low calcium

Travis1

Travis1

(wilsontravy)
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hi all, have just tested my ca and its a little low, sitting at 370 ppm. how do i increase it to the correct reading. 420ppm. is there any threads i can read up on.
 
Hi travis you can dose calcium in many ways. there is a relationship between calcium, carbonates (alkalinity) and magnesium levels. As well as ph. i am goimg to give you my understanding to create a foundation to work from. please excuse me if you have part of or all this knowledge. magnesium is the chemical that prevents the others from precipitating out of your salt solution. it is good to keep this above a level of 1250 ppm. ps i am assuming that you have or will purchase test kits for items mentioned or you can have local fish shop test for you. ir is good to get magnesium in line before trying to raise others. kh or carbonate hardness indicates how much carbonates you have. it should be eight or above. kh is made up of carbonate and bicarbonate. you need both in your tank as the carbonate portion also helps the ph to stabilise at ph 8.3 to 8.4. the calcium portion which you are concerned about is affected by rhe items i have just mentioned. calcium as you know is ideal in the 400 ro 450 ppm. also note that the first thing to do before fiddling with other perameters check your salinity and correct it to 1.023 to but not exceeding 1.025ppm. this is the summarised versoon.ps tem should be 25 to 27 degrees at most prior to testing salinity. psps the infohere is learnt off this site from other guys. the info is not my own
 
mandarinman said:
Hi travis you can dose calcium in many ways. there is a relationship between calcium, carbonates (alkalinity) and magnesium levels. As well as ph. i am goimg to give you my understanding to create a foundation to work from. please excuse me if you have part of or all this knowledge. magnesium is the chemical that prevents the others from precipitating out of your salt solution. it is good to keep this above a level of 1250 ppm. ps i am assuming that you have or will purchase test kits for items mentioned or you can have local fish shop test for you. ir is good to get magnesium in line before trying to raise others. kh or carbonate hardness indicates how much carbonates you have. it should be eight or above. kh is made up of carbonate and bicarbonate. you need both in your tank as the carbonate portion also helps the ph to stabilise at ph 8.3 to 8.4. the calcium portion which you are concerned about is affected by rhe items i have just mentioned. calcium as you know is ideal in the 400 ro 450 ppm. also note that the first thing to do before fiddling with other perameters check your salinity and correct it to 1.023 to but not exceeding 1.025ppm. this is the summarised versoon.ps tem should be 25 to 27 degrees at most prior to testing salinity. psps the infohere is learnt off this site from other guys. the info is not my own
Click to expand...

thanks for the info.
these are my params

PH 8.2
ALK 1.7 - 2.8
NH3 0
NH4 0
NO2 0.05
N03 0
SG 1.025
PO4 0
CA 370-380 PPM
TEMP 26.1
 
alk is measured in milli equivalents per liter. the average alk of sea water is 2.5 milli equivalents per liter. red sea marine lab test kit.
 
millii equivalents per liter to dkh conversion is 2.8. multiply mEq/L by 2.8 to get dKH.
2.4 x 2.8
=6.72 dkh
 
mandarinman said:
Would need to raise it to at least 8
Click to expand...

k cool. how would i do that? is that adding sodium bicarbonate? and what i must add would be the formula for adding this? i have sodium bicarbonate that came with the test kit. which says add 20 drops (1ml) for each 60 liters of water.
 
Below are recommended water parameters that can be used as a guideline for general marine tanks.

pH - 8.2 to 8.4
Salinity - 1.023 to 1.026 (or 30.5 to 34.5 Specific Gravity (SG))

Calcium - 380-420
Alkalinity - 6 to 9 dKh (ideally 6.5 to 8.5 dKH) NSW levels
Magnesium - 1300 to 1350
Iodine - 0.04 to 0.06
Strontium - 8ppm or 8mg/l (NSW levels)
Potassium (K+) - 380-420
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - less than 5
Phosphate - less than 0.01
Ammonia - 0
Click to expand...
Ideal Water Parameters - Marine Aquariums of South Africa


k cool. how would i do that? is that adding sodium bicarbonate? and what i must add would be the formula for adding this? i have sodium bicarbonate that came with the test kit. which says add 20 drops (1ml) for each 60 liters of water.
Click to expand...
I find nothing wrong with you'r CAL reading...IMHO...I'm always about 390
ALK is not to low but ..yeah...little bit higher..I'm usually 7.9
This is the route I go when adding Additives to my Tank...I have the Seachem AquaVitro Range...Alk,Mag,Cal etc and I find it wonderful...:p
aquavitro . Reef Products
aquavitro . eight.four
aquavitro . ions

This is what you would've needed was you'r reading really low...
aquavitro . calcification
Unlike competing products that require multi-day interval dosing when combined with carbonate supplements, calcification™ can be dosed daily and within minutes of our eight.four™ as well as the entire aquavitro reef line.
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
belindamotion said:
Ideal Water Parameters - Marine Aquariums of South Africa



I find nothing wrong with you'r CAL reading...IMHO...I'm always about 390
ALK is not to low but ..yeah...little bit higher..I'm usually 7.9
This is the route I go when adding Additives to my Tank...I have the Seachem AquaVitro Range...Alk,Mag,Cal etc and I find it wonderful...:p
aquavitro . Reef Products
aquavitro . eight.four
aquavitro . ions

This is what you would've needed was you'r reading really low...
aquavitro . calcification
Click to expand...

If you have any more sensitive corals they will not survive at 7.9 kh so there is something wrong. there is also something wrong with calcium in the high three hundreds. it does not leave room for error.
 
belindamotion said:
Ideal Water Parameters - Marine Aquariums of South Africa



I find nothing wrong with you'r CAL reading...IMHO...I'm always about 390
ALK is not to low but ..yeah...little bit higher..I'm usually 7.9
This is the route I go when adding Additives to my Tank...I have the Seachem AquaVitro Range...Alk,Mag,Cal etc and I find it wonderful...:p
aquavitro . Reef Products
aquavitro . eight.four
aquavitro . ions

This is what you would've needed was you'r reading really low...
aquavitro . calcification
Click to expand...

Belindamotion just because you havent experienced any problems yet does not mean that it is right. 7.9 for kh is a problem it should be 8.3 8.4 . And 380 for calcium is not right either that level will cause swnsitive corals to fail in your tank.
 
mandarinman said:
If you have any more sensitive corals they will not survive at 7.9 kh so there is something wrong. there is also something wrong with calcium in the high three hundreds. it does not leave room for error.
Click to expand...

mandarinman said:
Belindamotion just because you havent experienced any problems yet does not mean that it is right. 7.9 for kh is a problem it should be 8.3 8.4 . And 380 for calcium is not right either that level will cause swnsitive corals to fail in your tank.
Click to expand...
I can't agree or disagree as I don't know any better...I have always just gone according to the Parameters given by MASA...I did ask a few LFS regarding ALK way in the 10-11 range and I think the reply was something about having to be relatively experienced as then you have no room for error...so I just stuck to my dKH of 7.9 and my Calcium usually around 390...
Calcium - 380-420
Alkalinity - 6 to 9 dKh (ideally 6.5 to 8.5 dKH) NSW levels
Click to expand...
 
belindamotion said:
Ideal Water Parameters - Marine Aquariums of South Africa



I find nothing wrong with you'r CAL reading...IMHO...I'm always about 390
ALK is not to low but ..yeah...little bit higher..I'm usually 7.9
This is the route I go when adding Additives to my Tank...I have the Seachem AquaVitro Range...Alk,Mag,Cal etc and I find it wonderful...:p
aquavitro . Reef Products
aquavitro . eight.four
aquavitro . ions

This is what you would've needed was you'r reading really low...
aquavitro . calcification
Click to expand...

@belindamotion. where did you get ur aquavitro products from? which lfs?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Travis1 said:
@belindamotion. where did you get ur aquavitro products from? which lfs?
Click to expand...
Most of them SHOULD stock it as it's Seachem...although I will admitt some only have the REEF...I got mine in Kloof...PM to follow...not a Sponsor...
 
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