General advice - high pH/KH
- Thread starter cblack
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lost a crab
lost a crab
I lost an emerald crab tonight, but I caught it quick and removed it. Everything else in the tank seems to be doing fine. This was the larger of my two emeralds so it may be a coincidence. Only other change is a better heater so the avg temp has actually gone up a few degrees in the past few days. That is quicker than I'd like and I didn't expect it to be so much more effective. (temp went from ~76 to 80/81F). No further dosing since the 2ml which is a small fraction of the calculated dose. I am looking around locally to find a suitable source for dry Ca without luck so far.
lost a crab
I lost an emerald crab tonight, but I caught it quick and removed it. Everything else in the tank seems to be doing fine. This was the larger of my two emeralds so it may be a coincidence. Only other change is a better heater so the avg temp has actually gone up a few degrees in the past few days. That is quicker than I'd like and I didn't expect it to be so much more effective. (temp went from ~76 to 80/81F). No further dosing since the 2ml which is a small fraction of the calculated dose. I am looking around locally to find a suitable source for dry Ca without luck so far.
After about a week (and 13ml of Ca part added) the movement seems to be in the correct direction but it is within the limits of my test. I am looking for Dow's Flake or some form of dry additive locally, no luck so far. If I don't find it soon I may just order Kent Turbo-Ca online.
I found dry calcium chloride locally in the form of small white pellets from a wine and beer making supply store. I asked about the source and details but they didn't know much, just that it comes from their distributer in Ohio. I am guessing this is actually Dow Peladow anyway. Given that it is from a shop that has used this in other biological systems (for fermantation though) I thought this would probably be safe. Any thoughts? I plan to pick up a few ounces later today if I don't hear any dire warnings 
I have also read recently that the elevated bromide issue is not a real concern (there has been a fair amount of debate on this however). What I read is that altho the bromide content is much higher in the new dow formulations, it may not be an issue due to the way bromide reacts in the aquarium and also that macroalgae may use up excess bromide over time if the dow is only used for corrections and not everyday dosing.
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So, I just mixed 1/2 tsp (about 1/6th to 1/8th the calculated dose from reef calculators linked in this thread) into 350ml of heated RO and dosed this morning. I hope to do more tests this evening to see how much it changed.
BTW, the beer brewing CaCl is from ID Carlson from Kent, Ohio. That is all the info the label really gives.
BTW, the beer brewing CaCl is from ID Carlson from Kent, Ohio. That is all the info the label really gives.
Actually it is LD Carlson:
http://www.ldcarlson.com/
http://www.ldcarlson.com/
Did a round of tests. About the same but slightly towards the right direction, kind of within the limits of the test.
Alk: 12 (tetra test, I have heard of issues w/ these and found my tetra ph kit was off)
Ca: 350 (seachem)
pH: 8.2/8.3 (via API high range kit)
So, it looks like w/ 1/2tsp there wasn't much change. I have just dosed another 1/2tsp the same way and will test again in a few hours.
All livestock looks fine, GSP extension, softies are big, stupid anemone is on the move again tho (he moved 2-3 days ago halfway across the tank).
Alk: 12 (tetra test, I have heard of issues w/ these and found my tetra ph kit was off)
Ca: 350 (seachem)
pH: 8.2/8.3 (via API high range kit)
So, it looks like w/ 1/2tsp there wasn't much change. I have just dosed another 1/2tsp the same way and will test again in a few hours.
All livestock looks fine, GSP extension, softies are big, stupid anemone is on the move again tho (he moved 2-3 days ago halfway across the tank).
Dosed another 1/2tsp this morning. The calculator here (http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html) says not to increase Ca by more than 25ppm a day. It seems like if I do two 1/2tsp dosings a day I am hitting around a 20-30ppm rise.
Good to know, thanks for the advice. I am also being a bit careful as I only have one Ca test kit (salifert actually, not seachem). I did my two doses of 1 tsp each yesterday and also added some zoas and palys which opened just fine. Things are looking good. Alk has not come down yet though, I expect that may take a bit.
So after a couple weeks of conservative and increasing dosing I finally hit 400 Ca. At this point I am adding 3/4 - 1 tsp a day of the CaCl for a total of about 1.8 oz. Alk is at 10-11 and all livestock is doing well (I'm definitely seeing coralline algae take off). One thing I did recently was add 1 tsp to the salt water I mix up for my weekly WC. I'm using Instant Ocean and I read somewhere that it can mix to a low Ca. I also notice lots of residue in my mixing bucket and on the heater in there, could this adversely affect the replacement water? Any thoughts on further dosing? I would like to get on the balanced two part (Ocean's Blend) at some point but I figure I should wait until Alk is down. Is this correct?
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