Reef and calcium please help

K

kbaker721

New member
Hello
I have a 150 gallon tank and have about a half dozen frags (sps). I know I need to dose calcium but there is so much info out there that it's overwhelming to figure out exactly what to do. From systems that are hundreds of dollars to diy stuff, it gets to be too much info and not enough answers.
What is the most effective way to dose calcium? Kalkwasser? I want these coral to succeed and want to do it right. Please help make this easy! Thanks.


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But at some time I will need to start dosing and would like to start the process of getting what I need....


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I started dosing when my regular water changes were not enough to keep my alk. & calcium where I wanted (10+dkh and 450+ calcium). I started by adding 1/2 tsp. per gallon of R/O ATO water. As I adjusted the amount of kalk my reef needed, I also kept. an eye on my PH because my reef is outside had a PH of 8.2 at the end of the light period. Kalk is really high PH and I noticed that after several weeks that my PH was beginning to exceed 8.55 on the high side. I began mixing vinegar with my kalk and adding this mix to my ATO. I ramped up the vinegar to todays dosage. After a couple months I am at 1 tsp Kalk+2 & 60ml vinegar per gallon of R/O. My reef uses about 2 1/2 gallons a day and my alk=10, cal.=450, and PH=8.4 I will keep an eye on it as the seasons change and I may have to dilute a bit due to more evap.
Cheers! Mark
BTW- There are approx. 200 corals in this system
 
Last edited:
I like kalk with my ATO plus 2-part if that's not enough. However, it seems like you're jumping the gun. What are your parameters? Are you testing alk, calcium and magnesium? I have around 45g of total water volume and have many LPS and starting to collect SPS. I change about 5g of water a week and test everything weekly. So far, everything is stable and I have no need to dose anything (although I do have a kalk stirrer hooked up already but no kalk in it). It sounds like you're pretty new to SPS so instead of worrying about dosing, start testing nitrates, phosphates, alk, calcium and magnesium weekly. Keep your nitrates and phosphates pretty low and alk as steady as possible. If before you do a water change, you notice your alk or calcium has dropped significantly, then it might be time to start dosing. When it's that time, go slow with increasing your levels. You'll pretty much need to test regularly from here on out because the bigger the coral get, the more uptake they'll generate.
 
Keep your three calcifiers, Alk, mag, cal, in their ranges.
That's all, dose only,when water changes cannot keep the three in range.
RED Sea pro salt mixes high in the range so many times, dosing is rarely required...
 
Thank you all for your help! That makes sense and helps me sleep a lot easier :)


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I use Bulk Reef Supply 2 Part. You buy the soda ash and calcium chloride and it is pretty cheap. Two part is really 3 part because you need to dose magnesium also.

In my tank, water changes maintain the Mg. Seawater has a bunch of calcium, so I test weekly and dose to keep it at 450 which is a bit high.

I test ALK daily and dose daily. So far manual dosing is working but as the corals grow, they consume more. Soon I will need a dosing pump to keep the levels sort of level.

With just a few frags, you are early days yet. The really important thing to watch is ALK. Get the test that works best for you. I use Red Sea Pro and I have heard good things about Salifert and Hanna.
 
I do need to get the dosing kits. I knew that was the first step. I will look into those first.
I use instant ocean reef for salt. Is there an issue with switching salt brands - to Red Sea?


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I see no issue at all, I went from IO, to Vibrant Sea, then finally to RED SEA PRO, over 8 months.
I like RSP for because it mixes up high in the ranges, so I dose less. It so much easier to make a mistake if dosing then adding new saltwater.
Very happy with this salt, salt costs more, but a lot less I spend on 2 parts.
Get what you pay for IMO.
Plus I trust the brand!
 
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