How much SeaChem Calcium Reef Complete
- Thread starter Pbrown3701
- Start date
Pbrown3701
New member
Thanks for the tip. I'll check them out on my next bucket
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Drs Foster and Smith use Reef Crystals on their coral farm.
It's what I use. They do have great shipping rates. I would definitely investigate it.
And they are a sponsor here.
It's what I use. They do have great shipping rates. I would definitely investigate it.
And they are a sponsor here.
Pbrown3701
New member
I was looking at them as we speak. Do you have to add any Ca, buffer, or Mg to Reef Crystals?
You are talking about "Reef Crystals" made by IO right?
You are talking about "Reef Crystals" made by IO right?
Billybeau1
Premium Member
Yes, Reef Crystals is made by the same company as IO.
You may have to add a little cal, alk and mag depending on the frequency and amount of water changes and your tank consumption.
At 1.026 RC gives you about 420 cal, 12 dkh alk and about 1260 mag.
You may have to add a little cal, alk and mag depending on the frequency and amount of water changes and your tank consumption.
At 1.026 RC gives you about 420 cal, 12 dkh alk and about 1260 mag.
Pbrown3701
New member
Great information! Thanks.
Isn't 12dkh too high for 420ppm Ca? I thought the balance for alk and cal was limited and that at 420ppm cal you couldn't get more than about 2.95meq/L (8.26dkh)
according to this http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chemcalc.html
Isn't 12dkh too high for 420ppm Ca? I thought the balance for alk and cal was limited and that at 420ppm cal you couldn't get more than about 2.95meq/L (8.26dkh)
according to this http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chemcalc.html
jdieck
New member
Balanced alkalinity is just a reference number to the ratio of calcium and alkalinity in sea water.
Seawater contains 2.5 Meq/lt of alkalinity and about 420 ppm of Calcium.
If you add a balamced proportion of Calcium and ALkalinity (20 ppm of Calcium for every 1 mew/lt of alkalinity) to the NSW baseline you get the line of balanced calcium and alkalinity. (The diagonal line in the center between the two diagonal lines in your chart)
Thats it, just information on were the diagonal line is but you do not need to use that balance.
As you can see in your chart for a given calcium within the range of the red box you can have any alkalinity between 2.5 and 4 meq/lt so do not get tied to the balanced numbers you will still be between the acceptable ranges of the red box.
As a reference you can use the dinamic chart of the flash version of the calculator. It will plot were you are and were your target is in reference to the red box.
Enter your actual and target values for calcium alkalinity and magnesium then click on the chart to the right of the entry cells and it will show your locations.
http://reef.diesyst.com
Enjoy!
Pbrown3701
New member
jdieck, thanks for your explanation and your site. Both have been helpful.
I'm a little confused about why it has taken so much calcium supplement (reef complete) to move back into the "red". According to your site, i needed to add something like 200mL or something. I've added almost twice that. I presume this is due to precipitation of calcium carbonate
I'm a little confused about why it has taken so much calcium supplement (reef complete) to move back into the "red". According to your site, i needed to add something like 200mL or something. I've added almost twice that. I presume this is due to precipitation of calcium carbonate
Pbrown3701
New member
Just tested and calcium is up to 420ppm (target) and Alk is at 3043 meq/L.
I think that because my alk was so high to begin with that any calcium i added precipitated out as CaCO3. Thus, i did not see the expected increase in Calcium. But as i precipitated out CO3, i reduced the alkalinity. Then by adding more Ca (with the lower alk concentration), the calcium could increase the ionic (measured) concentration. Just my theory. Whatever the reason, it's now in the range.
Now just to monitor over the next couple of days to see how it changes due to consumption, so i know how much to dose regularly...
Thanks again for everyone's help.
I think that because my alk was so high to begin with that any calcium i added precipitated out as CaCO3. Thus, i did not see the expected increase in Calcium. But as i precipitated out CO3, i reduced the alkalinity. Then by adding more Ca (with the lower alk concentration), the calcium could increase the ionic (measured) concentration. Just my theory. Whatever the reason, it's now in the range.
Now just to monitor over the next couple of days to see how it changes due to consumption, so i know how much to dose regularly...
Thanks again for everyone's help.
Pbrown3701
New member
yikes, just noticed above, that should be 3.43 obviously 
I'm not growing baking soda in my tank...
Vader - I'm no expert on the topic (from the experience side), but i can tell you with 100% certainty that chemicals are chemicals. There is no magical component that makes one calcium chloride additive better than any other. I usually look for the one that provides the most Ca++ per unit cost. So far, i've found that to be Seachem reef complete (which is why i chose it).
You should consider the brand and it's reputation (for purity and to substantiate their marketing claims), but among the well known products available, i don't think there's much difference. Also, i wanted to avoid additives that had "other stuff" in them that may (or may not) build up in the tank.
Some additives will deliver the calcium in different ways, but once it's dissociated in the water (which is what our little friends use), there is no difference. At least, last time I looked at a periodic table, i didn't see "biocalcium" listed (excuse my sarcasm )
I'm not growing baking soda in my tank...Vader - I'm no expert on the topic (from the experience side), but i can tell you with 100% certainty that chemicals are chemicals. There is no magical component that makes one calcium chloride additive better than any other. I usually look for the one that provides the most Ca++ per unit cost. So far, i've found that to be Seachem reef complete (which is why i chose it).
You should consider the brand and it's reputation (for purity and to substantiate their marketing claims), but among the well known products available, i don't think there's much difference. Also, i wanted to avoid additives that had "other stuff" in them that may (or may not) build up in the tank.
Some additives will deliver the calcium in different ways, but once it's dissociated in the water (which is what our little friends use), there is no difference. At least, last time I looked at a periodic table, i didn't see "biocalcium" listed (excuse my sarcasm
)
Pbrown3701
New member
Another question - so long as the Calcium and Alkalinity values are within "the red box." Is it important that they are constant? In other words, say alk and cal trend down over a week and then you dose to bring them back up. So over time, you have less stability.
I know stability is always "better" but there comes a point when time also has to be considered. Will i notice any problems from dosing weekly if the values are still in the "acceptable" range?
I know stability is always "better" but there comes a point when time also has to be considered. Will i notice any problems from dosing weekly if the values are still in the "acceptable" range?
crvz
Team RC
In terms of stability, it's fine if it slowly trends down, but you'd probably want to slowly trend it back up. I've had some big problems with large swings of alk, in particular. Story I've heard goes that a large disruption of carbonate alkalinity can greatly affect the bacteria in a tank, as they are probably the largest consumers of carbon. Of course you can't see a big impact of bacteria... what I noticed was that the coralline algae died off in big proportions, likely due to the death and decay of the bacteria housing itself in the coralline. BUT, that's all hypothesis; the correlation of large swing of alk and large die-off of coralline algae.
I'd also agree with the DrsFS for salt. I normally buy 4-6 buckets of reefcrystals at a time, as it's cheap and they dont (or at least didnt use to) charge extra for shipping. It's quite a steal.
I'd also agree with the DrsFS for salt. I normally buy 4-6 buckets of reefcrystals at a time, as it's cheap and they dont (or at least didnt use to) charge extra for shipping. It's quite a steal.
crvz
Team RC
One more thought... don't get wrapped up in a target values. See what's easy to maintain in your tank. I've read a number of times that calcium at levels under 100ppm is still not a limiting factor for calcification. If your tank settles in at 350ppm, great. If it's 420, great. But don't try to artificially keep it elevated if it takes daily dosing of large quantities to keep it at 420-450ppm.
Same with alkalinity, though it's a little more important. See where your tank settles in, then make some adjustments. Your tank was a little out of whack, so hopefully the change in salt will help! Good luck!
Same with alkalinity, though it's a little more important. See where your tank settles in, then make some adjustments. Your tank was a little out of whack, so hopefully the change in salt will help! Good luck!
jdieck
New member
The limiting factor in reality is a combination of the level of calcium, alkalinity and PH not only one or two of them.
When the supersaturation parameter is equal to 1 the water is just saturated and it is the point at which Aragonite (Coral skeleton) starts to dissolve. In normal reange the parameter is 3 which means supersaturation and at around 6 calcium carbonate starts precipitating.
Examples of combinations for a parmeter of 1 (just saturation)
pH = 7.7 pH = 8.2
Calcium = 410 ppm Calcium = 340 ppm
Alkalinity = 2.5 meq/L Alkalinity = 1.0 meq/L
As you can see you can be limitin even if your calcium is at 410 ppm as it also depends on the alkalinity and PH level.
