Aging lighting = less calcium consumption?

plancton

Active member
Some weird phenomenon just happened in my tank. The calcium and alkalinity levels were being kept very stable under my dosing regime, then 2 months ago even with a little bit more corals added and the same supplement dosing, the levels started to go up very quickly.

Example, throughout the year the levels were:

alk: 9 dkh
calcium: 450 mg/l

and 2 months from now, the levels increased:
alk: 14 dkh
calcium: 600 mg/l

I thought perhaps the test kit was failing, but I went to my LFS to double check, and the readings were correct.

I use T5s and they are 10 months old now.
So I'm blaming the lights, although I remember that I haven't changed the osmosis filters for a while now.
 
How and what are you dosing? Reduced consumption wouldn't cause the exact changes the you see if you are using a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive.
 
I'm using seachem's advanced calcium, and seachem reef calcium, the liquid one. All of a sudden 2 months ago, the levels have risen so much with the same dosing as before.
 
While I cannot say exactly what happened, getting things out of whack over time is typical of the use of independent calcium and alkalinity additives. I'd recommend switching to a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive system, and dose based on alkalinity only most of the time. Limewater, a two part, or a CaCO3/CO2 reactor are among the best methods.
 
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