Looking for advice

[artyboy]

Hello All

I'm new to the salt water hobby and just looking for a little advice. I have a 32 gallon bio cube I went with the bio cube just as a starter tank . My tank has been up and running for about 3 months I started off using instant ocean salt and tank was doing great but then I switched from instant ocean to the reef crystal version of instant ocean. Now my calcium and alkalinity are running high .

Alkalinity = 11.1
Calcium = 539

These parameters are high I think but all my corals look good and fish are doing fine . So should I just wait it out and let lvls come down ? I do 10% water changes weekly. I do not dose .

 

[Stephen8169301]

Yeah I have this issue also I run IO reef crystals I only dose alk now I’m starting to notice my cal and mag are starting to drop

A fresh mix runs about 10dkh

 

[Propane]

If things are working don’t worry about it. How long ago did you switch?

 

[00W]

First off welcome Welcome to R2R!
The levels are a bit high but will come down naturally if you have things using them up like corals.
Your levels are not crazy high.
You can always switch back to regular IO with the next water change.
Don't go crazy be mellow and patient.
Test with reliable test kits.

 

[artyboy]

If things are working don’t worry about it. How long ago did you switch?

I switched about a week ago.

 

[artyboy]

First off welcome Welcome to R2R!
The levels are a bit high but will come down naturally if you have things using them up like corals.
Your levels are not crazy high.
You can always switch back to regular IO with the next water change.
Don't go crazy be mellow and patient.
Test with reliable test kits.

I use salifert and Hanna for my test kits

 

[Dbichler]

Whenever I used reef crystals I had the same problem. Easy fix is mix it in with regular instant ocean and levels are better.

 

[twentyleagues]

Reef crystals has added mag, alk, calc for coral growth. It's the only salt I use or have used. 12 years ago I had a 120 and 125 the 120 was lps dom the 125 was sps "dom" both tied to a basement sump system. I did large water changes every 2-3 weeks and my dosing was very minimal. I had a tunze osmolater with about a half cup of kalk in it and a calcium reactor that was at such a slow drip/CO2 usage it probably wasn't needed. I typically ran high 9s to low 10s on alk and calc sat at around 500. My 125 was a lot of monties and encrusting corals (I now know mostly lps....lol), I had a handful of sticks. If I'd done more frequent water changes the calc reactor wouldn't have been on. I probably could have just dosed a little kalk a couple times a week.

Is rc perfect? No but it works and has been around forever.

 

[mike550]

@artyboy the Alk and Ca are much higher in reef crystals than in IO regular salt. So your increased levels should be expected from the salt. I’m running their regular salt in my 120 (Alk around 8.5 / Ca around 450). As I’ve been adding corals I’m about to start dosing All for Reef. I also do 15-20% water changes every two weeks and add Ca to the fresh saltwater since IO mixes a bit low.

 

[zoomonster]

The alk is about right at 11 for IO or reef crystals which I believe is the highest of all the salt mixes. The 539 calcium I have to question. I have used both for years and never seen calcium that high. I think on paper IO is supposed to be 400 and RC 450. Maybe just a bad batch or test which is not unheard of for any salt mix.

 

[exnisstech]

Whenever I used reef crystals I had the same problem. Easy fix is mix it in with regular instant ocean and levels are better.

I've been doing this for the last couple of years. I mix equal portions and all has been well. Not sure what alk and calcium are in a fresh batch tho as I don't bother testing fresh batches because I have to dose 2 part to keep levels up.

 

[1112-425XL]

I use IO and IO Reef Crystals. I mix 70/30. Been happy with that for almost 2 years.

 

[nothing_fancy]

Ya just give it time, those levels will drop when your demand increases, could take a while depending on stock/growth. Just be ready when they do with whatever 2 part you choose because when they start to fall you'll have to keep up with that.