my ca. was 320 6 days ago.For 2 days I used Kent Marine Liquid Reactor,And also K. M. Tech-M for mag. My CA. stayed the same. For the nexted 2 days I used (Purple Up). Still 320. I started adding B-Ionic 2 part calcium buffer for the last 2 days. My ca. has seemed to drop, it is now 300. Is there something wrong with (MY)B-Ionic ? Are both, bottle 1 and bottle 2 suppose to be perfectly clear? They look like water. Also it says it temporarilly clouds the water. This does not cloud it at all. I have to get a mag. test kit . Which one is user friendly, in other words, I'm no rocket scientist. My PH is 8.4, my dkh is 9., ammonia-0, nitites-0, nitrates-10, Please give suggestions, I have LPS, Clam, Monties, Softies.
Please help, my Cal. is 300
- Thread starter briangg57
- Start date
Whatdoes bio balls have to do with calcium? My nitrates are low. I posted 10ppm but it was between 5-10. I have extreamly good circulation 2 jets on return, 2 additional powerheads, My skimmer and charcoal are HOT and give added flow. I change 18 gal. of water twice a month. I use I.O. salt. I'm trying to find Dow Flake,but not having much luck. The chemist said Kent Marine, Liquid Calcium is pretty good. I'm getting some tomorrow.
demonsp
In Memoriam
Your hard coral need nitrate as low as possible.Bio balls collect this.
Your return is for you sumps health and to much flow reduces its effect.The extra flow does help but i wouldnt factor it in.You have 2 others but without model numbers or there placement i cant say.
Not sure what you mean by skimmer and filter hot, they do add flow but you want a gooc constant circular circulation in your tank from top to bottom.
Not sure what brand IO salt is. Some salt cant keep up with calcium needs.
You have alot of hard coral from your profile and these additives maynot keep up.A calcium drip would be best.
Also i would do weekly 20 to 30 % water changes and see if that brings it up and then try to suppliment with the kent.
Your return is for you sumps health and to much flow reduces its effect.The extra flow does help but i wouldnt factor it in.You have 2 others but without model numbers or there placement i cant say.
Not sure what you mean by skimmer and filter hot, they do add flow but you want a gooc constant circular circulation in your tank from top to bottom.
Not sure what brand IO salt is. Some salt cant keep up with calcium needs.
You have alot of hard coral from your profile and these additives maynot keep up.A calcium drip would be best.
Also i would do weekly 20 to 30 % water changes and see if that brings it up and then try to suppliment with the kent.
demonsp
In Memoriam
Oh its HOB for hang on back. 10 is low but 0 is best. The skimmer is great for breaking the surface tension for better O2 exchange then you want circulation. You said you have 2 other unknown powerheads.Im sure there fine i was just wondering ther model.
Instant ocean is famous for this. It works great at first but has trouble keeping up. I switched to oceanic with better succes and it also disolves faster and with much less undisolved matter. I think a salt switch alone would help.But you say you have SPS and LPS and Clams.These take more calcium and if you have enough then i may goto a calcium reactor.
Instant ocean is famous for this. It works great at first but has trouble keeping up. I switched to oceanic with better succes and it also disolves faster and with much less undisolved matter. I think a salt switch alone would help.But you say you have SPS and LPS and Clams.These take more calcium and if you have enough then i may goto a calcium reactor.
The items you listed are good for maintaining, but not the best for raising levels. There are also a lot of other things that can influence calcium levels. This is a good place to start reading then you can do some more reading in the chemistry forum to really make your head spin
Yes, that mixture is fine, but I'd still correct the calcium with calcium chloride (or just the calcium part of the B-ionic) as recommended in the other thread, or else it will take a long time to come up, even using Oceanic alone.
I've also heard and seen some numbers that suggest that Oceanic has dropped their excessively high calcium level, so that plan may not work on into the future.
I've also heard and seen some numbers that suggest that Oceanic has dropped their excessively high calcium level, so that plan may not work on into the future.
mikesommers
Premium Member
I had the same problems with I.O. I switched to Seachem this week and its working out super!!! My only complaint is that Mg was 1125 on it. I buffered it up everything else was great and corals look super.
Please don't think I disreguarded your previous advice about adding Magflake and Dow-flake to my salt. I spent a day last week trying to find Dowflake, No luck, out of season. I found and bought (Quik-Joe) calcium chloride flake thinking it was the same thing but before using I posted to ask if it was the same, only to find out that if it can't be traced back to Dow and made before 2007 then it is not. So now I have to drive one hour to return it.
I've been told that if my mag. is low then I can't raise ca. because it needs to bind with mag. I'm also told that it will take a ton of mag. to raise my level if it is very low. I'm going to try to get a mag test kit today. As I said previously, I had to through one out because it was way too advanced for me to use. I forgot which brand it was, but I had several of my friends look at it and they couldn't make heads or tails of it either. Randy, What do I do?
mikesommers
Premium Member
I have been using a seachem Mg test kit. Its pretty simple. I was worried about the same thing when I bought my kit. Seachem is easy to use and you get 3 tests in one!
If you cannot find the Dowflake locally, you can but it online as at least 2 RC sponsors, or you cna use calcium chloride sold by ESV, Kent, Warner,a and other hobby companies. Almost any brand will e cheaper than using the two part calcium only part for this purpose. 
I've been told that if my mag. is low then I can't raise ca. because it needs to bind with mag.
No, it is quite like that. A nugget of truth at the core, but...
If calcium is low, you can ALWAYS raise it with an appropriate calcium additive.
What happens is if magnesium is low and alkalinity or pH are especially high, is that you may get some abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate (on heaters, pumps, etc). Most tanks get some, and it is just a mater of extent. But I would not wait to boost calcium that is 300 ppm because you have not yet perfected the magnesium level. It is stressful to hard corals. You do not even have reason to think it is all that low.
I've been told that if my mag. is low then I can't raise ca. because it needs to bind with mag.
No, it is quite like that. A nugget of truth at the core, but...
If calcium is low, you can ALWAYS raise it with an appropriate calcium additive.
What happens is if magnesium is low and alkalinity or pH are especially high, is that you may get some abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate (on heaters, pumps, etc). Most tanks get some, and it is just a mater of extent. But I would not wait to boost calcium that is 300 ppm because you have not yet perfected the magnesium level. It is stressful to hard corals. You do not even have reason to think it is all that low.
I've been doseing the reccomended dose with B-Ionic and calcium is not going up. In fact, it went down. I'm getting more coraline algea though and I think it is using it up as fast as I put it in. Would it hurt to over dose? If so, by how much would be safe? and should I dose both parts?
Forget the recommended dose. That is for maintenance. Use the calculator to determine a corrective dose. It is much larger. Split it in half and dose half each of 2 days.
Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html
Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html
