I've been using regular IO salt and I've found the Calcium levels to be pretty low. I'm using the red sea pro tests and Calcium was around 330. I started to dose Calcium with BRS 2 part and i'm up to around 350 after a few days of dosing. My Mag is around 1320 ish. The Alk was just a tad under 8... Like right around 7.9. yesterday I dosed another 100 ml of the calcium solution and then maybe 5 or 6 hours later I thought I'd try my first dose of Alk in the hopes of getting it to 9 or so at least. It of course went right to snow... I was going slow, so it wasn't a lot wasted, but I was wondering if I needed to raise my Mag, or if I should get the Calcium above 400 before I worried about the Alk?? This is my first real shot at dosing so if I'm totally dropping the ball on something feel free to let me know...
Dosing Calcium and Alk - Alk precip
- Thread starter tmerf11
- Start date
Yeah, I'm definitely going to switch salts. I still have a fair amount of the regular IO sitting around, so I'll probably use the rest of it, but then I'm going to switch to something with some better initial numbers. I only have a small frogspawn, duncan, ricordea and 4 zoa heads in the tank right now, so I don't think the demand could be too high.
coralsnaked
New member
If Ca was the low value I would have dosed it up to normal parameters 1st since Mg and Alk were in normal range. Then if you wanted to increase all values you would follow the standard Mg 1st then Alk 2nd then Ca last to maintain your balance.
Merry Skerry
Merry Skerry
For whatever reason I had it in my head that alk was lower than it should be, but I'm reading that 8-10 is normal, so I think I'm just going to leave it there. My Mag was a little low originally and I got that to a better spot, I think I'll just concentrate on the calcium at this point.
SG is usually right around 1.024/1.025 and I use a refractometer that's been calibrated a month-ish ago. I'll calibrate again tonight just for the heck of it. And I thought 330 was way off too. I tested freshly mixed stuff in my storage tank and got the same reading. I even bought another test kit just to see if they were ballpark. I use the red sea kits regularly, but bought an API kit just to see if they were in the same ballpark and they were.
I guess I'm not 100% sure on the alk precipitating. It definitely got couldy, but it also looked like a bunch of tiny white particles took off all over the place.
And I've always calibrated with the calibration solution that came with the refractometer. Now that I've got the calibration issue in my head I'll recalibrate with the solution and then check and make sure my rodi with no salt is showing 0.
And I've always calibrated with the calibration solution that came with the refractometer. Now that I've got the calibration issue in my head I'll recalibrate with the solution and then check and make sure my rodi with no salt is showing 0.
RODI shouldn't read 0 if it is a brine refractometer calibrated with a natural seawater calibration fluid. If it's a refractometer designed for saltwater it should read 0. The salt mix may have settled out if it was a large container or you may have gotten a bad batch. Not typical IME.
Are your alk values changing by roughly what the calculator says it should based on your dose? Notice any buildup on heaters or powerheads? A white crusty substance?
Are your alk values changing by roughly what the calculator says it should based on your dose? Notice any buildup on heaters or powerheads? A white crusty substance?
I honestly didn't even get a full dose of the Alk solution into the tank. I was going to add around 40 ml (if I remember correctly) and once I started adding it I noticed it was snowing, so I stopped. And I definitley do not have any build up on anything. I've got my head jammed under my stand all the time checking everything out and the only thing I've noticed lately are a bunch of pineapple sponges sprouting up all over.
I would add the dosage the calculator says is necessary. If alk is precipitating then the dosage won't be reflected in your alkalinity level. Wait an hour or so after adding it to test. If your alk hasn't gone up, or has dropped, it is likely precipitating. My guess is that what you are experiencing is the normal cloudiness associated with dosing alkalinity.
The refractometer needs to be calibrated with a seawater solution or something with an equal refractive index. I'm not sure what you're using, but distilled or RO/DI water can be very inaccurate, despite manufacturer's claims:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/index.php#11
If the magnesium kit is correct, you might be seeing some temporary magnesium hydroxide precipitation:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php#6
I agree with trying a normal alkalinity dose, and checking the alkalinity maybe 5 minutes after dosing.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-12/rhf/index.php#11
If the magnesium kit is correct, you might be seeing some temporary magnesium hydroxide precipitation:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php#6
I agree with trying a normal alkalinity dose, and checking the alkalinity maybe 5 minutes after dosing.
Spyderturbo007
New member
Unless you got a bad bucket, your Calcium test is low. Are you sure you're making it to the blue end point of the titration and not just stopping at the violet color?
I just ran some of the regular IO on our ICP last week and it was around 400ppm Calcium, if I remember correctly. I have the paper at home, so I can update this post later this evening when I get a hold of the print out.
I just ran some of the regular IO on our ICP last week and it was around 400ppm Calcium, if I remember correctly. I have the paper at home, so I can update this post later this evening when I get a hold of the print out.
Thanks for all the comments... For the refractometer I'm using the calibration solution that came with it when I bought it (from BRS.) It's the 35ppt solution. I recalibrated that last night and it was still accurrate. My sg is at 1.024.
As far as the calcium test, I'm definitely going to the blue end point... The first few times I may have stopped when it went to blue/purple-ish, but I watched a few vids and realized I needed to go a few drops further until I got the 'blue' blue. I'm not sure if I got a bad calcium test kit or what. Last night I tested the calcium again - after a good size does the previous night, and the API test kit read 400 and the Red Sea one was still around 350. I figured the API would be the less accurrate of the two, but I'm not sure anymore.
And thanks for the tips on the alk dose. I'll go ahead with the dose to bring it up a point and see what the results are. I'm not super confident in my test kits at this point.
As far as the calcium test, I'm definitely going to the blue end point... The first few times I may have stopped when it went to blue/purple-ish, but I watched a few vids and realized I needed to go a few drops further until I got the 'blue' blue. I'm not sure if I got a bad calcium test kit or what. Last night I tested the calcium again - after a good size does the previous night, and the API test kit read 400 and the Red Sea one was still around 350. I figured the API would be the less accurrate of the two, but I'm not sure anymore.
And thanks for the tips on the alk dose. I'll go ahead with the dose to bring it up a point and see what the results are. I'm not super confident in my test kits at this point.
Unfortunately none of us can be. If the Red Sea still isnt showing an increase I would suspect that test is the problem. Without signs of precipitation you should be able to measure large increases in calcium with your tests and it seems you've added plenty of calcium chloride.
FWIW I've used API for calcium without issues for a few years. It's not the most precise test but IME it has been consistent.
yeah, I may stick with the API for now. I saw my lfs had some elos kits in stock, so I may try one of those as well. Stinks because I thought when I got the red sea ones I was getting one of the 'good' ones. Although Mag and Alk tests seem reasonable. I had to dose a little mag and it seemed to react properly with the doses.
I can't really explain why you're having a snowstorm with your Ca so low, but I would say you should continue to raise your Ca, without adding Alk, at least until you get it up to 400ish. There is a long drawn out explanation for the average aquarist (read: not chemist) in Anthony Calfo's book where he talks about marbles in a bowl, if the bowl can only hold 100 marbles, and you have 70 red (calcium) marbles in the bowl, you can't raise your alk (blue marbles) up to 70 also without displacing (snowstorm) your calcium. I only bring this up because it would seem most useful to only be adding the marbles of one type to the bowl, and to do it slowly, otherwise you risk forming the precipitate you experienced.
