Would you worry about this?

[Emma01]

My alkalinity is rock-solid between 7.4-7.7 in my nano tank with 1.5ml of dosing each every night. I check alk every over day.
I have a 30 litre mixed reef (mainly SPS)
My corals are doing beautifully and growing well.
If I don’t dose, my KH drops very quickly to about 5.0 dkh in 4 days or so.
I check calcium about x1 a week.
And it’s been ranging 447-490 (one reading today was 520!)-
I redone and it was at 490.

Would you guys dose less calcium and alkalinity? I’ve been thinking of cutting it down to about 1.0ml of each? I use Red Sea KH + CA

Is this higher calcium going to affect any inhabitants in the tank?
I prefer to keep it around 440ppm-450ppm

Hope someone can advise.
Thanks
Emma

 

[ajmidget]

A good idea would be to test your calcium, then test it again the following day (around the same time you tested it on the first day). The difference between the numbers you get will be the amount of calcium you tank consumes daily. You can do the same with alkalinity but by the sounds of it you seem to have that stable and under control
For calcium, 440-450ppm is perfect. Stability is key however, and if you test and it comes out to be too high (such as 490ppm) leave it like that, let it drop down on it's own I'd say.
As long as your corals look happy, don't mess with anything and don't go chasing numbers.
A calcium level at 490ppm isn't ideal, but equally I've not heard of it being harmful.
Depending on what your calcium tests show, I think you'll need to end up dosing calcium daily too, to maintain stability. This will also help with coral growth as it'll make the calcium level stable

Hope this helps!

 

[Emma01]

A good idea would be to test your calcium, then test it again the following day (around the same time you tested it on the first day). The difference between the numbers you get will be the amount of calcium you tank consumes daily. You can do the same with alkalinity but by the sounds of it you seem to have that stable and under control
For calcium, 440-450ppm is perfect. Stability is key however, and if you test and it comes out to be too high (such as 490ppm) leave it like that, let it drop down on it's own I'd say.
As long as your corals look happy, don't mess with anything and don't go chasing numbers.
A calcium level at 490ppm isn't ideal, but equally I've not heard of it being harmful.
Depending on what your calcium tests show, I think you'll need to end up dosing calcium daily too, to maintain stability. This will also help with coral growth as it'll make the calcium level stable

Hope this helps!

Yes, It does help a lot thanks.!
So I could just go ahead and dose the same amount of the alkalinity tonight as I have been doing, but not the calcium and allow that to drop naturally?
Thanks
Emma

 

[ajmidget]

Ye, It does help a lot thanks.!
So I could just go ahead and dose the same amount of the alkalinity tonight as I have been doing, but not the calcium and allow that to drop naturally?
Thanks
Emma

Yep, that should be fine. Just remember to test the calcium daily to see how much your tank uses per day, and when it gets close to the 440-450ppm mark you're aiming for dose the correct ml amount of CA in relation to the tank's daily consumption. A calcium drop of around 40ppm isn't too significant, but I'd still keep an eye on all of your corals and if any start to look irritated or anything before you reach the 440-450 mark, dose some calcium (the correct ml amount in relation to your tank's daily consumption). That should balance it out for a day or so and allow the coral to get used to the new level.
I don't expect you'll need to do that though as it's not a big drop. Sorry if that's all confusing lol!

 

[Emma01]

Yep, that should be fine. Just remember to test the calcium daily to see how much your tank uses per day, and when it gets close to the 440-450ppm mark you're aiming for dose the correct ml amount of CA in relation to the tank's daily consumption. A calcium drop of around 40ppm isn't too significant, but I'd still keep an eye on all of your corals and if any start to look irritated or anything before you reach the 440-450 mark, dose some calcium (the correct ml amount in relation to your tank's daily consumption). That should balance it out for a day or so and allow the coral to get used to the new level.
I don't expect you'll need to do that though as it's not a big drop. Sorry if that's all confusing lol!

Thanks I’ll give it a go ;Happy
Emma

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Continue dosing the alkalinity, but temporarily stop the Ca dose, or cut it down accordingly. Dosing both parts in equal amounts is just a starting point but sometimes you will have to make adjustments and dose them unequally.

 

[Emma01]

Continue dosing the alkalinity, but temporarily stop the Ca dose, or cut it down accordingly. Dosing both parts in equal amounts is just a starting point but sometimes you will have to make adjustments and dose them unequally.

It seems so. I’m quickly learning that despite being taught to ‘dose equally’....
It seems eventually, dosing unequally is inevitable.
Thanks
Emma

 

[ajmidget]

It seems so. I’m quickly learning that despite being taught to ‘dose equally’....
It seems eventually, dosing unequally is inevitable.
Thanks
Emma

Let us know how you get on. Did you get the 'dosing equally' advice from an LFS?

 

[Emma01]

Let us know how you get on. Did you get the 'dosing equally' advice from an LFS?

Yes, from an LFS.
I’ll let you all know how I get on
Thanks for all your advice.
Emma

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Bear in mind that unless something unusual is in play (like a sulfur denitrator) you tank is not likely using more alk than the proportional amount of calcium. Alk always drops much faster on a percentage basis.