sailoracu2
New member
Do I need to dos my tank with calcium supplement?
Purple cap question
- Thread starter sailoracu2
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Cove Beach
New member
Test first, dose if you need it. Depending on your salt and the frequency of water changes, and what you have in the tank that uses calcium you may not need to dose.
itZme
New member
If you are concerned about Calcium your first investment recommendation would be a Calcium and an Alkalinity test kit. There is a general rule of thumb in the aquarium hobby that you should "Never dose something you don't test for"
That being said, you shouldn't NEED to dose calcium if you only have one or two stony corals. They use the calcium from the water to build their skeletons and then your water ends up deficient in Calcium (as well as other minerals)
This is one big reason water changes are recommended. When I first had a 29g tank I loaded it full of corals and clams and never had a problem keeping the CA around 380 with Instant Ocean 20% water changes every couple weeks. When I got a larger system and more toward the clams/SPS corals it would start dropping and even water changes wouldn't keep the CA up. I started topping off with kalkwasser and it helped but eventually it seems that everyone who wants a virtually maintenance-free system goes to a CA reactor.
You still need to test parameters just not as often as it is much more stable and there aren't the dosing errors involved with guessing how much 2-part to add.
If you haven't already read about the 2-part dosing in the chemistry forums here on RC it is a great place to start. You can go out and buy B-Ionic 2-part solutions but you will spend 10-20x more money than doing it yourself.
Be sure the test for Alkalinity as well as Calcium as they are directly related and you should have a balance or it means something is not right.
Hope that helps
-- Kevin
OK Mark you beat me to it and said the same thing in 2 sentences... I am going to just sit back and read from now on and let you answer
That being said, you shouldn't NEED to dose calcium if you only have one or two stony corals. They use the calcium from the water to build their skeletons and then your water ends up deficient in Calcium (as well as other minerals)
This is one big reason water changes are recommended. When I first had a 29g tank I loaded it full of corals and clams and never had a problem keeping the CA around 380 with Instant Ocean 20% water changes every couple weeks. When I got a larger system and more toward the clams/SPS corals it would start dropping and even water changes wouldn't keep the CA up. I started topping off with kalkwasser and it helped but eventually it seems that everyone who wants a virtually maintenance-free system goes to a CA reactor.
You still need to test parameters just not as often as it is much more stable and there aren't the dosing errors involved with guessing how much 2-part to add.
If you haven't already read about the 2-part dosing in the chemistry forums here on RC it is a great place to start. You can go out and buy B-Ionic 2-part solutions but you will spend 10-20x more money than doing it yourself.
Be sure the test for Alkalinity as well as Calcium as they are directly related and you should have a balance or it means something is not right.
Hope that helps
-- Kevin
OK Mark you beat me to it and said the same thing in 2 sentences... I am going to just sit back and read from now on and let you answer
Last edited:
Cove Beach
New member
Nah Kevin you do a great job of steering folks in the right direction. Just helping out where i can, with the little knowledge i am certain of. That's what the club is for. An information base that evolves over time, like our knowledge of the hobby. Ok, i'm done, gonna go watch stuff in my tank.....
sailoracu2
New member
Thanks for the information, a test kit and water changes will work.
