liquid calcium questions

M

marineman27

New member
Hi,


Well I finally got around to getting my calcium for my tank today. I picked up a bottle of liquid seachem calcium. I was wondering a few thing's, first it says add 1 capful (5ml) per 20 gallons. I did this I used a cap and a half for my 29 gallon setup. Now I dont have no corals in there as of now its saying I should add this twice a weak is this supposed to be every week? or is this just the fist week? I added a capful and a half tonight when should I add the next dose it just says twice a week. I also picked up a Red Sea Calcium test kit to monitor this when should I check the calcium levels and stuff thanks for your time and help I appreciate it......................Shaun
 
[welcome]

If you don't want coralline algae growth, there's no particular reason to dose.

If you do want coralline growth, picking a balanced calcium and alkalinity supplement is the easiest approach. A 2-part like B-Ionic is probably the easiest, and not that expensive for a 29g. A limewater drip or a DIY version of the 2-part might be something to consider long term.

I dose calcium and alkalinity daily, but your tank might be fine with once every few days. Some testing and experimenting are required to get a good trend line.
 
Montior your calcium and dose what is required to mantain your desired calcium level. Be aware that if you only dose calcium without also dosing alkalinity you will end up with a very low alkalinity. You should test first and see if dosing anything is even required. You may be able to get away with just using water changes to keep these levels in check considering you have no corals. Coralline algae does use alkalinity and calcium.
 
I agree with BurnOutReefer. There is probably no reason to dose calcium at this point. Also, I consider the recommended doses on the instructions pretty useless. The manufacturer simply doesn't know what your particular tank's coral demand is. The only way you can know how much to dose is to test for the particular element/compound you're dosing (in this case, calcium) and add enough to keep that parameter in it's normal range. A good way to know how much to add is to use this calculator:

http://reef.diesyst.com/

But before you start dosing calcium (and I'd wait until you actually have hard corals that will need it), you need to understand that calcium is just one part of the equation. The other part is carbonate (or alkalinity for our purposes), and possibly Magnesium. These two articles will explain it much better than I ever could:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

And if you like those, the Reef Chemistry forum has a whole host of articles on. . .you guessed it, Reef Chemistry. I know it all seems a little geekish, but understanding the chemistry behind the hobby really does make things simpler. It'll also save you money, since I have a feeling most people buy too many supplements rather than not enough.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605
 
Thanks,


I am just wanting this tank setup for corals. I was told at the lfs to get the calclium at around 400 for corals. I am using a T5 Lighting source for the coral I know I am limited on what I can keep on the T5 I plan on upgrading soon. and Yeah I would like to have the coraline algae to grow thanks..........Shaun
 
I thought you said you didnt have any corals...(yet)...regardless...
all advice above is good....
I personally dont dose at all......just my regular weekely 10% water changes.....
 
I dont have none yet. I wanted to make sure my water is setup correct before tossing them in is all I do plan on getting them soon..........Shaun
 
Just, don't dose what you don't test!!!!
If you have no idea where your levels are then don't add anything..
Find out what you need, then add acordingly.

It's like driving a car and turning when the maps says..
You're going to over turn or under turn; and when talking about saltwater, the same thing will happen in both cases; A CRASH...
 
It's a good plan to get your parameters in check before you add corals, but you'll be able to bump up your calcium and alkalinity very quickly, so there's no need to start dosing more than a few days before you get your first corals. . .or even after. One or two corals will have very little calcium demand, so it'll be easy to catch up. You may even find you still don't have to dose anything. . .at least initially.

As far as the T-5s go, depending on what type you have, you may not be very limited at all. If they're high output (HO) bulbs with a single reflector, you can probably keep most LPS. If the bulbs each have their own, individual reflector, you can keep just about anything you want.
 
well I finally got around to changing out the water here is what I did, I tested my mixed salt water that has a s.g. of 1.026 and I came up with a calcium result of 350 ppm this is straight out of my five gallon bucket which was a full 5 us gallons. I also tested my tanks calcium level and I got this 350 ppm. So now, what? Should I begin adding the calcium? up to 400 ppm or would you suggest it higher? thanks so much for the time and help I am new to all of this I am using seachem liquid cal......................Shaun


I am using reverse osmosis water by the way.
 
what brand of salt are you using? If you use reef crystals, tropic marin pro or Oceanic you should be getting much higher reading than that. If you are using IO or something along those lines, get a salt mixture that contain alittle mor calcium
 
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