Alk. question

[atlfishes]

I was going to attend the meeting last night, but I thought it was today due to not rolling the date forward on my watch.

Was there any discussion on why Alk may precipitate faster than CA if both were originally balanced? PH is 8.2-8.3.

I use a DIY RO canister with Kalk (mrs. wages pickling lime) for my top off water. Everything that I've read has Kalk maintaining a balance of Alk and CA.

I use IO reef crystals salt. I also use the Twopartsolution (Randy's recipe 1) when dosing.


Appreciate any help.

 

[glxtrix]

magnesium is key! have you tested for it?

 

[atlfishes]

I do periodically and dose when Randy's recipe calls for it. I have not checked it in about a month. I thought Mag was important to maintaining CA and then the fluctuations in CA would effect Alk? My CA has been stable.

 

[glxtrix]

check out this thread it has the overview of the meeting, perhaps you can find some answers there.

http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5850">http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=5850</a>


I know that if your balance gets out of line, and ca raises more than alk, it can swing pretty hard....same goes if alk gets too high, you'll have a drop in ca. Mg acts as that buffer for the two so they both stay in the water longer befor finding eachother and precipitating out.

 

[atlfishes]

With Ca at 400 is a balanced dkh around 9?

I'll check my Mag.

Am I right in assuming that Kalk is balanced in Alk and Ca?

Thanks

 

[glxtrix]

it doesnt balance it, it helps maintain what levels its at. And also a side note which I didnt know, but kalk will precipitate Mg, and with lower Mg, your ca and alk molicules will find eachother faster and precip out faster.

 

[dannybradley]

It should also be noted that excess carbonates can percipitate out Mg, also, as MgCO3 Magnesium carbonate.

Although calcium is very important, I think a stable KH level is more important than hitting 'the golden 450'. If calcium is present at 380ppm, the coral is still going to use it. But if your pH is unstable, everything in your tank will be affected by it.

 

[ouling]

It all goes in circle, and i'm just going to tell you some easy steps to do this since i've had this problem for 4 months. Read some of my posts and you'll see it.

Test your Mg and get it up to 1500, if you have a big tank then you'll need 2lbs of the stuff. Raise 50-75 ppm per day.

Add calcium as high as you want, 420-450 is enough and you don't want to go higher. Never raise more than 30ppm per day! A water with 380ppm calcium would be the same as 450ppm to corals. Corals don't know how much of it is in the water, they just know if its enough or not enough.

"Balance" your Alk with your calcium. Although I do not see a point of the two being balanced and there is no merit in a balanced system making coral healthier or grow faster, where Alk is 9 dkh and calcium being 420 etc. However, being "balanced" does make dosing 2 part or other "balanced" additives easier. Raise Alk at most 2DKH per day!

Test Mg every 2 weeks and keep it 1500ppm or so
Calcium does not run out as fast as Alk, and if your system is balanced, then just test for Alk and you'll know where the calcium is.
Dose accordingly to good judgement and label!

Your calcium and alk is limited by how high your Mg is.

If you have a pH problem then dose the buffer that raises it.

http://reef.diesyst.com/">http://reef.diesyst.com/</a>

1. Mg
2. Ca
3. Alk and pH
4. Keep it up

:) happy chemreefing!

 

[atlfishes]

Thanks for the help everyone. I do need to increase my Mag some.