Calcium & dKH

[debdp]

I've noticed the last couple months that my calcium and dKH are starting to creep down. I'm a bit confused as to what raises dKH if needed. I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals KH Test solution & their Calcium Test kit. Last week's reading: Calcium was 380 (much lower than I anticipated) and dKH was 9. I added 1/2 capful of Reef Complete last week along with the standard dose of Coral-Vite. This is my 10g nano with a 6g(-) refugium. The reading this morning is Calcium 380 and dKH 10. pH is pretty stable about 8.3 during the day and lowering to 8.0 at night. I use a Pinpoint pH monitor which alternates every couple days between my 20g and 10g tanks. Because I had no corals for the longest time the calcium was always very high (500), and since their addition the end of January it's slowly dropping. I use Kent Marine superbuffer (because that's what the LFS sold me). I don't buffer my RO topoff water every time. But about once a week to every 10 days I'll mix the proper amount for the tank size in 1/2 cup of RO water and just drip that into the tank. I bought Kawasser, but I'm not sure whether I need to use it or if supplementing with Reef Complete is good enough. The calcium in my 20g is 440 and dKH is 11.

Is the addition of the Reef Complete all I need to raise/maintain my calcium level? What maintains the dKH? I sort of understand they go hand in hand but nothing I've read really makes it clear to me what affects dKH.
Thanks.

 

[psteeleb]

you are probably okay - those readings arn't that bad without sps you don't have big users of either calc or alk. But coraline, inverts and even some algae will take up some of both, so expect some drop.

dkh is alkalinity - it helps keep water (pool, reef aquarium etc.) buffered thus prevneting huge Ph swings. It is also a builing block with calcuim for skeletal deposits made by all bony creatures including inverts and corals.
Suplimenting dkh (alk) can be as easy as adding baking soda to your water

there are many ways to supliment your calc and alk, but most people use one or a combination of the following:

water changes,
ballanced additives (alk & Calc),
kalk wasser (lime water mix),
and calcium reactors

To start I would continue what you are doing and monitor your levels , so you can get into a routine of how much of the ballanced additives you need to be adding on a daily or weekly basis

read up on the various methods and use one that you would be comfortable with and that fits what you want out of your mini reef

IMHO either Kalkwasser or ballanced should work fine for what you have, in the long run if you use a ballanced additive, consider the DIY one on Reefcentral.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[Guest]

on a nano if you do weekly water 10% water changes your levels will be ok...on my 6 gallon nano i do a half gallon water change a week and never worry about levels.

 

[DaveJ]

You want to check your mg too... mg helps the balance between alk and ca and if you are having trouble keeping those up, it could indicate low mg levels. Try for 1200 ppm and that will help balance the ca/alk issue.

 

[debdp]

Thanks for all the info. I don't have an mg test kit so guess that's next on my list of 'to get'. I prefer Salifert as I've found their tests to be easier for me to read. This does help me understand the 'balancing act' between the water chemicals lots better.

Besides the MG test kit is there any other 'you really should have...' test kits I should consider getting to keep the tank(s) in balance? I have the standard tests (ammonia, etc.) the two mentioned above plus iodine and phosphate.

 

[DaveJ]

@debdp wrote:

The only things I test for are Ca, Alk and Mg. I have a pH monitor and check SG a couple times a week. Nitrates are good to have on hand and Ammonia, you never know when you need them. If you don't have a pH monitor, then a pH test kit should be used weekly.

 

[bimmerzs]

Here's a list of parameters that you should keep in line: As far as checking PH, I would recommend purchasing a good PH meter (Pinpoint), most test kit's for PH are pretty much useless IMO. http://www.melevsreef.com/parms.html HTH!

Cheers!

 

[debdp]

I just bought a Pinpoint pH monitor a few weeks ago. I used the 7.0 & 10.0 to calibrate but have had the hardest time getting the 7.0 calibration to stabilize, it just kept bouncing around. Because of that when I put the probe in my tanks it would give me a reading of between 6.8-7.5 and I knew that was wrong. I ordered & just received more calibration fluid so I'll try again. I put 3 hydrometers in my 20g tank one time and they all gave me different readings, so I trashed them and bought a refractometer. I test that like every other day only because with the new lights and fans the evaporation has changed and I'm still having to tweak my RO drip topoff which is a 2.5g bucket in the cabinet above the tanks with two air hoses-one to each tank. I do test nitrate but once a month... the test always shows 0. I test for phosphates in my 20g because of sun coral feedings. Even though they're fed in another tank when moved back it's water from the feeding tank mixing with the main tank that raises the phosphate level. I bought Kent Phosphate Sponge but haven't had to use it. Something in the main system is lowering the phosphates already because the test might show between .5 to 2.0 phosphates after the corals are placed in the tank and the next day 0 phosphate reading. I think a balanced additive for Ca & Alk is the way to go. For the time being I'll finish off what I have and then switch to that. I re-read the info on the Kents superbuffer and it's supposed to maintain dKH as well. So I'll try adding that more often but in lower dose and see how that affects params. I printed out the DIY recipe for later use. I'll get a Mg test ktit and start monitoring that as well. Thank you again.

 

[sharko88]

I would highly recommend using only one name brand product. Since you are using SeaChem for the calcium supplement, you should also be using a SeaChem product for the buffering (alkalinity). It doesn't matter so much which brand you use as long as you stick with one company since their supplements are made to be chemically stable with each other.

 

[debdp]

Does that also apply with test kits? The reason I ask is because I started getting Salifert test kits because I read they were really good. I have Kent iodine but the Salifert test did not read it... I thought I had a bad test kit so I took a separate test sample and deliberately added Kent iodine to the Salifert test solution and the color never changed. I bought Salifert iodine and then ran the same test and of course the color changed. So should I switch everything to Salifert additives since I'm using their test kits?