I was wondering what happens if you overdose on both alk and calcium? I know that if one is high it affects the other but no one has told me what happens if both are high? An employee at a LFS told me they keep their tank high in both and that they have SPS that grow in it. Thoughts?
Pros and Cons of high Alk and High Calcium?
- Thread starter Meech
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This is one of the best discussions I've read, about the relationship of calcium and alkalinity, by Randy Holmes Farley a chemist and reef aquarist.
It has a graphical representation as well, which helps us to visualize where the parameters are and where we need them to be. Then discusses how to get there.
A little long, but also a great read imo -
reefs.com
It has a graphical representation as well, which helps us to visualize where the parameters are and where we need them to be. Then discusses how to get there.
A little long, but also a great read imo -
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems
I hope this article proves useful is understanding and dealing with the different types of calcium and alkalinity problems encountered by reef keepers. Once you get calcium and alkalinity under control, you are far along the road to having your tank chemistry optimal for its inhabitants.
reefs.com
I'll read it tonigt! Thanks!This is one of the best discussions I've read, about the relationship of calcium and alkalinity, by Randy Holmes Farley a chemist and reef aquarist.
It has a graphical representation as well, which helps us to visualize where the parameters are and where we need them to be. Then discusses how to get there.
A little long, but also a great read imo -
Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems
I hope this article proves useful is understanding and dealing with the different types of calcium and alkalinity problems encountered by reef keepers. Once you get calcium and alkalinity under control, you are far along the road to having your tank chemistry optimal for its inhabitants.
Keeping high ca & kh is totally different from overdosing. Corals are comfortable within certain range; calcium:- 350-450 ppm, Alk:- 7-11 dkh. However, fluctuation even between the ranges can cause severe stress on corals especially SPS so it's important to be as stable as possible. Pick one number within the range and stick to it.
Now we've clarified the range, keeping high alk and calcium would mean keeping both parameters on the high end of the range, for example calcium at 450ppm and alkalinity at 11 dkh. Overdosing would be dosing your tank to go above the range, usually happens by mistake and if the numbers get too high, the tank can become toxic and cause stress and even death.
There have been theories that keeping your elements at the high end of the range can increase coral growth, however, this can also tighten your margin for error (the slightest overdose could put you above the range). Hope this helps.
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Now we've clarified the range, keeping high alk and calcium would mean keeping both parameters on the high end of the range, for example calcium at 450ppm and alkalinity at 11 dkh. Overdosing would be dosing your tank to go above the range, usually happens by mistake and if the numbers get too high, the tank can become toxic and cause stress and even death.
There have been theories that keeping your elements at the high end of the range can increase coral growth, however, this can also tighten your margin for error (the slightest overdose could put you above the range). Hope this helps.
Sent from my SM-G998U using Tapatalk
I don't know if you over dosed or not but unless the Mag is on target or higher most likely the alk will precip out. It usually forms on warmer areas first, like heaters but many times it forms in other spots. This can be tough to identify sometimes and can damage pumps when the scale builds up inside them.
Anecdotally, my acros do grow faster at 11dkh than 8dkh. My calcium is usually on the higher side 450ppm bc I have clams.
I like to keep it at 7-8dkh but somehow it crept up to 11dkh when I wasn't looking. My first indication was that my WD nub, which has been stagnant for about 6mo, finally started growing.
As mentioned the issue at keeping it high is bigger swings if anything ever happens.
I like to keep it at 7-8dkh but somehow it crept up to 11dkh when I wasn't looking. My first indication was that my WD nub, which has been stagnant for about 6mo, finally started growing.
As mentioned the issue at keeping it high is bigger swings if anything ever happens.
I am a firm believer in ionic balance. In layman's terms, the ocean or any very large body of water things will try and find a neutral balance of positive and negative ions. This is true for most everything in nature. In smaller bodies of water it gets much easier to get out of balance due to the lower volume of dilution. When I say smaller I'm talking lakes and ponds, not our aquariums. Even aquariums that are large, in the several hundred to a few thousand gallons, are nano in comparison to the ocean. This small size of our aquariums makes it much harder to keep things in balance when we veer off from recommended values. Without understanding what you're doing when you raise or lower components you can do more harm than good.
I can go into more detail but it would make for a novel of a post. In a nutshell, there is much more calcium than carbonate in saltwater. Calcium ions have a 2+ charge and Carbonate has a 2- charge. When raising Alk (carbonate) it doesn't take much calcium to compensate for the imbalance because there is so much more calcium than carbonate. Here is a chart showing the balance.
You can see that any calcium level above 440 is high and 500+ is off the chart high, which increases the ionic charge. In @Rainblood case the closer he got to 12.6dkH the better growth he saw. Obviously there's a limit to how high you can push alkalinity. Also if you have very low nutrients and raise the Alk you will likely see burnt tips on your SPS, but that's a whole other component of system balance. Clams or not, there's no need for calcium to be above 425-430, Rain
I don't shoot for exact numbers but try to keep things within a range. Our hobby grade test kits wouldn't allow for anything exact anyway.
I can go into more detail but it would make for a novel of a post. In a nutshell, there is much more calcium than carbonate in saltwater. Calcium ions have a 2+ charge and Carbonate has a 2- charge. When raising Alk (carbonate) it doesn't take much calcium to compensate for the imbalance because there is so much more calcium than carbonate. Here is a chart showing the balance.
You can see that any calcium level above 440 is high and 500+ is off the chart high, which increases the ionic charge. In @Rainblood case the closer he got to 12.6dkH the better growth he saw. Obviously there's a limit to how high you can push alkalinity. Also if you have very low nutrients and raise the Alk you will likely see burnt tips on your SPS, but that's a whole other component of system balance. Clams or not, there's no need for calcium to be above 425-430, Rain
I don't shoot for exact numbers but try to keep things within a range. Our hobby grade test kits wouldn't allow for anything exact anyway.
