Raising Cal.?Mag levels

[joselastra]

Whats the preferred/recommended procedure of raising these levels? My cal. is 350ppm my Mag is 1130. I have a 55 gal with some softies, acans, and a frogspawn. Id like to keep some more LPS in the future. Once I get my cal up Id like to maintain it by dosing Kalk.

 

[pdnyc69]

you have to experement on the actual dosage. trial and error. start slow as kalk will raise the alk

 

[Alex]

one of the easiest ways s to do the calculations that you find on many of the manufacturers sites.

for example: bulkreefsupply.com sells two part, magnesium, and calcium products.all you have to do is mix the product. then you go to the home page and it will tell you how much you need to get to the levels you want.

If you are not inclined to use their products the calculator can still be used, otherwise here's a good calculator to use:

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

this can be used for other levels as well. hope it helps.
BTW you have to test to see if the level you want has been reached.

 

[anthony27]

I will give you solid advice test the cal till it gets to 420 and mag at 1350 and alk at 9 -10. I use esv and bright well to dose. Now here is the thing dose in the morning when lights go on and write the number down of what the cal is then when you come home from work or where ever and when you are ready to turn off the lights test again and compare the numbers. that is how you tell how much cal your tank uses up in one days span

 

[nickxx4360]

however it is cheaper in the long run to buy the gallon jugs with the concentrate and add ro water too them

Here is a method of starting with them

"Using a two part dosing system has brought great stability to my tanks water chemistry. Specifically calcium, alkalinity, magnesium and indirectly pH

Interested in starting? Here is one way to do it

first check out your mag levels and use kent tech-M if needed to bring them up to 1300 ppm
to bring up your calcium level try Kent turbo calcium--it is a chloride so it won't affect alkalinity levels

Here is a suggestion
bring up your alk levels with kent super dKh (8-11 dkH)
bring up your calcium levels with Kent turbo calcium(400 plus ppm)
and bring up your mag level to 1300ppm

Go on the suggested dose of two part for one week
Remeasure and adjust the amt of two part accordingly
Repeat for another week and repeat the above procedure
Continue for one month like this and you should have stable water chemistry"

got this off reefcentral. Now I will be substituting kent stuff with Brightwell products, personal preference, and then dose the two part (ESV)

 

[nickxx4360]

testing first is the key. I wont be dosing anything I can't test. test kits are in the mail ;-0

O, and you will be suprised how much weekly water changes help. On a system like yours, would say 10 gal a week.

 

[SevTT]

Whats the preferred/recommended procedure of raising these levels? My cal. is 350ppm my Mag is 1130. I have a 55 gal with some softies, acans, and a frogspawn. Id like to keep some more LPS in the future. Once I get my cal up Id like to maintain it by dosing Kalk.

Any two-part's calcium portion is fine, and you can use magnesium sulfate (epsom salts) to increase your magnesium levels. (This is fine for one-time correction, but for maintenance I'd suggest one of the more refined (and expensive) solutions. Mostly because I think that sulfate may be key to sometimes otherwise unexplained cyano outbreaks.) Or you can just go out and get one of the more expensive supplements from your LFS.

 

[SevTT]

you have to experement on the actual dosage. trial and error. start slow as kalk will raise the alk

...Not really. If you know your system volume, raising your Ca or Mg levels from XXX to YYY is a simple matter of math, so long as your CO3 levels aren't outrageously high -- and if your mag's that low, they won't be.

Raise your Mg first, then raise your Ca, then correct for Carbonate.

If your Mg and Ca levels are OK, Kalk will generally only raise your Alk to slightly-above-normal levels. Once it gets above that point, the incoming kalk will precipitate out. (Same thing goes if you're raising the Ca levels too high.) That's one of the nice things about kalk; so long as your levels start out OK it's pretty hard to knock them wildly out of balance, in my experience.

Additionally, your carbonate levels are directly related to your pH so long as the Mg level doesn't change; kalk supplementation can help maintain a more constant pH, and thus alk, during the night when corals are doing all their skeleton-building.

So, if you adjust your Mg levels to the point where pH 8.4 or 8.5 gives you a good alk reading, and set your top-off to only run to 8.4 or 8.5, you won't overrun that number, though if your evaporation rate is low you may need to supplement to raise your carbonate/pH.