When should I address the big 3?

[Mrramsey]

Yes - Alk, Calcium, and Magnesium.

My tank has just completed cycling so Here are the current parameters
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 3ppm
SG - 1.025
pH - 8.1
Phosphate - 0ppm
Calcium - 450 as of 4/25/2014
Alk - 7.0
Mag - have not tested yet

I am using reefcrystals salt and plan to have mainly soft corals, LPS, fish and inverts. I tested alkalinity on 4/25 and again yesterday and it is solid at 7.0. I know this is low. Calcium is right on at least for now. What is my best course of action at this point?

 

[thegrun]

I would bring the alkalinity up just a little. I would not worry about the calcium or magnesium until you add stony corals unless you have a lot of coralline algae and you want it to continue to grow.

 

[Mrramsey]

I would bring the alkalinity up just a little. I would not worry about the calcium or magnesium until you add stony corals unless you have a lot of coralline algae and you want it to continue to grow.

Thanks Grun, what would you recommend to be the best way for me to raise the Alk for my setup? Do I need to look into a 2 part doser from BRS?

 

[Sk8r]

Raise mg first, then alk, and mg should 'lock' alk and cal into a stable relationship. If you have stony corals on your list, look into calcium supplement via kalk.

 

[m0nkie]

So the 3 popular methods are either:

1) dosing by hand or doser
2) Calcium reactor
3) Kalkwasser Reactor

correct? either 1 will get the job done with its own pros and cons.

 

[Mrramsey]

Well here's my plan of action.
I will do my first WC later this week. Recheck my baseline levels again. Since there are no corals or coraline for that matter from what I read I don't need to adjust the alkalinity yet correct?

I like the simple approach of using kalkwasser however I don't really want to incorporate it into my ATO. Can I just run a drip / perilistic pump system in conjunction with the top off? I would assume that the concentration is different?