a good Brand for the Test Kit?
 

teen

Active Member
Originally Posted by OvenMitt
We only have one clam and I sure one of the other parts are low and that is causing me to not be able to raise the calcium. What is a good Brand for the Test Kit?
salifert makes teh best test kits imo.
 

sjimmyh

Member
You said you are using instant ocean. I just tested some and got a Magnesium of over 1000 (1250 to be exact) which is hunky dorey for a good calcium level. So... I revert to my original recommendation, use more additive. A good water change may be in order to start with prior to adding calcium if you have a decent bio load of calcium using animals just to ensure your Mg is sufficient.
I recommend a 2 part product like E.S.V. Bionic or Ocean's Blend or another one of the many products out there. The bennefit of these is they tend to keep your ionic balance in check while raising calcium. Turbo calcium WILL raise calcium very well. You will end up with more Cl- ions floating around your tank than Natural Sea Water has though. I really am not aware of having any serious issues with this ionic imbalance, but I have read enough from others with more experience than I that recommend keeping it in check, and this makes me take heed.
I was in your shoes with my first reef tank. I was leary about adding too much. I eventually got over it (with reason) and added more. If you can add and test your results, IMO, you have nothing to fear since you can measure the increases to prevent overshoot. Dose, wait for proper mixing, test, get an idea of how much Ca increases with the dose, rinse and repeat until you are where you want to be.
 

ovenmitt

Member
So you all are adding some sort of salt to the water you get from the LFS? We don't mix our own and have been buying it from the same LFS when we do water changes.
 

eastland

Member
A lot of people here have their own RO units, they are not expensive. I simply make my own water hooking the unit to the tap, then add salt. There are several good discussions on the board about brand names for salt and their advantages. I'm changing out 10 gallons today, I will measure the calcium of the new water before I add it to the tank...and follow up with another post.
 

eastland

Member
As expected, the RO water with salt was right at the 400 calcium level. Ironically, my tank for the first time since inception, which always measures calcium at 550, measured 450. I welcome the change since I have been fighting Alk. levels since the tank was established almost 1 year ago.
I do have acro's and they are doing fine, no clams.
 

ovenmitt

Member
Originally Posted by teen
you would have to get a magnesium additive. i use a kent product. its pretty much crystals that you dissolve in ro water and add it to the tank.
Teen I was looking at Kent Marines stuff I don't see any Mag cyrstals stuff just a liquid in a bottle.
 
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