calcium and alk changes

tactical_XJ · Sep 14, 2019

Hello everybody, im having a small issue with my 60G, im doing everything I can to maintain my calcium and alk at a stable area for good growth but its been up and down, im trying to keep my calcium around 450 to 460 and alk around 9.8 around that area, but I havnt really been able to keep it stable, I tested calcium, alk and mag on 9/4 and I got readings of,
442 calcium
9.6 alk
1500 mag ( wont move from 1500 )
and today 9/14 I test again and get
477 calcium
8.7 alk
didn't test mag because its never moved from1500, I do have some small spots or coraline growing in the walls and rocks but im wondering why my calcium went up and alk went down, im currently dosing MEcorals calcium and MEcorals alk both gallon sized, I do water changes and I use red seas coral pro, anything yall might know that I don't will help, and as far as live stock and corals, I have 7 fish , hydnopora, purple stylo, hammers, frog spawns, gsp, Hollywood stunner chalice, and 2 montis, I have been dealing with my phosphates being a little high so the coloration has been going down slowly, one of the montis had lost its green which sucks, im hoping it will get it back, I also have a skimmer ( new one coming tomorrow ) cheato and I just added a phosban reactor with biopellets to remove nits and phos, any info you all might have will help.

melanotaenia · Sep 14, 2019

I would recommend daily testing of calcium/alkalinity to get a baseline of what your tank is consuming, on average, per day during that period; you should be able to establish an average daily consumption after that, and can dose those amounts to maintain the levels you want. Note that your Alk/Ca consumption will never stay completely stable, so even after establishing a baseline daily consumption, it is helpful to continue testing and adjusting dosage as your reef grows and matures.

I would also recommend trying to keep your levels closer to NSW (420-440 Ca, 7-8 DKH)