Reef Chemicals

G

guitareefs

Premium Member
I checked my calcium and it was at 390 which isn't ideal. And my pH was low.

What chemicals would I use to keep my tank balanced? Am I just looking at Kent's 2 part?

And what test kits are recommended?

Thanks
 
Depending on your goals, you should be able to boost both ph and calcium with the addition of kalkwasser (calcium hydroxide). Many people use this in either a kalk reactor or by dosing it with their topoff water.

Anthony Calfo wrote an article for wetwebmedia here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/calcalkmar.htm
that discusses the concept pretty thoroughly.

I know there are several commercial brands available, or if you're more frugal, you can get Ball's or Mrs. Wage's pickling lime from Walmart in the housewares section near the canning and preserving equipment.

It works pretty well for me simply dripped at night in my topoff water.

Good luck,[/url]
 
Hi,

Before dosing anything, you should make sure your water chemistry is balanced. Your Ca/Alk/Mg should all be in range since alk plays a big role in your PH level. My suggeston would be to get the chemistry balanced, then track your consumption over a few weeks to see if you even need to supplement. Of course you would also remain on your normal waterchange schedule. Your levels should be in-line before dosing, the 2-parts are for maintaining your levels.

Cheers,
 
This stuff?

B Ionic

Ron, you're saying to get my tank balanced by water changes then keep an eye on it to even see if I need to dose anything? When ca/alk/mg gets low, do a water change and that should raise it up? Need a little more explanation I guess :D

Thanks
 
@guitareefs wrote:
This stuff? [url=http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~additives_esv_b-ionic.html]B Ionic[/url] Ron said:
Hi,
Not exactly what I meant. I meant that you should maintain your current water change schedule...if it's working and you don't have a nitrate issue(which is seperate than balancing the water chemistry). Before dosing you should see where you are at for Ca/Alk/Mg....these three must be in correct porportion or you won't be able to keep Ca or PH up. Right now your calcium is low, it may be held low because mg levels are off...could be but you won't know unless you make sure mg is ok (~1350-1400 ppm or roughly x3 calcium ). So get all three of these in-line starting with magnesium(no more than 100ppm daily) then wait a day to see where your levels are at. If needed bring up Ca/Alk(slowly) and check levels the next day ( PH may take 48hrs to fully stabilize but you will see pretty quick if it's changing). Once your levels are balanced PH should fall in-line. Monitor weekly to see if/how much your levels are decreasing, if you do weekly water changes then retest after the water change to see if there was any impact, then dose if necessary. Hope that's a lil' clearer.

Cheers,
Click to expand...
 
Yep, clearer. Thanks

So what test kits are best to use? I've only used API and have heard that those don't test well
 
@guitareefs wrote:
Yep said:
Generally speaking API test kit's are reliable. I used to be a salifert die- hard, API was just as accurate in most cases and certainly good enough for our hobbies level of accuracy imo. I don't know how well they are for phosphate or iodine testing. Did you see this post? http://www.dfwmas.org/Forums/viewtopic.php?t=51420&highlight=test+kits

Cheers,
Click to expand...
 
Yeah I read that a couple of days ago. I've gotten API semi bad reviews from others. But I forgot about that thread.

Ron, you've been a great help again. Thanks alot and to jrstheone, Pnuematic and Double M as well. Thanks guys
 
@guitareefs wrote:
This stuff? [url=http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_AquariumPage~PageAlias~additives_esv_b-ionic.html]B Ionic[/url] said:
Specifically... This stuff. It contains a LOT of trace elements that you don't get with the cheaper calc/alk solutions.
Click to expand...
 
What to get?

Test Kit:
API Liquid Master Test Kit
API Calcium
Salifert KH/Alkalinity
Salifert Phosphate
Salifert Magnesium

Anything else?
 
API is fine... As Ron mentioned they are accurate enough for most uses and very affordable. The only downside to them is the color charts can be hard to read.

As far as the dosing.. The only thing I would say about B-Ionic is while it does have additional trace elements etc, those should be handled by a good salt mix and regular water changes. Your tank is not going to eat those up that fast so trace elements shouldn't be a big deal for you.

The two-part kits are probably what I would recommend as they are cost effective and simple to use. They also force you to learn the big 3, alk/ca/mg and how they interact etc.

As far as what to add to a tank... I nearly always recommend alk/ca and mg and nothing else unless its called for. Unless you're running a heavily SPS dominated tank or lots of LPS etc, other additives shouldn't be needed.

Kits.. Ca, Alk, Mg, Nitrates, Ammonia and Phosphates are the primary kits you should have on hand. Ammonia is for emergency use, the others test on a regular basis. I test alk/ca two or three times a week and phos and mg once a week.
 
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