Question 1, Calcium

[Mik_101]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

-it's my first week of cycling and all i got in my 33-gallon is 4-chromis
20 pounds of live rock,fiji,tonga,and jakarta and an active little softie
and my friend came over and we tested my calcium level @ 480 and I
was wondering if it's 2 much, cuz i know if theres excess calcium that
it precipitates, so 2 much, good enuf or perfect??

420 ppm is the ideal calsium for reef tank.

[bv_reefer]

Originally Posted by danny zubot

Have you added Ca suppliment to your water? 480 seems too high to be coming from just your salt. What salt are you using?

Live rock shouldn't contribute to you CA, should it?

-well all i added
was 1 capful of purple up which is ionic calcium but i didn't think it wud cause
that much of a calcium spike!

[danny zubot]

I'll have to look into Purple up then, it seems quite potent.

[bv_reefer]

-potent is right, it's 1 capful for 50 gallons so when i put a capful for my
33-gallon as u can imagine it made a difference! honestly doesn't cloud up ur
water like others, @ least not for 2 long. -andexpect 2 get some white film on
all sides of ur tank from the calcium. it's actually made specifically for coralline algae growth.

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by Mik_101

420 ppm is the ideal calsium for reef tank.

come on now, have you even read this thread or you just making stuff up?

Steve

[bv_reefer]

-420 iz good but mines still @ 470 ppm

[StirCrazy]

Originally Posted by bv_reefer

-420 iz good but mines still @ 470 ppm

and I am still waiting to hear what your Alk is. if your Alk is fine, then you are not harming anything and you can just stop adding Ca suplements untill your levels are back to normal. as a new tank cycles, you will also have a Mg drop so keep an eye on that also.

Steve

[ReefsB4Bills]

I run my tanks at 1400ppm Magnesium 10-11 dkh and between 400-420ppm Calcium. The tank seems to be consistantly around 8.0 to 8.3 ph without any interference by me. I have only been in the hobby for about a year but this is what has been working well for me so far.

The perfect levels are going to vary from system to system. From what I have read a certain calcium/alkalinity balance will be most useable by the corals for calcification at a certain ph. Sometimes higher then 8.3, sometimes lower, depending on how high or low the alkalalinity/calcium levels are. I hope that statement makes sense.

[dsaundry]

Ok, I have been reading this thread and have another question to ask. What equipment does everybody use to test their Ca and Mg? I have been told that the cheaper test kits are not very accurate. So What is the best most cost efficient test equipment for the average reefer?

[regmes]

Hey everyone. I'm a newbe here and very interested in the dicussion. So if I understand well, with my parameters at; salinity 1.026,calcium 480,alk 13 I would be doing more harm than good? Every thing looks OK in there. I'm not getting the growth that I've been expecting but colors are nice and nothing is deteriorating. I'm dripping kalk 24/7 via timed kalkwasser and dossing calcium and magnesium via dual chamber reactor, PH fluctuates between 8.1 and 8.4 nihgt to day. Would it be more efficient another way?