How to increase Calcium safely

[bertoni]

Hmm, it's possible that they are going after the coral as it's dying.

Those levels all are acceptable, in my opinion. There could be contaminants or toxins, so a bit of carbon might help. In reality, though, carbon seems to have a low probability of success, although I'd give it a shot.

 

[jharding08]

Some things I have noticed.
1. My TDS meter on my RODI unit has always been a pain. I've replaced it but get 'ERR' on the OUT side. It was working today and it showed the IN at .06 and the OUT at .12. If that is correct, I that could be the issue with the corals dying, right? Ive replaced the sediment and carbon blocks not even 3 months ago. Same for the DI resin. Could it be the RO membranes? I might just replace it all, my house water is junk

2. How do I add ROX 0.8 carbon to a TLF 150 reactor? In my BRS reactor, I used two sponges to hold it in place at the top of the reactor so it didnt tumble. The TLF 150 has two sponges by the plastic plates, shoudl I use one from my other TLF to keep it towards the top. I noticed it floats a bit in the water of the reactor.

3. I think I figured out the PH meter. Needed to let it sit for like 10 minutes to settle.

 

[bertoni]

Hmm, if the TDS meter is correct, I'd start adding some Amquel or Prime to the output water, and get a replacement DI cartridge ASAP. If the RO membrane is bad, the DI cartridge will die rapidly. I'd get a reliable TDS meter, and measure the input and output of the RO membrane phase, and work from there.

You can use carbon in the filter if you lower the flow rate or reverse the input and output flow. The sponges would help if they would stay in place. Reversing the flow will be less efficient in its use of media, but might be good enough for your system.

 

[jharding08]

I think I am just going to replace all 5 stages (+extra ro membrane) of the Rodi just to be safe. I've replaces the BRS online tds meter multiple times. Not sure they are best. What is a better alternative?

I added 1 cup of carbon to the TLF 150 and put an extra separate in it. The carbon rose a bit but is staying in between the sponges. Not sure how much flow I should put through it. I have it just more than a slow drip out of the output. The carbon Def isnt tumbling

 

[bertoni]

I have the HM Digital COM-100 meter and it seems to be very good, but a bit pricey at about $75.

 

[jharding08]

If TDS is that important to coral health than it is worth it

 

[jharding08]

Replaced all stages of my RODI filter and the two 75 gpd RO membranes. Got a handheld TDS meter as well.

Measured 0-5 TDS in the water afterwards

Did a water change on Sunday. My parameters were Ca - 450, Alk - 10. This was right after the water change, so I will measure again on thurs or friday to see how much they drop with my current dosing.

I'm wondering if I need to dose Alk at all with the Red Sea Coral Pro salt I am using. It has ALk at 12, so if I want to be at 8, thats a long way off.

Should I use something like Instant Ocean instead that has levels more towards NSW?

 

[bertoni]

You could keep with the Red Sea until it runs out, at least, as long as the animals are doing well enough. I think IO is fine, though, and I'd probably go with it.

 

[jharding08]

You could keep with the Red Sea until it runs out, at least, as long as the animals are doing well enough. I think IO is fine, though, and I'd probably go with it.

I just used the rest of the red sea coral pro this weekend. One thing I didn't do is roll the bucket to mix the salt before going into the water.

From a general perspective and your post on salt mix parameters, a lot if not most of them have alk above 10. If I want to keep mine at 7-8 and add a mix that has alk of 10-12, wont that raise my alk levels for a considerable time?

Maybe not if I only do 10-15% change per week. Your results show IO has a alk of 11 while RSCP is at 12.5.

Should I just turn off my alk dosing and use either salt for weekly water changes and see what happens? What should I be anticipating?

 

[bertoni]

I'd probably just turn off the alkalinity for a while after a water change, but it probably won't take long for the alkalinity to drop if the water change is reasonably small. A 10% change would raise the alkalinity from 8 to 8.3 dKH, assuming the fresh water is at 11 dKH, or to 8.4, if the water is at 12 dKH.

 

[jharding08]

ok, so it really doesnt matter how high the alk is in the salt mix, it only raises the tank water by .1 for 11 dKH vs. 12 dKH. I guess its the trace elements in the mix that make one better than the other?

 

[bertoni]

Water changes help with trace elements, and one salt mix might be better than another, but I don't think we have good data on that, and I personally doubt that the trace element content of our salt products is consistent for the very low-level ions.

 

[jharding08]

With turning my alk doser off, I was able to get it down to 8.5 from 10 within one week. Not sure the corals love it but I'd like to drop to 7-7.5 before leveling off. My corals dont look great, I need to check phosphate now too, it was .08. I guess things just take time to acclimate to new parameters. I should have never let my calcium and alk get out of balance.



I'm going to go with Instant Ocean because 1) its cheaper 2) the alk is less, so if I have my alk at 7, the spike on a water change will be less 3)I've seen many TOTMs on here using IO and not alot using RSCP.

Any evidence you are less likely to get a bad batch of IO vs. RSCP?

 

[bertoni]

I don't think we have good statistics on salt problems, but IO seems good enough on average. Fewer complaints might mean less popularity, though.

 

[jharding08]

What is the difference between io and reef crystals?

 

[bertoni]

Reef Crystals has higher levels for calcium, alkalinity, and magnesium, and it has some organics in it, in the form of vitamins. The vitamins probably won't hurt anything, but I am skeptical that they are useful.