Calcium is at 400

[DSR]

I found a calculator online today that should recommended dosing to raise calcium levels... I had been dosing 7.5 ml in hope of achieving the goal of, at least 400.... Little did I know that I needed to dose approximately 20x that amount in order to get to where I actually wanted to be eventually (450 is where i want to be). So tonight I dose 30ml and waited another 2 hours. Then 30 ml... tested and I am at 400. Alk is still 9. and pH is 8.2.

I am going to test over the next couple of days to see what my drop off is and then base my dosing off that. I can't imagine that I would need to dose 60ml each day.

 

[Ace25]

Woooaah.. slow down there.. nothing good happens fast like that. While there is usually no immediate visual or pH affects from dosing that much CA at once, I believe I have read somewhere that you can't add it all in a 24 hour period to raise your CA to proper levels. I am foggy on the reasons, but something to do with the ionic balance getting out of wack and possibly causing a "snowstorm" in your tank, where calcium binds and forms a precipitate that looks like dandruff in your tank which then can't be absorbed by your corals.

Personally, I never dose more than 4x the recommended daily dosage on the bottle for CA or Alk just to be on the safe side when things are low. 400 is NOT low, nature is 380 or so... so your actually still a little high, no reason to rush to 450.

 

[DSR]

Nah, that was only 1/3 of the dose. The actual dose to get it to the proper level was 187 ml (raising it 90 points). The instructions said to only go between 1/3 and 1/2. I chose the more conservative method (because the b-ionic says no more than 1 ml/gallon per 24 hour period... So I am right there with ya on the concern level.

So you think I should just stick with the 400? I am fine with that. I will be adding a clam and more sps so I was concerned that my calcium needs might be higher than most.

 

[Ace25]

No, you can raise it to 450, just don't be in any rush. If your dosing daily and only raising your CA 5 points a day, that is good and safe. I never dose more than 30ml in a 24 hour period of CA on my tank, but I also use kalk for top off which also adds CA and Alk. I hardly ever use the Alk portion of B-Ionic. I go through 5 gallons of CA per every 32oz of Alk.

 

[DSR]

The tank is holding close to 380-400 this AM. The "snow storm" effect you discussed may or may not be happening. We have a lot of dust in our house (despite air filters and lots of vacuuming). So the particulates i am seeing may just be regular dust (I did also notice it yesterday morning before I began this adventure... so that is probably what it is).

I am going to raise it in 5 point increments as suggested. But what happens when I do a water change? Am I going to drop again? I still can't figure out why my calcium is so low in this tank. Perhaps the salt the LFS uses doesn't have that much calcium.

 

[Ace25]

Test your new water you mix for CA, and then add your CA buffer to the new water to raise the CA in that to the levels you want. Then when you put that water in your tank it will raise your CA safely.