Why is my cal getting higher?

[eric.battani]

First off let me give you a little background history on my tank I recently switched to a 125 from a 29 gallon. I had the same problems with the 29 that I now have with the 125. When I switched over to the 125 I started with new water and old live rock from 29 along with sand bed. When I first checked my levels they were perfect. Dekh 11 calcium 480 magnesium 1360 now 1 week later calcium 580 plus, magnesium 1060 dekh 6. I have not added any cal to my tank but I have dosed small amount of reef buffer to raise my ph because 3 days in pH had dropped to 7.8. So why is my magnesium and dKH lowering and calcium Rises. I only have about 20 frags most are soft corals and about 5 small frags of LPS like Ghost torch and frog spawn no SPS and only 10 fish. All very young. Things that I have in my refugium are 220 coralife skimmer, algae scrubber, 1 cup of phos guard (had some problems b4 I started running phos guard and scrubber). I have about 80lbs of live sand and 100 plus lbs of live rock.
Today I did setup a drip system to dose baking soda to slowly raise alk.

 

[NanaReefer]

Stop using the Reef Buffer. With a PH of 7.8 there is no need.


Sent from my iPhone 4s via Tapatalk.

 

[Mike J.]

When alk drops low calcium will rise. And when calcium drops low alk will rise. Have you tried a large water change to get some parameters back to normal? I''d be concerned with getting the mag level up first. If I was in your shoes I'd do a large water change first.

 

[eric.battani]

Sorry I forgot to add that I'm dosing mag as well.

 

[eric.battani]

And as for the water change the only thing that helped was starting out with new water in the 125. And even in the old system doing 20% weekly water changes didn't help.


Using reef crystals salt mix.

 

[eric.battani]

I'm not using tap water, I'm using rodi water for my water changes. Even when I mix up mag from dry I'm using rodi water.

 

[eric.battani]

Still can't understand why alk is lowering. Thought about getting a clam once I get alk under control to eat up some cal. Also in the 29, as alk and mag raised so did cal. And never did dose any cal just mag and alk

 

[mcarroll]

Alk dropping is a natural consequence of your stony corals' growth, as well as other biochemical processes in the tank.

I know you'll find exceptions, but if you aren't running a doser (including Ca and kalk reactors) or aren't manually dosing daily, I probably would not keep stony coral. At least not many. The more success you have, the bigger demand for supplements get...sounds messed up but success will eventually kill a tank if you're not on top of it at least daily.

BTW, a doser can be a good DIY item if budget is preventing you from using them, and if it helps you can get by on just one for alkalinity. Ca and Mg are safe enough to pour in by hand until you get to much larger doses.

Hope this helps!

-Matt