Best way maintaining Calcium, Magnesium & Alkalinity Levels After Water Changes

[Mikebonasera]

New to reefing but been doing FOWLR for 11 years.

Just starting doser and looking for tips:

Tips with calculating my Red Sea Max E-260 (69G) with about 20G sump.
Healthy amount of GSP, hammer and a tourch coral.

***ALSO:

What do I do to maintain Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium after water changes?

Do I add to my new water or will it drop immensely and I have to ramp up the doses?

Thank you.

 

[griss]

What salt are you using? Most salts contain Alk, Ca and Mg, so by doing a water change you’re replenishing those.

I would recommend buying good test kits if you don’t already have them. That will give you a starting point…i.e. knowledge of your parameters and go from there.

Here’s a good article with a downloadable chart with ideal parameters.

Reef Tank Water Parameters

Need to know reef tank water quality specs? Save this reef tank water parameters chart as a handy reference.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Mikebonasera]

What salt are you using? Most salts contain Alk, Ca and Mg, so by doing a water change you’re replenishing those.

I would recommend buying good test kits if you don’t already have them. That will give you a starting point…i.e. knowledge of your parameters and go from there.

Here’s a good article with a downloadable chart with ideal parameters.

Reef Tank Water Parameters

Need to know reef tank water quality specs? Save this reef tank water parameters chart as a handy reference.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Currently just instant ocean but I never thought to look at that. May be time to change that salt.

Just waiting on a new Magnesium kit to arrive.

I appreciate that reply!

 

[griss]

Currently just instant ocean but I never thought to look at that. May be time to change that salt.

Just waiting on a new Magnesium kit to arrive.

I appreciate that reply!

No need to change, I switched to IO from Coralife several months ago and have had no issues maintaining my parameters. I do add Kalk daily and Mg weekly. I have a medium amount of corals for the size of my tank.

 

[kharmaguru]

What do I do to maintain Calcium, Alkalinity and Magnesium after water changes?

Most people choose a salt that reflects their desired levels, the biggest variable being alkalinity. Other people match everything in the bucket before adding to the tank. I personally keep my alk near 9dkh but the salt I use is closer to 12dkh (redsea coral pro) and the shift after a water change is negligible.

 

[griss]

Adding then need to add supplements will vary with the number and type of corals/inverts you have. In other words, a tank with SPS need more of the supplements you mentioned then a tank with soft corals only.