Problems with Cal, Alk and Mag levels

L

lefird

Detritus
#1
#1
Problems with Cal, Mag, Alk levels
[HR][/HR]I have a 180g bow front tank. It is mixed reef with a fairly heavy bio load. I have been dosing Cal and Alk from a 2-part solution for about two months and dosing Mag on its own. My Cal level will not get over 360, Alk over 6 and Mag over 1170. I started out dosing 35ml and am now dosing 45ml of Cal and Alk daily, and 30ml of Mag daily trying to get Cal and Alk to raise.
I do not believe in chasing numbers, but these levels seem low to me and I would like to see them higher even if I don't get to the 'magic' numbers.
I understand the relationship between Cal, Alk and Mag somewhat, but I am perplexed as to why I keep raising the doses and nothing happens.
Is there some other factor I am not aware of or am missing?
Should I just keep dosing more until the levels rise and then cut back to exactly what the tank is consuming daily??

The tank has been running for almost two years, I bought it about 2 months ago and started dosing.

Thanks All,
 
SAZAMA

SAZAMA

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
#4
your mag is low, natural sea water is around 1280. keep in mind that the main function of mag. is to help keep alk and cal from dissipating.
 
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Andrew_bram

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
#6
According to randy 85g of sea water has nearly a pound of mg. It tanks a lot of mg to raise your levels. I would raise 100 per day till over 1300. It will seem like a lot of mg but that's what the calculators are for.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
AlgaeBarn

AlgaeBarn

Angel Fish
#7
#7
Sazama hit the nail on the head. According to the solubility of CaCO3, it shouldnt exist in the levels that are found in natural sea water. The reason the levels can be so high is because magnesium allows the water to become supersaturated with Ca[SUP]2+[/SUP] and CO[SUB]3[/SUB][SUP]2-[/SUP] ions. I would agree with Andrew to raise levels above 1300. I'm assuming you havent seen much coralline growth? This is because it is inhibited by low magnesium levels.

Also be sure you are not adding Ca and Alk at the same time. It will precipitate out.
 
projectx

projectx

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
#8
doesnt sound like you are dosing enough when I do mag in my 90 I use 90ml, you might increase it slowly and see if your numbers start coming up
 
H

hoonderific

Goby
#10
#10
ohhh yeah someone suggested to me when my levels were that low to add some of the dry prewashed sand in exchange for some old sand. my alk has been sitting around 9 and cal in the low 400 since but I also have been dosing every week
 
SyntheticOcean

SyntheticOcean

Blenny
#11
#11
Another factor could be salt mix and how often 20% water change is performed.

I use salinity, and do a 20% water change every two weeks. My calcium, alk, and mag are right where they need to be without dosing and SG maintains at 1.026

Granted I don't have the bio load you do. I have a 65 gallon red sea max. And only 5 fish, lots of zoa's, several LPS and a few SPS.

Just my 2 cents
 
powdermonkey

powdermonkey

Butterfly Fish
#12
#12
I can tell you that I dose my 180g 24 times a day at 10ml to keep my levels up(BRS 2-part). I keep my cal around 420-450, mag 1320-1350, and alk at 8dkh. Eight is my target as I have started dosing vinegar and I drip my mag when it drops below 1300. Well those are my goal anyways, as it does fluctuate slightly and I do have two or three corals.

BTW are you a western slope member? Follow the link in my signature if not. We are not in the same league as MASC but.... we're trying
 
Dr.DiSilicate

Dr.DiSilicate

Great White Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
ex-officio
#13
#13
Well, I dose by hand and am sure I cause some precipitation by dosing too fast but I am dosing A LOT more than you. I have a 120 with some big sps colonies and dose 150 ml of both alk and calcium daily. If I miss a day the alk drops over 1 dkh. I think dosers will help me dose a bit less but 35 th 50 ml is not going to touch a 180 even mixed reef. Bulk reef supply has a good calculator and suggestions for starting dosages.
 
F

fiji4118

Tang
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
#14
michael.lemke;165025 said:
Well, I dose by hand and am sure I cause some precipitation by dosing too fast but I am dosing A LOT more than you. I have a 120 with some big sps colonies and dose 150 ml of both alk and calcium daily. If I miss a day the alk drops over 1 dkh. I think dosers will help me dose a bit less but 35 th 50 ml is not going to touch a 180 even mixed reef. Bulk reef supply has a good calculator and suggestions for starting dosages.
Click to expand...
+1. I have a 150 mixed reef and dose 150ml of BRS 2 part every day.
 
powdermonkey

powdermonkey

Butterfly Fish
#17
#17
hoonderific;165059 said:
how does everyone dose the 2 part I've seen people do them min apart and some morning/evening does it make a difference?
Click to expand...
I use the 4 pump ghl-profilux on automatic for the 2-part. It randomly doses 10ml 24x a day. BRS says you can dose the mag all at once but I like to drip it using a medical IV drip line at a couple drops a second. The vinegar is on manual only dosing during daylight hours. From how I understand it dose slow(up to interpretation) and in a high flow area and dont dose the two together.
 
Andrew_bram

Andrew_bram

Tiger Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#18
#18
I have always dosed my ca about 5 min after alk once the cloudiness goes away you can add second part but I just give it few extra minutes.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk
 
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