Extra CAlcium to use with 2 part???

[spawn2]

I'm wondering what product to use in conjunction with two part dosing to boost & keep up my calcium levels without disrupting PH or anything else. The tank is a stock RSM 250 with no room for add ons of equipment of reactors of any kind. Here are 3 of the most recent pic so you can see why I need more Ca. Any thoughts appreciated Thx.

 

[nanojg]

I'm confused, why not dose more?

awesome looking tank btw

 

[spawn2]

The tank is small water volume so the more 2 part that goes in the faster it affects the salinity....by rising. I would like to find an additional booster product to help maintain while not affecting any other parameters. So i do not have to remove corals. Thankyou

 

[nanojg]

If you use raw, un-baked baking soda for the alk part it will not affect PH by much, if any. The calcium part does not affect ph. You would have to add a ton in order for it to affect salinity enought to matter. Are you dosing slowly via dosing pump throughout the day?

 

[spawn2]

I'm using BRS two part recipe 1 @ a rate of 210ml per day of ca, & a rate of 168 ml per day of alk. Thats = 3.8ml per gal of Ca & 3 ml per gal of alk. Added with a profilux SA doser. Mg is @ 1350-1400. As soon as more is added of any of the supps the salinity rises. This is a battle I have been fighting since last aug.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The main methods that do not boost salinity are CaCO3/CO2 reactors and limewater (kalkwasser).

But it is easy to just take out some salt water once in a while and replace with RO/DI if salinity increases.

 

[spawn2]

Thanks Randy, I have tried the water removal & replacement. Also I have tried recently a 30% WC to try & alleviate any residual salt build up. The system seems not to be able to maintain Ca at all. I feel like I'm kinda running out of options on this tank. Is it safe to add kalk to the ato in conjunction with the 2 part without drastically affecting my PH?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Your tank will demand a lot of calcium and alkalinity, and limewater alone will never keep up.

If the ATO adds it slowly and you have a skimmer, I wouldn't worry about pH, but you might consider a CaCO3/CO2 reactor for such an SPS packed tank. A two part can meet any demand, however.

 

[spawn2]

Your tank will demand a lot of calcium and alkalinity, and limewater alone will never keep up.

If the ATO adds it slowly and you have a skimmer, I wouldn't worry about pH, but you might consider a CaCO3/CO2 reactor for such an SPS packed tank. A two part can meet any demand, however.

Would you say a tunze Ato is slow enough addition? If 2 part is enough to maintain any setup, would it be wise to increase airflow @ the surface to increase evap. & just crank up the doser. The trouble I'm having is every time I try to correct the Ca value up the sal. shoots up with it? so Im feeling pretty stuck with the 2 part...

 

[spawn2]

Your tank will demand a lot of calcium and alkalinity, and limewater alone will never keep up.

If the ATO adds it slowly and you have a skimmer, I wouldn't worry about pH, but you might consider a CaCO3/CO2 reactor for such an SPS packed tank. A two part can meet any demand, however.

What do you have to do to keep a high consumption tanks needs met by using 2 part, i would really love to know, because so far it has not worked in a system with low GWV. That is to say in a system that is packed with sps, without affecting the salinity, to the point where it is completely unrealistic to maintain chem concentrations?

 

[bertoni]

I'd just use a 2-part, and do some water changes with low-SG saltwater or replace some saltwater with RO/DI from time to time. That always worked for me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I just don't understand the high concern with salinity rising. Almost no reef aquarist chore is easier than removing a little salt water once a week or so.

We can guide you are to how much needs to be removed for how much two part added if that would be useful. Some people even automate it with dosing pumps.

 

[Rploaded]

I just don't understand the high concern with salinity rising. Almost no reef aquarist chore is easier than removing a little salt water once a week or so.

We can guide you are to how much needs to be removed for how much two part added if that would be useful. Some people even automate it with dosing pumps.

+1 how much easier can it be......

 

[spawn2]

I'd just use a 2-part, and do some water changes with low-SG saltwater or replace some saltwater with RO/DI from time to time. That always worked for me.

I've tried this, it lowers the Ca & Alk value's as well as the desired affect of maintaing .026

 

[spawn2]

I just don't understand the high concern with salinity rising. Almost no reef aquarist chore is easier than removing a little salt water once a week or so.

We can guide you are to how much needs to be removed for how much two part added if that would be useful. Some people even automate it with dosing pumps.

As said, I've been doing that. What seems to be the challenge is the amount of 2 part going in does not maintain Ca levels @ the desired range of 390-420. At the rate I'm adding it, which is 3.8ML per gal per day the salinity seems to be manageable. As soon as I up the dosage rate the sal begins to quickly rise to the point where I could be taking out salt water every day & replacing it with r/o & further disrupting the chem levels. If advise could be given as to a different Ca boosting product that will not affect the sal that would be awesome.

If you can guide as to how much tank water should be re/re with r/o without causing a swing to the levels, to compensate for how much 2 part is being added that would also be greatly appreciated.

This tank will be 2 years old this may, I have been STRUGGLING to keep up Ca levels since last aug whilst battling to keep the sal in check. Agreed a reactor would likely be a better solution. That being said, in the beginning of the thread I stated there is no room & not an option on this setup, I just would like to maintain all para's "easily".
I am in the process of building a 225gal setup in the basement which will not be ready for another 4-6 months. Where, if I decide to go full blown sps again, I will employ a reactor.

As you can see by the pics, my husbandry is full on despite the challenges i'm dealing with. So any further condescending remarks can be left out. Thx Sean

 

[nanojg]

Your only option is a calcium reactor (in order to avoid the salinity problems you are facing). Your tank is just packed too heavy with fantastic looking, great growing sps. All calcium supplements (other than via calcium reactor or limewater) contain salt

 

[spawn2]

Yes that was the conclusion that I had basically arrived at, which is why I was wondering about using kalk in conjunction with the 2 part. My concern is causing issue's with the ph...

But like RHF said I know alot of people are still running high demand systems with a larger GWV using only 2 part without the issue's I'm having, & I am looking for the easiest solution until the larger setup is running. When given that I will have a GWV that is approx. 4 x the GWV of this current setup, I expect the issue will disappear. I think the issue is caused by the low GWV Vs. the demand

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How much are you adding each day?

I've tried this, it lowers the Ca & Alk value's as well as the desired affect of maintaing .026

I think you may be misunderstanding the process. The loss of calcium and alkalinity by reducing the salinity is very, very small.

If you are using my DIY two part, once you dose a full gallon of both parts, you'd remove 3.25 gallons of tank water to offset the salinity rise.

To gauge the lose due to that salinity correction, that 3.25 gallon correction contains only 3.8% of the calcium added and only 0.4% of the alkalinity added. Those proportions are probably about the same for all commercial two parts as well.

 

[spawn2]

Currently I'm using BRS two part recipe 1 @ a rate of 210ml per day of ca, & a rate of 168 ml per day of alk. Thats = 3.8ml per gal of Ca & 3 ml per gal of alk. Added with a profilux SA doser. Mg is @ 1350-1400 into 55 gal GWV. I do weekly changes of 9% with RBS with correct levels, & that has fallen to only maintaining 360ppm of Ca typically.

As of yesterday I increased the Ca to deliver 231 of the ca & started to adjust the ca up again manually (by 8 ounces) to get to the desired Ca level. over night the sal has risen to almost .0275 > .027 yesterday, in that same time I have re/re approx. 1gal of tank water.
Yes there has been a misunderstanding, as I have only been re/re about 1 gallon a week
when it is taking about 14-16 days to use a gal of supps.

Randy if this was your setup, how would you deal with this. Is adding kalk to the topoff a viable solution? Or would you maintain the use of 2 part at a higher daily dose rate & compensate by increasing the amount of water being re/re?

 

[spawn2]

I just tested the Ca value & with the Ca additions made last night it has only risen to 370-375 done on an elos kit.