FRANK48
Active Member
For some reason my alk and calcium have risen and I’m confused on why. I’m not sure if my test kit is wrong but I’m using the Red Sea ones. I’ve currently only got softies and a candy cane coral.
Alk and calcium rising
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Joe31415
Valuable Member
Raising from what to what? Small enough numbers and I'd just consider it user/tester error. For example, if you have Alk of 8.1 and Calcium at 400 and the next time you test it's 8.3 and 430, I wouldn't worry about it. OTOH, if you went from 8.1 and 400 to 9.5 and 550, it would be worth looking into.
You could try doing 2 or 3 tests in a row (doing them the same way you always do, don't be any more careful (or sloppy) than usual) and see if you get consistent results.
More importantly, if you're doing regular water changes, test the alk and calcium on the new salt water. You might find that the calcium and alk are already higher than where your tank is and that's what's bringing it up.
I use Reef Crystals and, despite my DT running at about 8dkh, I found the Reef Crystals, when mixed to 1.025, have an alkalinity of 12ish. I do small, infrequent, water changes, which is probably why my alk ran down to 8, but those small infrequent water changes with 12dkh water is probably why I rarely have to dose anything (maybe some Soda Ash once a week or so).
So:
A)What are the actual numbers you're seeing?
B)What salt mix are you using?
C)Are you doing water changes and if so, how often and how much?
D)Are you dosing anything like two-part or adding any other chemicals to the tank?
E)How new is the tank and did you use dry rock that might be leaching something into the water?*
*No idea if dry rock could do something like this, but I know, both from reading and from my own tank, dry rock can cause odd things to happen over the first year or so. Hell, I still don't have detectable nitrates and my tank is pushing a year old.
You could try doing 2 or 3 tests in a row (doing them the same way you always do, don't be any more careful (or sloppy) than usual) and see if you get consistent results.
More importantly, if you're doing regular water changes, test the alk and calcium on the new salt water. You might find that the calcium and alk are already higher than where your tank is and that's what's bringing it up.
I use Reef Crystals and, despite my DT running at about 8dkh, I found the Reef Crystals, when mixed to 1.025, have an alkalinity of 12ish. I do small, infrequent, water changes, which is probably why my alk ran down to 8, but those small infrequent water changes with 12dkh water is probably why I rarely have to dose anything (maybe some Soda Ash once a week or so).
So:
A)What are the actual numbers you're seeing?
B)What salt mix are you using?
C)Are you doing water changes and if so, how often and how much?
D)Are you dosing anything like two-part or adding any other chemicals to the tank?
E)How new is the tank and did you use dry rock that might be leaching something into the water?*
*No idea if dry rock could do something like this, but I know, both from reading and from my own tank, dry rock can cause odd things to happen over the first year or so. Hell, I still don't have detectable nitrates and my tank is pushing a year old.
OP
OP
FRANK48
Active Member
I use Red Sea coral pro salt
I am currently dosing Red Sea coralline gro
And I usually do water changes every two weeks or every other week
my alk was 12 and now is 12.4 my calcium was 410 and now 460
The first thing I would ask is what information did you get that told you that you needed to dose for coralline?
This reagent shouldn't be used unless you have a measured drop in alkalinity, not just randomly dosed to grow coralline.
For at least 1 month I tested my water for Ca, Alk, Mg, Salinity, No3, and P04. I did this on a daily basis and charted my daily Alk and Ca consumption. This is how I determined my dosing for 2 part. Now I test every water change after that.
As long as my major parameters are in check and I do a weekly water change, I can't stop my coralline from overtaking everything.
Stop dosing, start testing. Start dosing again when you see what you need.
This reagent shouldn't be used unless you have a measured drop in alkalinity, not just randomly dosed to grow coralline.
For at least 1 month I tested my water for Ca, Alk, Mg, Salinity, No3, and P04. I did this on a daily basis and charted my daily Alk and Ca consumption. This is how I determined my dosing for 2 part. Now I test every water change after that.
As long as my major parameters are in check and I do a weekly water change, I can't stop my coralline from overtaking everything.
Stop dosing, start testing. Start dosing again when you see what you need.
Joe31415
Valuable Member
I wouldn't concern myself over alk going from 12 to 12.4 (other than 12+ being pretty high to begin with), that could just be an error in the test. However, the Red See Corralline Gro website says "Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Alkalinity level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.1 dKH (0.03 meq/l)"
While I can't speak for the calcium, the rise in alkalinity, assuming the testing is correct, sounds like you can blame it on the Corralline Gro.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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My Tank Thread
I doubt the calcium rise is real. I'd just keep watching it over time and not react to every little up and down that is likely test error. up to 550 ppm calcium is fine.
