Low alk and calcium

[Bthomas]

Checked calcium and alk for the first time today. (Tank has only been running for a month and a half)
Calcium - 365
Alk - 7

I expected them both to be higher since i only have 2 corals in the tank.

Used regular instant ocean salt on start up but the past couple water changes ive used reef crystals.

Ph has been low also at 8-8.05

How can i get these numbers up? I assumed it was way too early to have to dose?

 

[Greenstreet.1]

Did you ever test you water change mix before water change to see where you are at with the mix ?

 

[Bthomas]

Did you ever test you water change mix before water change to see where you are at with the mix ?

No I havnt I will do that before the next change

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

IO is normally on the low side for calcium. The alk is OK for now, but raising it is also OK.

What is the salinity? If low, raising it will raise both.

This has more:

The Many Methods for Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/the-many-methods-for-supplementing-calcium-and-alkalinity

 

[Bthomas]

IO is normally on the low side for calcium. The alk is OK for now, but raising it is also OK.

What is the salinity? If low, raising it will raise both.

This has more:

The Many Methods for Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity - REEFEDITION
https://www.reef2reef.com/blog/the-many-methods-for-supplementing-calcium-and-alkalinity

I'll check salinity i havnt checked in a couple weeks but it was 1.025

I know everything's fine for now I just expected it to be higher at the beginning. Just means i may be dosing sooner then i thought id have to i guess

 

[rkpetersen]

You could also consider another salt switch, to one that's more 'jacked up' with higher levels of calcium, alk, and Mg as compared to Reef Crystals. I switched to Red Sea Coral Pro for just this reason a few months ago. My tank is heavily stocked, though. Your tank doesn't really need these levels now, but if you're planning on adding stony corals, it won't hurt to get a bit ahead of the curve. And you shouldn't need to dose yet because there's no consumption, although my experience was that I waited too long to add an automatic doser, which caused a lot of instability as I tried to keep up manually.

 

[Mushroomhead]

What test kits are you using? I had about the same readings in my tank using AP test kit. Switched to Salifert and my cal is actually 450 and my alk is 10.

 

[Cory]

Checked calcium and alk for the first time today. (Tank has only been running for a month and a half)
Calcium - 365
Alk - 7

I expected them both to be higher since i only have 2 corals in the tank.

Used regular instant ocean salt on start up but the past couple water changes ive used reef crystals.

Ph has been low also at 8-8.05

How can i get these numbers up? I assumed it was way too early to have to dose?

Ph at 8-8.05 is pretty close to fully equilibriated with atmospheric co2. Raising it a little higher than that would mean raising your dkh passed 7 up into the 8s.

 

[Bthomas]

What test kits are you using? I had about the same readings in my tank using AP test kit. Switched to Salifert and my cal is actually 450 and my alk is 10.

I'm using salifert kits