looking for help setting up calcium reactor and getting my levels right

[Rim_Reefer]

Ive been having trouble testing and getting my levels right and would like some info or possibly some help from someone more experienced.

Im not sure if my test kits are off and i dont want to risk dosing something i shouldnt. I also have a calcium reactor but need some help setting it up.

Im looking to have an sps dominated tank. I currently have a 175 bowfront reef and a 72 bowfront reef plumbed into a fish room with a 75 gal sump and a 20 gal refugium. Im having trouble keeping sps more than 2 months before i start seeing rtn. all other corals fish anemones and clams are doing great.

 

[JARRETT SHARK]

Tell us more about system,light,etc....
What is you po4 and cal,mag,alk,nitrate?
Have you looked in aefw?
Sps need to have levels perfect or you get stn

 

[Montaquelaveist]

I would also like a little help mine is up and running but having trouble getting my alk up in my tank

 

[DEL]

The advice I was given...and worked. Test, dose, test, dose, , test, dose until your levels are correct. Then your reactor will maintain the levels. Test every few days to make sure. Also, keep an eye on bubble count. List what you bc is, your cal, alk, mag, etc.

 

[Turbovr3six]

I would also like a little help mine is up and running but having trouble getting my alk up in my tank

How is your Mg? Check your sand bed for clumping. This would be a sign of abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate, which would deplete Alkalinity much faster than Calcium (~20ppm ca to 1dKH). Raising Magnesium will solve this problem by allowing a higher concentration to remain in solution, so my advise would be (**PH must be at or higher than 8.2**)to use the 1 tsp of baking soda per 50g tank water method (Randy Holmes-Farley) which will raise Alk by 1dKH. Add it into your top off water and once it levels out reduce the dose of ALK to keep stable.

The advice I was given...and worked. Test, dose, test, dose, , test, dose until your levels are correct. Then your reactor will maintain the levels. Test every few days to make sure. Also, keep an eye on bubble count. List what you bc is, your cal, alk, mag, etc.

+1

 

[cowfish]

What test kits are you using? Have you compared results to other tests?


IMO...

1. Make sure/get the magnesium to around 1300. Magnesium should be roughly 3 times the ppm of your desired calcium level in order to keep calc in solution and make it biologically available for the corals.
2. THEN get calcium to about 430. I've found Kent Turbo Calcium to be a pretty good product.
3. THEN use baking soda, as previously described, to raise alkalinity to around 9 dkh.
4. Once the alk/calc are where you want them, use kalk and baking soda or two-part solutions to keep them there.

Easiest way to figure out what you need to dose on a regular basis to keep the chemistry "good" is to get your paramters where they need to be and then stop dosing everything for 5-7 days. Measure the drop/changes in values and you'll then have a rough idea as to how much of what you need to dose daily/weekly to keep things at a good, stable level.


IME...

SPS aren't as fragile as everyone says. SOME are difficult to keep, but others are tolerant of changing and imperfect parameters as long as the big 3 (ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) are at 0 and the change isn't massive and sudden.

 

[Montaquelaveist]

The advice I was given...and worked. Test, dose, test, dose, , test, dose until your levels are correct. Then your reactor will maintain the levels. Test every few days to make sure. Also, keep an eye on bubble count. List what you bc is, your cal, alk, mag, etc.

Calcium 430
dkh 7.5
magnesium 1410

bc about 4 per second but i monitor both the tank and the efluent my efluent is around 13 dkh and tank as stated above and the ph in my tank is 8.4 and the efluent is steady at 6.5

 

[Rim_Reefer]

im going to pick up some new test kits before i set up the calicum reactor. Which brand should i use?

 

[Montaquelaveist]

im going to pick up some new test kits before i set up the calicum reactor. Which brand should i use?

im partial to elos and salifert

 

[Rim_Reefer]

finally picked up some new test kits. Here are the results

date-9/15/10
time-10 pm
temp 80 f
ph- 8.49
alk-6.7 dkh
calcium-470
mag-1360
nitrate-0
phosphate-0
salinity-1.023

all reading taken with new test kits. ph is from my probe and salinity is with refractometer.

Im going to raise the salt level to 1.025 -1.026 and retest. It looks like my alk is low so i will start to try to raise that closer to 9. I should use baking soda to do this correct?

I currently do not have the calcium reactor set up yet but i will start playing with it this weekend. I would like to get everything else on point first because it looks like my calcium is ok at the moment.

My last water change was on 9/10 at which time i also replaced the gfo/carbon. I do monthy water changes of 55 gallons using reef crystals salt. I have 6x80 watt t5ho with overdriven icecap 660 ballasts. bulbs approx 4 months old.

 

[DJYoshi]

RAISE THAT ALK! way too low. mag seems great.... I'd lower the temp to 77 unless you're going to run it at 80 at all times....
calcium is a little high.... but if you're just setting up it should drop to the right level when you get that alkalinity up..for now..just dose alkalinity... i was told not to raise it more than 1 pt per day.. so bring it up to 8.7 over the next 2/3 days... the slower the better.... I actually had a nightmare drop in alk from 10 down to 7 and was freakin out with Jarrett and Del..but like they said..test...dose..test...dose... test again.. and then test again... after you start adding sps and keeping it..and the coralline starts taking off..your levels are gonna drop a ridiculous amount on the daily...
so you're gonna have to re-tune your reactor again... my mag consumption seems to go up weekly so I test mag twice a week and alk and cal biweekly.

GOOD LUCK! It's a ***** to setup a reactor..but after you finish...smooth sailing (until you change the media or co2 tank...then back to retuning)