Trouble bringing calc down

Yeah I went to the LFS today and confirmed the reading, I've used the same salt from the get go (reef crystals) so not sure if that gives it a boost or not - anyone have experience with that? I'd rather not change salts but would anyone recommend another brand/type?

 

Since you are dosing, you could switch to regular Instant Ocean. That has lower calcium and alk levels. Make the switch over a few water changes though so you don't shock anything.

 

I would go a week without doing a water change and at the end of the 2 weeks test your Calcium, and see how much it has fallen. It sounds like you started dosing before you really needed to. The demand on a small system can usually be kept up with with water changes only. Only when you start having larger colonies of SPS will you need to dose on top of WC's.

 

Well I meant there's a chance that particular bag may have had higher than usual calcium levels. But like was mentioned above, I would stop dosing and water changes and see how much it drops to give you an idea of what your system requires and as a result, how much need to be dosing.

 

I definitely started dosing too early, I've been out of the game for 12+ years (I'm only 27) so I've forgotten many of the basics and never had much experience with sps - will cool down on the wc's and see what happens and will test the bag of reef crystals

Does anyone recommend a better salt without the added calc and alk? I'd rather control the levels through dosing then leave it up to the salt - I realieze smaller systems like mine have lower demands so will keep that in mind.

Hope everyone has a nice Saturday night!

 

As mentioned, if you are going to dose, then I would just use Instant Ocean.

 

I would make sure you know what your levels are with the salt you are using when changing water. Definitely stop dosing calcium, but keep the alk and mag at the desired levels.