Help please

[Schplitter]

I have sand in my tank right now but it's not the sugar size stuff I had in my old tank. Now I'm having Ca issues. Can't get the Ca over 400 for more then one day... I never had the issue before when I was using the sugar size stuff...

Is there a substrate that can bump my Ca values up or at least keep them where they are managable...

Thanks a lot for any help you guys can give me.

BK

 

[Homereef]

To dissove sand or substrate into CA you would need a really low pH.

Are you sure you Mag and Alk levels are in check ?

 

[Schplitter]

mag is way up 1380. Ca and Alk are swinging... I know it's not goint to do the job of a Ca reactor but it might help...

BK

 

[sirreal63]

BK...unless your ph is below 7.8 your sand will not buffer anything. It will not dissolve and will not add to your calcium. 1380 for mag is not way up there. I usually keep mine in the high 1400's and I would also suspect test kit error and would rule that out before I did anything else.

 

[zt444a]

Many even keep their mag much higher than 1380. Jack is right, take a breath and begin the tests again.

 

[Nanook]

What calcium test kit are you using? Is it expired?

How much calcium are you dosing? How much does it swing from each day to day?

I agree with the others on the calcium issue...unless your ph is low, you are not gaining anything from aragonite substrate.

 

[Schplitter]

It swings from 400 to 340 every day.

I'm using salifert test kits and the are fine. I had a lfs test it and it came out the same.

Maybe I should just wait and see what this sulfur/Ca reactor will do before I mess with the sand...

 

[Schplitter]

One thing that may be responsible for the swings is the growth of coraline. it has gone crazy in the last two months...

 

[Reeferhead]

If your Cal and Alk are swinging that much in only a day I supect bad kits or testing error. If you ahave been testing everyday, can you post your exact pH, Ca, Alk, Mg readings for the past few days?

Like Homereef and Sireal already stated your substrate type has nothing to do with these parameters

BTW, I keep my Mg at 1450 to 1500ppm. Its helps keep my Ca up and the bryopsis fairy away

 

[zt444a]

Also how are you dosing/supplementing currently? Once you get the Ca and Alk at the levels you want to maintain, you must dose both Alk and Ca at the same time (essentially) and in the same amounts, or else your levels of both will swing.

Look at Randy's two-part dosing instructions, as he discussed how it is almost impossible to keep levels from swinging if you try jiggering just Ca or just Alk.

Hope that helps...

 

[Schplitter]

I will have to pull out the test notes for the past few weeks and post them...

I'm using randy's two part right now. I'm also doing the kalkwasser thing and 20-25% water changes per week.

I'll bump the Mg up some more today to see if that helps...

BK

 

[Schplitter]

ok so ver the past month the Alk has been between 8 and 10. That's good!!!
Ca:
3/21: 420
3/23: 380
3/28: 440 after 20% water change yesterday

Is that too much of a swing?

BK

 

[teetimefun]

So do you want me to wait on the frags?

 

[Homereef]

3/21: 420
3/23: 380
3/28: 440

Considering a + - margin of error that is no big deal. A lot of calcification can happen in 7 days. Especially when your tank is in a growth period. You are doing fine. I will be the 5th one to tell you to bump up your Mag to atleast 1400.

You just have some fine tuning to do and some calming the frick down.

 

[Schplitter]

Mag is up to 1450. Should I bump another 50?

I think I found out what is bothering my sps.

My Dart is sucking in air from the plumbing. There must be a bad connection some place in the plumbing. I noticed this a couple weeks ago but when I got home last night I noticed tonns of bubbles from the closed loop. Steve ( biz50) is babysitting my sps until I can reglue everything...

Paul: Hold on just a couple more days. I think I have the levels figured out but the darn closed loop is messing with me now. If you need to get it out of your tank right now I bet we can find a spot in Steve's tank...or maybe really low in my tank...

 

[teetimefun]

No problems if you want I can hold on to them. If you get a chance come over and when I move it all around I'm sure I'll make more you can take them all.

 

[Schplitter]

Maybe while I'm there we can change that tank out for a 300 gal?

She'll never know haha

BK