Alk low calcium high

jose hernandez · Aug 6, 2021

Noticed when I test that ny alk is low and my calcium is high I was using kalkwasser to help maintain alk. Cal and help raise ph but I stopped
Alk was 8.3 now it’s 7.6
Cal was 501 now it’s 541
Mag was 1400. NOw 1380
Phosphates 0
Nitrates 2.9
Salinity 1.026
Is this normal to have higher cal than alk while using kalkwasser

Jekyl · Aug 6, 2021

jose hernandez said:
Noticed when I test that ny alk is low and my calcium is high I was using kalkwasser to help maintain alk. Cal and help raise ph but I stopped
Alk was 8.3 now it’s 7.6
Cal was 501 now it’s 541
Mag was 1400. NOw 1380
Phosphates 0
Nitrates 2.9
Salinity 1.026
Is this normal to have higher cal than alk while using kalkwasser

You could have more alk consumption than calcium

Saltyreef · Aug 6, 2021

Do you know what your cal and alk levels were before dosing kalk?

Kalk will raise them in relative to the other.
If your calcium was already high thats what youre seeing now.

jose hernandez · Aug 6, 2021

alk was around 8.3
cal was 460

Saltyreef · Aug 6, 2021

A consumption trend after hand dosing to desired levels will be your best bet.
I like doing a 1 week trend after stopping all dosing (after getting to desired levels)
Same time each day measure your cal mag and alk for 1 week.

jose hernandez · Aug 6, 2021

How do I get the calcium lower alk I’m dosing little by little to get it back up to 8.3

arking_mark · Aug 6, 2021

For most practical purposes, Ca and Alk are consumed equally.

However, "...the demand for calcium and alkalinity may not be precisely balanced at 20 ppm calcium per 1 meq/l of alkalinity..."

The biggest impact to balance will mostly depend on the uptake of Mag/Stro in the formation of coral which will differ in each tank.

"According to the ESV website, the two-part system B-ionic has a balance of 19.3 ppm calcium per 1 meq/L of alkalinity."

So for my aquarium, let's assume that my tank is in line with ESV's predicted balance but I am dosing perfectly balanced Alk/Ca via Kalkwasser and AFR.

My tank is consuming 1.4dKH a day (Kalk plus AFR), I would be seeing an imbalance of Ca of 0.35 per day (i.e calcium increasing). After 30 days, an increase of 10.5ppm. After 60 days, an increase of 21ppm. After 90 days, an increase of 31.5ppm. After 180 days, an increase of 63ppm.

My ASW has a dKH of 7.5ish and a Ca level of 450ppm. So after 180 days, the tank would be about 510ppm and in my opinion in need of adjustment.

I'm roughly at 500 per my latest ICP test and I'm adjusting down via TM Classic Balling Alk.

I lowered my kalk dosing by 0.3dKH, left my AFR dosing alone (0.3dKH), and have been dosing 0.3ish TM Balling Alk.

So this will take about 24days.

jose hernandez · Aug 6, 2021

I stopped with the kalk once I saw that alk was dropping but calcium was getting higher im only dosing alk as of now trying to get it back up to where it was before

jphilip813 · Sep 1, 2021

arking_mark said:
For most practical purposes, Ca and Alk are consumed equally.

However, "...the demand for calcium and alkalinity may not be precisely balanced at 20 ppm calcium per 1 meq/l of alkalinity..."

The biggest impact to balance will mostly depend on the uptake of Mag/Stro in the formation of coral which will differ in each tank.

"According to the ESV website, the two-part system B-ionic has a balance of 19.3 ppm calcium per 1 meq/L of alkalinity."

So for my aquarium, let's assume that my tank is in line with ESV's predicted balance but I am dosing perfectly balanced Alk/Ca via Kalkwasser and AFR.

My tank is consuming 1.4dKH a day (Kalk plus AFR), I would be seeing an imbalance of Ca of 0.35 per day (i.e calcium increasing). After 30 days, an increase of 10.5ppm. After 60 days, an increase of 21ppm. After 90 days, an increase of 31.5ppm. After 180 days, an increase of 63ppm.

My ASW has a dKH of 7.5ish and a Ca level of 450ppm. So after 180 days, the tank would be about 510ppm and in my opinion in need of adjustment.

I'm roughly at 500 per my latest ICP test and I'm adjusting down via TM Classic Balling Alk.

I lowered my kalk dosing by 0.3dKH, left my AFR dosing alone (0.3dKH), and have been dosing 0.3ish TM Balling Alk.

So this will take about 24days.

So what are your levels now, I am following your post. I am at 8.46 ALK, 528CA and 1359 for MAG, also trying to drop my CAL to the more acceptable range (400-440), also dosing using AFR about 3ml daily, and will be setting a KALK with Co2 scrubber to raise my PH...See my screenshots below...

arking_mark · Sep 1, 2021

jphilip813 said:
So what are your levels now, I am following your post. I am at 8.46 ALK, 528CA and 1359 for MAG, also trying to drop my CAL to the more acceptable range (400-440), also dosing using AFR about 3ml daily, and will be setting a KALK with Co2 scrubber to raise my PH...See my screenshots below...

Theoretically, I've dropped my CA by 25ppm by only supplementing Alk when needed (below 7.7 dkH). However, dropping my Kalkwasser impacted my ability to keep the pH @ 8.3ish. I've lowered my target pH to 8.26 NBS. I've been meaning to do this anyway to reduce abiotic precipitation. This in turn lowered my Allk demand...so it's taking longer than 24 days. I'm not in a rush...when I finally get to my calculated drop I'll send out another ICP test.

jphilip813 · Sep 2, 2021

arking_mark said:
Theoretically, I've dropped my CA by 25ppm by only supplementing Alk when needed (below 7.7 dkH). However, dropping my Kalkwasser impacted my ability to keep the pH @ 8.3ish. I've lowered my target pH to 8.26 NBS. I've been meaning to do this anyway to reduce abiotic precipitation. This in turn lowered my Allk demand...so it's taking longer than 24 days. I'm not in a rush...when I finally get to my calculated drop I'll send out another ICP test.

@arking_mark BTW, how loud is the Ice-Cap kalk mixer, I am debating on getting the ICE Cap or the avast marine....

Spieg · Sep 2, 2021

I think you're on the right track if you cut back a little on the Kalk and then dose Alk as needed. I tend to have the same issue in my tank... Alk uptake outpaces Cal/Mag uptake so I have to adjust from time to time to stay balanced.