Adding calcium?

[GuOD]

I picked up some Calcium last night to add to my tank, hopefully to promote coraline growth and to help corals when I have some hard ones.

I was wondering how much I should add in right now? I have 25 lbs live rock, 125lbs base rock. 120 gallons. It's seachem calcium that says 1 capfull per 80L, so that would be about 6 capfulls? Sounds like a lot to me.

 

[Steven Pro]

Do you have a calcium test kit? You really need to know what the levels are now before dosing. If you don't have a calcium test kit, I would recommend a Salifert or Seachem one.

 

[tecwzrd]

Don't add any unless you have a test kit to monitor it.

Assuming you have a test kit what is your current Calcium level? 6 cap fulls is a lot if your Calcium is already at 380 ppm for example.

You want to get your level around 400-420 ppm.

Also I wouldn't add it directly to the tank. I add mine either when I do a pwc or mix it up with FW when I top off the tank.

 

[GuOD]

I use tap water and haven't added anything to my tank except IO salt. Could I just err on the safe side and add 2-3 capfulls a week or something?

I will need to find a test kit I guess

 

[tecwzrd]

No, it's very easy to overdose the tank which could be disastrous for your corals. Your Ca level is probably already around 400 due to the Ca in your salt mix.

Get a test kit before adding. Salifert is best IMO but I've also used AP with good results.

Also keep in mind that there are other levels that affect Ca like Alk & mg for example.

 

[GuOD]

Oh really? So, dosing calcium is totally useless then? I thought everyone needs to dose it.

What about when I switchover to Tropic Marin Salt?

 

[austinsdad]

I would think that's a lot too - considering displacement of water by the 150 lbs of rock. You got maybe (and I'm TOTALLY guessing) 80 gallons of water.

On the liter:gallon conversion (80L = 15.85g), then considering 80g/15.85g=5, your dose would be about 5 capfuls. On the other hand, if you're doing regular water changes now, and you don't have any hard corals yet, I'd do even less than the 5 capfuls - or maybe consider not dosing at all for now. Especially without a test kit to know where you are anyway.

 

[GuOD]

Oh I see - so basically calcium dosing is not required until I actually have hard corals which suck the calcium out of the water, and then it will be required?

What about adding a bit to promote coraline growth?

 

[austinsdad]

IMO, doing regular water changes will get you where you wanna be on the coraline - in the right time and safely. I've never done hards, but I'm not a fan of putting much of anything in the water. That's just my preference.

Also I've seen coraline gone wild. Not too pretty when it gets that abundant IMO. Some love it though.

 

[roka64]

As stated before, don't dose anything until you have the proper test kit. I have found, regular PWCs will replenish the depleted elements. I imagine the only time you should dose with Ca is if your coral bioload is overloaded and they are using it up so fast that PWCs are not keeping up with it (personally, this would mean just do more PWCs to keep up with it).

 

[melosu58]

My calcium stays at 420 with just plain PWC`s. I agree that you have to test first and know where you are. Coraline will come but you`ll have to be patient and keep trace elements stocked with weekly PWC`s.

 

[GuOD]

Understood. I think I will return it to the store in that case.

I am hoping to completely overstock my tank with corals, as I think that look is really nice. Also, I don't think it's bad for corals at all as long as I keep them in shape and cut ones that get too large.

 

[melosu58]

The only thing you`ll need to keep an eye out for is to make sure they have their space as to avoid stinging tentacles from LPS corals and chemical warfare between leathers.

 

[austinsdad]

And get used to the notion of REGULAR wtaer changes.

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

...and getting a test kit for Ca to see where you're at in the first place.

I've recently tried to get my Ca levels up. In a nutshell, no matter how many or large of PWCs I would've done, it would've been impossible to raise my levels to 400 as my freshly made water was coming in around 360. Before I put a single thing in my tank, I got a test kit to determine what the Ca levels were in my tank, as well as in my freshly made salt water. Only then did I do anything to alter the levels.

Now, I've got my tank between 410 and 420 with alkalinity at 9 dkH (which is something else you're going to have to test for if you start altering your Ca levels) and know exactly how much Ca I need to add to my PWC water to keep it at that level, as well as how much 2-part Ca additive to add each day to keep my coraline algae growing strong. But the key to all of it is knowing what your Ca and Alk levels are to start with.

This is the article that made it all "click" for me...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

... and here's the link to the "long story" of my battle with Ca levels, just FYI...

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/viewtopic.php?t=92153&highlight=


Test kit

 

[roka64]

That's great Kurt, thanks for the experience! Not all water/salt mixes are equal. I tested my well water for Ca and it was off the charts. If I premix my water for more than 3 days, the Ca will build up in the bucket.

 

[austinsdad]

Kurt, others may be interested in the brand salt you're using too. What is it?

I did Oceanic for a long while because it gave good Ca levels, but am currently switching to Instant Ocean to better maintain the Ph.

GoUD, what brand of salt are you using?

 

[Kurt_Nelson]

Kurt, others may be interested in the brand salt you're using too. What is it?

Reef Crystals... mixed up to 1.024 gives me about 360ppm Ca, 8-9 dKh, and about 8.3 pH. If I remember correctly, I also get 1180ppm Mg out of the bucket.

I mix up my salt in 3.5 gallon batches (using 2 cups RC mix) and have made a premixed solution of TurboCalcium and DI water. I add 4 ounces of this solution to my 3.5 gallons of SW and that elevates the Ca levels of my freshly made water up to about 420ppm. I can't remember the amount of TurboCalcium I used for the 32 ounces of mix I made up, but when I get back home tonight I'll look it up and post it.

[Edit: OK... looked it up and I used 4 tsp (teaspoons) of TurboCalcium in 32 oz of DI water. When I add 4 oz of this solution to 3.5 gallons of 360ppm Ca water, I end up with around 425ppm Ca water.

 

[RHINO13]

Hey guys im curious as to what mix melosu58 uses to keep calcium steady with PWC alone,and GuOD I would say that in most cases you are not going to want to use your tap water(its hard to say what might be in there)

 

[RHINO13]

Here is a cool little calculator that I saw on another forum

http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chemcalc.html

Take it easy,
Ryan