Clacium

[Grotto]

So, I've been trying to get my Calcium into the 400's... and it's been slow .

I use Reef Advantage Calcium, a white powder (dry).. "Raises Calcium."

It says that each dose will raise Calcium by 12 mg/L a day, which is 2 level tsp for my tank. It also says not to exceed 25 mg/L a day. So each time I test then add water to the tank I mix together 4 tsp of it in a gallon of RO/DI water.

I have a brand new Tropic Marine Ca/Mg test kit, bought only a few weeks ago, when I first started testing my Ca was at 340. I'm almost through this entire cylinder of this Reef Advantage Calcium and my most recent test showed:

Ca = 360 ppm
Mg = 1500 ppm
dKH = 3.5 or 12.25

The back of the Cylinder says 250 g treats 2000 gallons, am I doing something wrong or do these powder supplements specifically raise the levels slowly? I've got about 1/5 of the cylinder left and my Ca still isn't in the 400's, I don't think its the test kit as it's brand new and it shows the Mg levels are where they need to be.

Any suggestions? Should I just keep dosing until it finally tests where I want it? I guess reading that it's supposed to treat 2000g scared me a little, I'd rather not accidentally get my Ca levels too high .

Thank you in advance!

[Camilsky]

Hey! What is your pH ...!?

[Grotto]

pH = 8.0 atm

[coral reefer]

Slow down with the calcium buffer/additive! Their is a problem elsewhere that needs to be addressed! You have to be careful with this calcium and trying to add it to your tank. First of all, that level is fine especially if you do not have a large bioload of Tridacna Clams, coralline algae, inverts and hermatypic corals(those that deposit/precipitate calcium for their skeleton), your calcium level is adequate!
You need to read on calcium and the overall reaction if you try to increase it too quickly or if it crashes, unable to raise it!
Alkalinity, and magnesium play a major role in the amount or lack thereof of calcium in your water. Alkalinity and calcium work synonomously but in opposite directions! If you have a low calcium level, chances are your alkalinity level is too high and vice versa!
I would check your alkalinity and pH levels initially. I would also use Kalkwasser or "Purple Up" instead of the calcium additive solely!!!
Let us know how you make out!
And please read about calcium and reef tanks and all it entails for your benefit!!!

[amcarrig]

The product that you're using does raise calcium slowly but you're almost there. Your magnesium and alk are right where they should be so if you keep adding calcium supplements for a few more days, you should be at the level you want to be at

[Jason McKenzie]

Originally Posted by coral reefer

Slow down with the calcium buffer/additive! Their is a problem elsewhere that needs to be addressed! You have to be careful with this calcium and trying to add it to your tank. First of all, that level is fine especially if you do not have a large bioload of Tridacna Clams, coralline algae, inverts and hermatypic corals(those that deposit/precipitate calcium for their skeleton), your calcium level is adequate!
You need to read on calcium and the overall reaction if you try to increase it too quickly or if it crashes, unable to raise it!
Alkalinity, and magnesium play a major role in the amount or lack thereof of calcium in your water. Alkalinity and calcium work synonomously but in opposite directions! If you have a low calcium level, chances are your alkalinity level is too high and vice versa!
I would check your alkalinity and pH levels initially. I would also use Kalkwasser or "Purple Up" instead of the calcium additive solely!!!
Let us know how you make out!
And please read about calcium and reef tanks and all it entails for your benefit!!!

Sorry CR but is see no evidence of over dosing or of potential dangers. All other factors are good. I'd say Grotto has done everything correctly.


I believe your on the right course just need to keep at it a few more days.

[coral reefer]

The over dosing can be achieved IF not careful and that is what I am getting at! Plus their is a negative impact in dosing all this calcium! And that is the alkalinity and magnesium issue. I am trying to save him and ensure that he doesn't get himself and the livestock in his tank in trouble that he may not be able to combat in time.
Plus with him adding all this calcium and not receiving the benfits of dosing calcium leads me to assume that their are one or more key underlying factors that are not enabling him to raise his calcium level!
One or more of thetest kits may not be totally correct or are being read wrong is a possibility.
Don't you think that their is something wrong if he has added almost the whole container of the calcium additive and the water /calcium level has only gone up 20ppm?
Maybe I should have stated it differently and not used overdosing, but am just informing GROTTO of the possible implications and also offering him some of my advice that has worked based on my experiences with Kalk and Purple UP!!!
I have 5 Tridacna clams, inverts and numerous stony corals and my calcium level is always around 500 and my alkalinity is sufficient as well, so something has to be going right.

[amcarrig]

Calcium additives that are sold commercially generally raise Calcium very slowly so I'm not surprised that he's used almost an entire container to get his levels high. Also, if I'm not mistaken, Grotto's tank is relatively new so in the grand scheme of things, it's not surprising that he's having trouble with his alk/mag/calcium levels which he absolutely needs to boost if he wants to beat potential algae issues and grow coralline algae. Now, if he was adding pure calcium chloride, I'd be more concerned but he is not.

[chuckdee]

I use the same Seachem Advantage Calcium. Even using the max amount they recommend, it rasies the calcium very slowly, which I think is ok...

[Grotto]

Thank you all for the responses and for sharing your experience/knowledge with me, I appreciate it!

In saying that, I apologize...After reading my post again it appears that I was a bit unclear. Before I tested anything in the water I had Tangster helping me get the ball rolling, I thank you for that Tangster , telling me to bang up the levels (Mg, Ca, dkH) in my tank, so while I waited over a week to get the Ca/Mg test kit, I was adding 2 tsp a day of the Sea Chem Calcium. After reading what I had posted before, I made it sound like all the product I used only brought me up 20 ppm, where in fact it probably brought me up 300+ ppm, I apologize for that. I'll do what I can to be more clear in the future!

In the end however, I've got the answer I was looking for... The product raises Calcium very slowly, while I'm not saying it's a bad thing, simply saying it's a very good thing to know.

Again thank you for the responses! And sorry CR for being unclear, tank is new so I'm still learning, just wanted to double check before I found myself in a pinch later on. And thank you Jason and Amcarrig, I greatly appreciate the feedback

P.S. Any recommendations on a different product after I run out of this one? I eventually plan to get a Ca reactor but they intimidate me .