Nicchick,
Alkalinity is good to a point. Like all good things you can overdo it. If alkalinity climbs high enough there will be precipitation of calcium.
When talking about your tank one needs to understand that calcium, alkalinity and pH are all interrelated. Changes in one parameter will effect the other two.
A case where alkalinity is running in the range of 2-2.5 meq/l you are in a good range of alkalinity. Here a non-alkalinity increasing calcium additive like calcium chloride is preferred or you can use one of the so-called "balanced" additives.
No matter what you add you need to check all 3 parameters. With a tank running very high in alkalinity, like Silver had at 8 meq/l, you may dose calcium chloride and actually see both decline. Why, at the high alkalinity adding calcium simple creates a precipitate that removes both alkalinity and calcium from the system. In a case like this doing large water changes for a week or so is a better solution than using additives. The water is all screwed up, using a technical term
, so replacing it is better than trying to adjust it. On the other hand, if alkalinity is running at the high end of normal, around 3.0 meq/l, then a non-carbonate additive like calcium chloride is in order. In a tank where alkalinity hovers between 1.5 and 2.5 meq/l and calcium levels are around 350-400 ppm then a balanced additive or lime water is the best solution.
Alkalinity is good to a point. Like all good things you can overdo it. If alkalinity climbs high enough there will be precipitation of calcium.
When talking about your tank one needs to understand that calcium, alkalinity and pH are all interrelated. Changes in one parameter will effect the other two.
A case where alkalinity is running in the range of 2-2.5 meq/l you are in a good range of alkalinity. Here a non-alkalinity increasing calcium additive like calcium chloride is preferred or you can use one of the so-called "balanced" additives.
No matter what you add you need to check all 3 parameters. With a tank running very high in alkalinity, like Silver had at 8 meq/l, you may dose calcium chloride and actually see both decline. Why, at the high alkalinity adding calcium simple creates a precipitate that removes both alkalinity and calcium from the system. In a case like this doing large water changes for a week or so is a better solution than using additives. The water is all screwed up, using a technical term
, so replacing it is better than trying to adjust it. On the other hand, if alkalinity is running at the high end of normal, around 3.0 meq/l, then a non-carbonate additive like calcium chloride is in order. In a tank where alkalinity hovers between 1.5 and 2.5 meq/l and calcium levels are around 350-400 ppm then a balanced additive or lime water is the best solution.
