Good morning R2R!
So lately I'm struggling trying to raise calcium in my tank. I have read many articles about having low magnesium as well as just adding too much alk and calcium at the same time and the calcium precipitates out.
I'll start with the first. I bought a salifert test kit for mag. According to it I have 1380 ppm of mag. Little high but nothing crazy. According to what i have read calcium can only be as high as 3x the mag. So by my math 450 or so is what i should be able to reach. However I'm not. I can reach 400ppm but by the next day or even a few hours later it is back to 380. So needless to say I dont think it is mag.
Second, adding too much alk and calcium. I add baking soda to my ato so it works as a doser. Just enough to maintain 8.5 alk. I'm still trying to nail this down but it just takes time. So much ato runs maybe once an hour only for about 10 seconds. So it's not adding tons of alk. When I add calcium I put it in the return section of my sump. I have used 10 ml to bring it up to 400 then wait an hour or 2 then add another 10 ml to bring it up to 420. I'm using seachem part 1 reef fusion to do this. It actually should help magnesium as well according to the label. After the second dose ( 20 ml total) I can get a 420 ppm reading. However in a few hours it's gone. I have done this twice now with the same results. I do not believe it is being used that fast as it will stay at 380ppm once it drops. It doesnt continue to decline.
I have read many articles but I cant seem to nail this down. Any help would be appreciated. Let me know if you need any other info. Thanks yall
40b 29 sump
8.3 ph
380 cal
8.5 alk
1380 mag
77 F
So lately I'm struggling trying to raise calcium in my tank. I have read many articles about having low magnesium as well as just adding too much alk and calcium at the same time and the calcium precipitates out.
I'll start with the first. I bought a salifert test kit for mag. According to it I have 1380 ppm of mag. Little high but nothing crazy. According to what i have read calcium can only be as high as 3x the mag. So by my math 450 or so is what i should be able to reach. However I'm not. I can reach 400ppm but by the next day or even a few hours later it is back to 380. So needless to say I dont think it is mag.
Second, adding too much alk and calcium. I add baking soda to my ato so it works as a doser. Just enough to maintain 8.5 alk. I'm still trying to nail this down but it just takes time. So much ato runs maybe once an hour only for about 10 seconds. So it's not adding tons of alk. When I add calcium I put it in the return section of my sump. I have used 10 ml to bring it up to 400 then wait an hour or 2 then add another 10 ml to bring it up to 420. I'm using seachem part 1 reef fusion to do this. It actually should help magnesium as well according to the label. After the second dose ( 20 ml total) I can get a 420 ppm reading. However in a few hours it's gone. I have done this twice now with the same results. I do not believe it is being used that fast as it will stay at 380ppm once it drops. It doesnt continue to decline.
I have read many articles but I cant seem to nail this down. Any help would be appreciated. Let me know if you need any other info. Thanks yall
40b 29 sump
8.3 ph
380 cal
8.5 alk
1380 mag
77 F
