Dosing calcium and alkalinity

[user 26995]

I was wondering if I could find out what people with smaller, under 75 gallon tanks, are using for dosing calcium and alkalinity. I am trying to figure out what products are out there and which ones if any would be best for me to use in my 55. I have some lps and sps in my tank and so far managing with water changes and randys recipe but my alk is not up where it should be. Thanks for your imput.

 

[user 26995]

Does anyone manually dose anything for calc or alk? There seems to be alot of different brands of products and I would like to know if anyone has found any to be better than others. Either individual suppliments or all in ones.

 

[burning2nd]

have you tested regularly?

are you sure you need to? first off what salt brand do you use? this makes a world of diffrence.

my 30g system.. is loaded with meny lps and sps and softies and never doesd regularly....

i do water changes every few weeks... my ruteen has falling back a little and maybe every 5 months ill do a getto does of CA in to the bucket as im mixing up new water...

but dont follow in my foot steps....

Kents Liquid CA and bright well aquatics for MAg

 

[user 26995]

have you tested regularly?

are you sure you need to? first off what salt brand do you use? this makes a world of diffrence.

I am using Ocean Pure Pro salt mix and my water parameters are pretty consistant at cal 390, alk 7.0 dKh and mag 1425. Do I have to worry about the cal and alk? I would like to keep them both up in more normal ranges.

 

[gas4544]

I am running three smaller tanks right now - a 30-gallon SPS/LPS tank, another 30-gallon mixed tank, and a 40-gallon SPS breeder tank. About once per week, I test for alkilinity and calcium using Salifert test lits. I check the salinity with a refractometer approximately every other day. A couple times per day, I check on the temperature.

I do have a couple of calcium reactors on hand, but I have been doing daily manual additions of calcium and alkilinity. I am using products from Bulk Reef Supply. Here is a two part kit (actually, a three part kit) that they offer and these is the products that I currently use in all three of my tanks.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Two-Part-Kits/c52/p268/Two-Part-Starter-Kit/product_info.html

I am happy with this product and recommend it to others. Someday, I will set up a calcium reactor, but until then, I will keep using the bulk dry mix from BRS.

By the way, if you are looking for a reactor for carbon and/or GFO, they also have some very nice reactors.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/Carbo...-GFO-Media-Bags-&-Reactors/c109_85/index.html

Gary

 

[burning2nd]

Im not a parameter master, tho mine are perfict,

Ca and Alk work hand in hand..


I havent tested in about a year...

anything

i use tropic marin pro reef... and do water changes weekly.... daily... or monthly.... all depends on how it looks..... everything is done by feel now
except temp.. theres a controller and a fan for that... next step is a controller that has a app on my iphone... so i can get real time data anywhere in the world

 

[user 26995]

i use tropic marin pro reef...

Are you getting this somewhere local?
Oh, PA, forget it. I will check around out here.
Thanks

 

[burning2nd]

lol....

no, ya and sometimes...

i got a guy close that ask's about 30 dollars mark up, If i drive to landcaster (100miles) and buy 4 or 5 buckets, Ill save the gas and some food but loose 5 hours.... nice weekend drive sometimes...

and i get to see a relatively large(r) selection, but the local guy has a nice setup..

 

[user 26995]

I dont think I will drive to landcanster for it. I checked on buying online and the shipping was outrageous of course. I think the salt I am using is pretty darn good and I have a good local source but the cal and alk are not in the range I would like it in. Some people have mentioned getting the mixed salt water up to good levels before doing water changes. That sounds reasonable.

Has anyone used EVS B-ionic calcium buffer 2part products?

 

[dhnguyen]

Why not make your own?

I did using driveway heat (bought from Napa Auto Parts) and good ole Arm and Hammer baking soda.

What do you keep in your tank? If your calcium consumption isn't high you might able to get away with just kalkwasser too. Can get some Mrs Wages pretty cheap and it works great. When I had my 55g, kalkwasser was all I needed to keep SPS.

 

[user 26995]

Why not make your own?

I did using driveway heat (bought from Napa Auto Parts) and good ole Arm and Hammer baking soda.

What do you keep in your tank? If your calcium consumption isn't high you might able to get away with just kalkwasser too. Can get some Mrs Wages pretty cheap and it works great. When I had my 55g, kalkwasser was all I needed to keep SPS.

I have a little bit of everything. Zoas, mushrooms, lobos, acans, sps, and that darn xenia...Did you dose for alk also when using the kalkwasser? I am using baking soda now, but was under the impression that it is not for daily dosing for maintaining a correct balance, but for making corrections when needed.
I am currently using Microblift calcium suppliment w/buffer and baking soda mixed in ro/di water. I was jus wondering if there was a two part system like Kent Marine Tech-CB or ESV B-Ionic Calcium Buffer system that was better to use? Better balanced?

 

[PCFishman]

In both of my 40B I use Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium and Reef Builder(Alk). I've been using them for years and like the results I get. I typically an dosing both at least twice a week. The frequency of dosage will depend on the amount of livestock in your aquarium.

 

[user 26995]

In both of my 40B I use Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium and Reef Builder(Alk). I've been using them for years and like the results I get. I typically an dosing both at least twice a week. The frequency of dosage will depend on the amount of livestock in your aquarium.

Thanks, I will check out that brand. Are they the ones listed on the reef calculator? Liquid or dry?

 

[dhnguyen]

There's nothing wrong with using baking soda to supplement for alk long term in a reef tank. I've been doing it for years without any issues.

The soda ash sold from twopartsolutions.com is soldium carbonate while baking soda (Arm and Hammer) is sodium bicarbonate. All that means is sodium carbonate (soda ash) is more potent and can raise alkalinity more is all.

 

[dhnguyen]

Oh and I never had to dose for alk when I was using kalkwasser. Kalkwasser will raise both calcium and alk in your tank equally. The drawback with KW is that for larger tanks with higher calcium needs you just couldn 't dose enough KW to up the difference.

 

[user 26995]

There's nothing wrong with using baking soda to supplement for alk long term in a reef tank. I've been doing it for years without any issues.

The soda ash sold from twopartsolutions.com is soldium carbonate while baking soda (Arm and Hammer) is sodium bicarbonate. All that means is sodium carbonate (soda ash) is more potent and can raise alkalinity more is all.

Okay, if its not an issue, maybe I can continue dosing what I have been. I just need to get the alk up a bit more and then manage to keep it there.

 

[user 26995]

Oh and I never had to dose for alk when I was using kalkwasser. Kalkwasser will raise both calcium and alk in your tank equally. The drawback with KW is that for larger tanks with higher calcium needs you just couldn 't dose enough KW to up the difference.

I can dose this with my top off water too, cant I? I am setting up an ATO, gravity feed system in the near future.

 

[dhnguyen]

If you are having a hard time keeping the alk up you might want to test your tank for your mag. Having low Mag level will cause this imbalance.

 

[user 26995]

If you are having a hard time keeping the alk up you might want to test your tank for your mag. Having low Mag level will cause this imbalance.

Thats just it, my mag stays around 1500 - 1530.

 

[dhnguyen]

I can dose this with my top off water too, cant I? I am setting up an ATO, gravity feed system in the near future.

Yes... Infact topoff is exactly how you are suppose to dose kalkwasser.
I had my ATO in the sump fed from a DIY kalkwasser reactor which in turn was getting fed from my RO/DI reservoir tank.