Ca, Mg and Alk levels

[irvp13]

Hello,

Recently I bought a pail of red sea salt and it came with a brochure about a new line of products they are launching. It says that in order to have a rapid grow environment on a SPS/Clams dominated tank you should keep your Alk levels around 12.2 -12.7, Ca around 470 and Mg above 1400.

Those levels sound really high to me, do any of you keep the levels that high? how difficult is it? Are there any risks of precipitation?

Thank you

 

[reefman]

those r the optimal par, that is what most dedicated sps keepers aim at. and yes, it is hard due to risks of precipitation. this is why monitoring of ph is important.

 

[irvp13]

thank you man, I thought alk was to be keept from 8 to 11, calc 400 to 4500, and mag 1350.
I'm thinking on start 3 part dosing with BRS, have you tried this product?

 

[nickyJ]

I think a lot of people who keep low nutrient SPS systems (thinking UNLS or Zeovit) aim for an Alk closer to 8-8.5

 

[DJYoshi]

I try to keep my mixed reef at
Alkalinity 9
PH 8.2
Cal: 440
mag 1400

since the new "best co2 regulator" that's all digital and doesn't use a solenoid... I've been running it for the past 5 weeks and I haven't deviated from those parameters at all.

 

[irvp13]

Yeah I'm considering getting a cal reactor. Doesn't look like I can fit it under my tank thou

 

[motortrendz]

i use ther BRS 3 part additives.. i love it.. when dosing as much as i have to and as many tanks as i do, its cost effective.. bc using brightwell was good but costly.. now i am going to a Ca reactor on one of my coral systems but will still need to dose mag and all 3 in the other tanks.. i also run zeovit and it is optimal to keep alk abt 7-8dkh.. before that i kept my alk at 8.5-10dkh, Ca at 450-475 and mag at 1400... a highly overlooked additive is potassium.. its vital to coral growth and color.. and is lacking in most salts..

 

[DJYoshi]

i use ther BRS 3 part additives.. i love it.. when dosing as much as i have to and as many tanks as i do, its cost effective.. bc using brightwell was good but costly.. now i am going to a Ca reactor on one of my coral systems but will still need to dose mag and all 3 in the other tanks.. i also run zeovit and it is optimal to keep alk abt 7-8dkh.. before that i kept my alk at 8.5-10dkh, Ca at 450-475 and mag at 1400... a highly overlooked additive is potassium.. its vital to coral growth and color.. and is lacking in most salts..

Mike... I was looking into mag solutions since my system drains mag quick... there's brightwell media that you can put into your reactor... it's in a ratio so it drips out everything you need (except the essential trace elements)

 

[irvp13]

Do you dose 3 part just with drip or do you use pumps? I'm shooting for 1400Mg, 450Ca, and 12 Alk but only with KalK in the top off and Mg separately.

do you dose, potassium, iodine or strontium also?

 

[DJYoshi]

i feed reactor w/ a maxijet
the only things I dose on top are
mag (b/c my mag drop is ridiculous)
potassium (since I have a lot of purple and blue sps)
I do iodine weekly (2 drops of medical grade)
12 on the alk is crazy high isn't it??
I keep mine steady at 9 and my system likes my parameters that I mentioned above.

 

[motortrendz]

i dose K+ and iodine also...

as well as aminos and trace elements..

 

[Mattl22]

12 will stn sps In my experience

 

[Montaquelaveist]

i use ther BRS 3 part additives.. i love it.. when dosing as much as i have to and as many tanks as i do, its cost effective.. bc using brightwell was good but costly.. now i am going to a Ca reactor on one of my coral systems but will still need to dose mag and all 3 in the other tanks.. i also run zeovit and it is optimal to keep alk abt 7-8dkh.. before that i kept my alk at 8.5-10dkh, Ca at 450-475 and mag at 1400... a highly overlooked additive is potassium.. its vital to coral growth and color.. and is lacking in most salts..

So what would be a good potassium and how did you determine the right amount to dose and how how often do you dose

 

[ducati335i]

Us I don't dose potassium either.. How do we go about that?

 

[NewfiDog]

Red Sea has test kit and additive.

 

[Coralreefer1]

Precipitation occurs when you add too much calcium at one time while neglecting to maintain proper alkalinity parameters, I believe. Calcium levels around 450-470 is ideal with alkalinity around 9-12dKh and magnesium levels should be three times that of you calcium level.
Remember that calcium and alkalinity work in opposite direction of each other. In other words, if calcium levels are too high, your alkalinity levels will more than likely be lower than optimum, and vice versa!
Think of calcium and alkalinity as blue(calcium) and red(alkalinity) marbles in a container. You can add just so many of each type of marbles before they eventually flow over the top of the container. Because of this a certain balance needs to be met so that you don't have this problem. If you have way more calcium than alkalinity marbles, that eventually spill out of the top of the container, this event is what leads to precipitation of calcium. Therefore reducing calcium and raising alkalinity will hinder this from occurring.

 

[irvp13]

thanks, I've been reading a lot about this. I did have calcium precipitation at some poing because my sump walls had calcium build up.
I was reading this page http://www.reefscapes.net/articles/breefcase/kalkwasser.html
and I think I'm going to give it a try, does anyone uses the method described? how much vinager do you use? per gallon per kalk?