Very low Calcium levels
 

Hey everyone,

So I started running a doser last weekend and my calcium is really low. My alk is at 10 (where it always has been) and my magnesium is at 1250, but my calcium is at 240. Any ideas on how to correct this?

Im currently mixing up a 30 gallon water change that I will do tomorrow. Not really sure is there is anything else that can be done, any suggestions?

A couple quick questions come to mind:
What salt are you using?
What are you dosing thus far, how much and when?
What's your tank size (total water volume) and composition (sps, LPS, clams etc)?

What test are you using? Have you compared it to a known sample?

Ive been using instant ocean for the last year and a bit, and I do water changes every week (25 gallons)

Im dosing seachem reef advantage (approximately 12 teaspoons in 1L) and brightwell alkalin8.3 (14 tsp in 1L) spread out over 1 week. Also I use a low concentration of kalkwasser in my ATO to even out any alk swings.

It is a SPS based tank, and I have only manually dosed in the past. 80% of my corals are still frags.

I use ELOS and API test kits, both read out exactly the same. I compared this to my freshly mixed saltwater which is testing at the correct levels.

Don't kill those frags!! :)

Lol I think they will be okay for the night!

Are you adding the Kalk slowly? Adding it too fast can actually pull your Ca down rather than push it up. Also 240ppm Ca seems impossibly low, I would double check that result.
Dan

absolutely:)

Double checked 3 times with elos, and twice with API test kits.

It is a very low dose of kalk. My ATO only adds 5 gallons of water a week and only has 2 tablespoons in the 5 gallons of water. It has never given me any issues before (started doing it 4 months ago), my levels have been pretty stable up until now.