clowninround
Aquarium Advice FINatic
My Cal is at 450 and my alk is at 4.75 mequ/l. Is this a good balance?
cal & alk ratios
- Thread starter clowninround
- Start date
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S
steve-s
Guest
The balance is good but the levels are on the higher than needed side. There is no benefit to having the chem higher than NSW but resonable to keep it at the high side of NSW. If keeping primarily scleractinians high levels may promote a slightly faster growth/depositing of CaCO3 but in doing so it also creates rather brittle and often reedy skelatal structures.
Personally I would let them drop some. Max 420 ppm Ca and 2.8-3 mEq/l alk.
Cheers
Steve
Personally I would let them drop some. Max 420 ppm Ca and 2.8-3 mEq/l alk.
Cheers
Steve
clowninround
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Thats the thing, my alk is always high, I don't understand why. Even if the cal is on the lower side (like 350).
Heineken
Aquarium Advice Activist
clowninround said:
I know that these to are related, but would someone mind explaining how or why? Thanks.
S
steve-s
Guest
There are many reasons. The most common is the saltmix itself (IO usually), if unbalanced and not corrected before use it will affect the chem in the main tank from small to large swings depending on the amount of water swapped out. It can have a "building" effect over time as well if only doing smaller water changes.clowninround said:
Chem additions will also cause drops/imbalances due to CaCO3 precipitate, mild abiotic precip, large doses of either element, improper testing, etc etc...
The only way to help figure that out is post your routine as well as how you test and how often, what scleractinians are in the tank if any and what salt is being used and how often it's changed/how much.
Cheers
Steve
S
steve-s
Guest
clowninround
Aquarium Advice FINatic
I am doing my first w/c with Oceanic tommorrow. Been using IO, with 15% w/c every 2-3 weeks. Will this help? I planned to do the same routine with the new salt.
S
steve-s
Guest
Be very careful when you change over to a new salt. In this case IO has a high alk low Ca with a med-normal pH. The Oceanic is a low alk high Ca with a normal to low pH. You may end up exchanging one problem for another but in any case, please be absolutley sure you do this slowly.
Instead of the 15% every 2-3 weeks I would suggest 5% weekly for the next 6-8 weeks. This will, allow the more sensitive inverts and fish to acclimate better. Too fast a switch can cause serious health issues for many coral species. After that simpley increase the amount changed until back to your normal routine.
FWIW, dosing CaCl would have been an easier route than switching salts. Unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't sound like you have many scleractinians(3?).
Cheers
Steve
Instead of the 15% every 2-3 weeks I would suggest 5% weekly for the next 6-8 weeks. This will, allow the more sensitive inverts and fish to acclimate better. Too fast a switch can cause serious health issues for many coral species. After that simpley increase the amount changed until back to your normal routine.
FWIW, dosing CaCl would have been an easier route than switching salts. Unless I'm mistaken, it doesn't sound like you have many scleractinians(3?).
Cheers
Steve
clowninround
Aquarium Advice FINatic
O man, I talked to you before and I thought you were saying that IO was bad. Thats why I was switching. Oceanic here is more expensive than IO, but I thought I would not need to dose as much using Oceanic. I just really want a balanced tank...I hate dosing because of the risk of doing something wrong. Ca is all I dose. Should I stay with IO? I don't know what I'd do with the salt b/c I bought a 90gallon bucket...but if I were to change my mind, now would be the time since I haven't used it yet.
S
steve-s
Guest
I would never have said IO was bad rather I would have said it would not be my choice. I did not know you where going to switch salts, had I known that I would not have recommended Oceanic. IMO, it's just the reverse of IO and not a very good reef salt. IO would be okay for most FO and FOWLR, I'm still undecided on what to say about Oceanic though other than, why.... 
I am truely sorry if something I said lead you towards Oceanic, it would never be a recommendation I would offer. If you want a recommendation, I would opt for either Tropic Marine or my prefered brand, Kent Marine.
Cheers
Steve
I am truely sorry if something I said lead you towards Oceanic, it would never be a recommendation I would offer. If you want a recommendation, I would opt for either Tropic Marine or my prefered brand, Kent Marine.
Cheers
Steve
clowninround
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Well I haven't put it in my tank yet...glad I talked to you. Now, is it a bad thing to use it for QT so that I can actually use the salt and acclimate them (fish) as normal from QT to the main? I would of course cycle the QT first.
S
steve-s
Guest
Actually it won't matter much as long as the fish are properly acclimated to the main when ready. If you plan on using the Oceanic for the QT and something different with the main then I would acclimate them over a weeks time.clowninround said:
Using small amounts of water from the main, do small daily water changes each day for a week until the two chems are alike. Then the acclimation time from QT to main will not be long at all.
Personally I wouldn't go through the hassle though.
Cheers
Steve
