Ca, Mg and Alk Help

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by kcbrad, Mar 11, 2010.

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  1. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

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    So...I'm very new to the world of coral. I received my Ca, Alk and Mg test kits today and tested right away. My levels are low. My Ca is 215, my Mg is 1050 and my KH is 6.4.

    Do you recommend dosing, or should I just do a water change and see if that helps? The tank is due for a water change.

    I would like to start getting my levels stable, but I'm not sure how to go about doing that.

    Any tips would be greatly appreciated! I have so much to learn about coral.

    Thanks!! :)
     
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  3. GuitarMan89

    GuitarMan89 Giant Squid

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    Water changes will help, but as you get more corals and they grow, you will most likely need to resort to dosing. I buy my stuff from bulkreefsupply.com. Much cheaper to buy in bulk then those small bottles they sell at stores.
     
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  4. inwall75

    inwall75 Giant Squid

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    What salt do you use Kacy?
     
  5. divott

    divott Giant Squid

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    im not sure a water change wil lget your levels up to where you want them kacy. what salt are you using? some dont contain enough mg or cal. i think you mqay have to start dosing to get your levels where you want. im not an expert , this is only my opinion.
     
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  6. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

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    Thank you for always being so helpful! I will start with a water change. Do the bottles tell me how much I should dose, or is it like a trial and error thing? And do I just dose whenever the levels start to move?

    Sorry so many questions!
     
  7. wfb2270

    wfb2270 Corkscrew Tentacle Anemone

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    you might want to run the test again, ca and alk seem REALLY low. how often do you do water changes??? what kind of salt??? f
     
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  9. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

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    I use Oceanic.
     
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  10. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    geez where do I start... Do a 10-20% water change tomorrow. make sure your salinity is 1.025 apprx.. then test all again after 12-24 hours. you'll want to get your mag up first. dose a mag product or epsom salt. try to get mag around 1200-1350. you can use the calculators on this site to help dosing amounts. then you'll want to use kalkwasser or pickling lime to raise cal/alk . if you cant get either.. just boost your calcium with whatever you got to 380-450ppm range. and use a dkh booster for alk=8-10dkh..

    you can raise mag 100 max per day
    calcium will take a few days to raise up that much..

    so the whole process will take probly a week.
     
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  11. kcbrad

    kcbrad Giant Squid

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    The last water change I did was about 3-4weeks ago maybe....but it was a big one 25% (I was treating a clown with Melafix), so that's why I was waiting a bit longer before doing another one.

    I use Oceanic.
     
  12. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    +1 on above
    make a batch of water for the change and do the tests on that 24 hours after its mixed in the bucket

    knowing the raw material values is an asset

    Steve
     
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