Mg 900, Ca 380, Alk 9

[FSOL]

I'm having difficulties lately keeping calcium level close to 460. I dose it w/ b-ionic every day and next day it's actually lower than before.
I measured magnesium and it's 900. That's probably why calcium won't stay up. Alk seems to be fine at 9dkh.

I have dosed the water w/ magnesium too and it just won't go up. It goes down faster than I am dosing it.

Is there any way I can give a boost to the magnesium and calcium levels?

I'm also dripping kalk, which is keeping my alkalinity constant at 9, but the calcium just won't stay up.

 

[reefshadow]

You can use epsom salts to boost the magnesium, not sure of the particulars for your system though. A search should help.

After you boost the magnesium, calcium chloride can be used to bump up your calcium without effecting the alkalinity or ph. You can then continue with kalk and see if it keeps up.

 

[mikeatjac]

You Calcium will not go up until you raise you mag up to 1250-1300. This should help.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[FSOL]

One more thing I forgot to mention was that the tank is a new tank, only a month old. I have 260 lbs of live rock in a 180g tank, and the LFS told me that the reason mag and calcium are going down faster than I can keep up w/ it is because the tank is new and all the LR is consuming the calcium and magnesium to grow coraline algae.

Does this make sense or is the LFS talking nonsense? He said it'll eventually come to a point where you don't need to dose much.

 

[reefshadow]

Yes, coralline algae sucks alot of carbonates out of the water. If you plan on keeping calcifying organisms like sps/lps corals you won't ever come to a point where you "don't need to dose much"

Fwiw, 380 is not a terrible number for calcium, though better to get it and magnesium up to at least nsw values.

 

[FSOL]

Right now I have no SPS or clams in there. I only have softies and LPS corals and not too many of them. Almost all of my LR had no coraline on it, so maybe they are gobbling calcium like crazy to grow coraline algae.

Anyways. I will try that epsom to boost mag. and see how hard/easy it gets to keep calcium around 460. LFS told me to also dose calcium w/ those sealab 28 blocks (which contain magnesium and strontium in them) instead of B-ionic.

By the way, I don't measure for strontium. Should I test for those as well?