the levels (low Cal and dKH)

[toddpolish]

is Kalk the answer?
my Calcium is 290
dKH is 6.72 or 2.4 meq/L

all other levels are good. Amm-0, trite-0, trate-0, sal 1.024, 79degrees
I don't have any corals (just fish) - I do have Florida rock and there are like 4 types of plants growing like crazy from it.
90g with Refuge. 1-scooter blenny, 1-tomato clown, 1-firefish....all are well. (my signature said all this stuff.)
what should I do? levels to shoot for and how to get there?

 

[thomas712]

If it is fish only then don't worry about it.
But I have the feeling that you have rock as well, so what are you adding for alk and calc. dosage and brand?
From what I understand Kalk can be used but only when you have your water in line with the levels of alk and calc.
Thomas

 

[thomas712]

By the way are your fish acting strange at 2.4, thats pretty low for alk. I've had fish jump out of the tank at 2.5, but that was many moons ago.
Thomas

 

[toddpolish]

FO for now. I eventually want to have corals - within 6 months provided the levels are correct. I wanna know how to get to the correct levels. what should I be doing? there's always conflicting opinions on adding chemicals....so I wanna ask now. I don't dose anything now. Just make my water changes every 2-3 weeks.
Uh....no, the fish aren't acting abnormal.
(tank is 90g with 120lbs of Florida LR)

 

[finland]

I would suggest dosing with calcium and a buffer to raise the levels to where you want it. Raise the levels slowly, and after you have reached the desired levels, start dripping Kalk to maintain those levels. There is a lot of threads on this topic, so you can do a search to get more info from more experienced people. With the alk getting low, how is you pH?

 

[broomer5]

toddpolish,
You're right - there are a lot of ways to dose a tank .... especially when talking alkalinity and calcium.
In my opinion, one of the easiest and safest ways to get your levels where you want them is by using B-Ionic buffer/calcium two part products. This stuff is "balanced".
Balanced means you dose so much of part A then an equal amount of part B.
Believe it or not - if your not having problems with your pH, and it's up there around 8.3 or 8.4 average ....... your tankwater is balanced. Even though the alkalinity and calcium levels are low, and much lower than many people strive for .... they are somewhat balanced. This is true only if your pH is around 8.3 or thereabouts.
Having both levels low is often easier to correct than having one level extremely high, and the other extremely low.
You're tankwater is not in bad shape for fish - but corals and coralline algae would sure appreciate higher levels.
Using a balanced two part alk/calcium product right now would be ideal. You could dose equal amouts of A and B ....... and bring your levels up together over a period of time.
You're pH may drop a little druing this process .. if it happens to be high right now.
Once you get them to around
3.00 meq/L ( 8.40 dKH ) 420 ppm calcium
3.50 meq/L ( 9.80 dKH ) 430 ppm calcium
and your pH is still good at 8.2 or so ( and you're okay with lighting ) ...... I'd think you'd be ready to start reef'n with some inverts/corals, and then start a dosing routine with kalkwasser ( much cheaper ), and just as effective at "maintaining" the levels once they're where you want them.
As you know, there are other products available as well that can be used with equal success, but the balanced two parts are very safe and you may find you won't be chasing the numbers as much - trying to figure out the right dosages for your tank.
What's your average pH these days ?

 

[toddpolish]

well...my pH is not ideal. It's been between 7.7-8.2 (sometimes hard to read the color)...so I guess it averages out around 8.0
It is a relatively new tank (april 1 setup)
so where do I go from here?

 

[toddpolish]

B-IONIC 2-PART CALCIUM BUFFER by ESV is the way to go???????

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by toddpolish
well...my pH is not ideal. It's been between 7.7-8.2 (sometimes hard to read the color)...so I guess it averages out around 8.0
It is a relatively new tank (april 1 setup)
so where do I go from here?
You might try letting things alone for another month or two. I think it will all balance itself out. I had a similiar problem after two months with my 55g. Now at 6 months the ph stays above 8.2 (light to moderate purple color on the ph test).

 

[toddpolish]

You might try letting things alone for another month or two. I think it will all balance itself out. I had a similiar problem after two months with my 55g. Now at 6 months the ph stays above 8.2 (light to moderate purple color on the ph test).
that's the conclusion I came to as well as far as pH is concerned...to let that fix itself...
But, I'm more concerned with the calc/alk levels. somehow I don't believe that these will correct themselves on their own. Am I incorrect?

 

[beaslbob]

Originally posted by toddpolish
that's the conclusion I came to as well as far as pH is concerned...to let that fix itself...
But, I'm more concerned with the calc/alk levels. somehow I don't believe that these will correct themselves on their own. Am I incorrect?
It's possible that additional buffering and calcuim will come from your aquarium through the substrait or other sources. Let's see what other's say.

 

[justinx]

Originally posted by beaslbob
It's possible that additional buffering and calcuim will come from your aquarium through the substrait or other sources. Let's see what other's say.
I think that this would happen, however in order for aragonite to buffer a tank, the pH needs to be low, much lower than in a typical reef. This is the idea behind a calcium reactor. The CO2 lowers the pH to the point that the aragonite media breaks down and buffers the tank. This will not occur on its own though.