Small tank calcium regimen - please post yours

[shearwater]

If you're running a small tank and no Ca reactor, how are you regulating your Calcium? Please post here with your schedule and levels. I would really like to know what's working for you! Thanks!

29 g - no fuge
- 1 qt kalkwasser drip per day
- 1 qt CaCo3 drop (1 tsp Turbo calcium per qt) every other day, trying to get levels up
- fairly high biomass for a 29 - 4 Monti's, 1 Pocillo, 2 LPS, many zoas & softies
- Ca is still 360 and won't go up.

 

[Moe_K]

I had a 55g tank with softies and several SPS corals.
Daily, I added 30ml of B-Ionic, then dripped 1/2 gal of kalkwasser every night.
It still wasn't enough. I had to supplent Ca with Kent Liquid Calcium (Calcium chloride), and alk with bakig soda solution once or twice a week.

 

[Kim]

I've been dripping limewater as my make up water in my 30 gallon and its not enough. For now I will be adding b-ionic to go along with my limewater.

I've been thinking of adding calcium chloride with my limewater and then dripping but I haven't checked to see if I can do that or not.

 

[denvig]

With my 55 I use 30ml of B-Ionic parts A & B once a day. With the new corals and lights I may have to increase that a little. However when I change to the 110 I will use a reactor.

 

[shearwater]

Wow, three B-Ionic's so far, and one fool (me) trying to do it with kalkwasser and CaCl drips alone! Good info! Anyone else??

 

[One Eye]

I used B-Ionic for over a year and my levels were up and down. I stoped useing B-Ionic several months ago and started doing more frequent water changes and dripping kalk for the majority of my make up water (at least a gallon day) and have much better results.

 

[shearwater]

Thanks One Eye. BTW, what is the size and bioload of your tank?

 

[TheUltimateNoob]

does kalk do alk too?

 

[Moe_K]

does kalk do alk too?

yup. kalkwasser is a balanced calcium and alkalinity solution.

 

[KevK]

I have a 40 gallon well stocked with lps and sps and drip Kalk and add 20mls of Bionic a day. When the Alk dips, I add balanced Bionic to bring up the Alk

 

[TheUltimateNoob]

cool. thanks moe. i think i'll pick some of that stuff up. but for some reason, a lot of people use b-ionic. hmm.

 

[denvig]

B-Ionic, C-balance and others are a great and an uncomplicated way to go for a small tank. I have used this and only this for over a year now and my calcium and alk stay very steady. It is more expensive but not to bad for a small tank.

 

[Moe_K]

B-Ionic, C-balance and others are a great and an uncomplicated way to go for a small tank. I have used this and only this for over a year now and my calcium and alk stay very steady. It is more expensive but not to bad for a small tank.

Agreed.

 

[jacko]

I have been dripping kalk for one year now.
It has not been nearly enough, but I did not realize that until Randy's talk.
So I used his 2-part system to boost my levels, and I love it.
I had previously used his 2-part system, before he spoke about it, but only rarey because I avoided it because of the ion-imbalances.... So I was really happy to hear his explanation of why there is no major problem (with adequate water changes).

So, now I am tweaking the 2-part system: it will be more dilute, and, automatically administered as my top-off.

 

[Muscles]

20g barebottom here and I use 10ml B-ionic every morning. My MH is like 4" from the waters' surface so I have a fan above the light pulling hot air out and one fan running across the surface of the water blowing hot air away. This causes my tank to evap a little under a gallon a day. This is alot for a small tank but it allows me to get more Kalk solution in which I drip almost all the time. I also saturate the solution with a little vinegar to disolve more Kalk. I have 5 SPS, 2 clams, few small softies and zoas as well. My calcium stays at 430+ and my alk is up there too (10-11dKh). One thing that hasn't been mentioned yet which is probably the key to my succesfull levels is Magnesium. I add about 3ml a week (not all at once) and it really helped. I probably could add more but I have not purchased a test kit for it yet. Turbo calcium is used once in a awhile if my levels get under 420 but watch your alk as you use it. B-ionic, Kalk, and Magnesium supplementation is a great solution for small tanks but a larger system would make it too costly. The important thing is to keep testing as you supplement and the happy balance will soon come. It took 2 months for me to finally reach and find a schedule that will maintain where I want my levels to be and they have been there for over 8 months now. Good luck and be patient. Maintaining the balance on a small tank is very rewarding. Learning to keep things in order for such a small mass of water will give you the ability to apply it to any larger system.

 

[R Baxley]

I have been using B-ionic for years, and have had the same problem that One Eye has. It's driving me crazy. I recently started dosing kalk, and it definitely helps. I travel fairly often for work (3-4 days at a time), and this doesn't help either. The tank is very self-sufficient, with the exception of dosing Alk and Ca. I trust my roomate to feed the fish, but not add the Ca and Alk (after the B-ionic blast last summer). These are a few of the reasons I ahve decided to go with a calcium reactor. i know it's overboard, but it is well worth the money to avoid me worrying about it while on the road.

 

[Muscles]

I have been using B-ionic for years, and have had the same problem that One Eye has. It's driving me crazy. I recently started dosing kalk, and it definitely helps. I travel fairly often for work (3-4 days at a time), and this doesn't help either. The tank is very self-sufficient, with the exception of dosing Alk and Ca. I trust my roomate to feed the fish, but not add the Ca and Alk (after the B-ionic blast last summer). These are a few of the reasons I ahve decided to go with a calcium reactor. i know it's overboard, but it is well worth the money to avoid me worrying about it while on the road.

What size tank?

 

[wrassefan]

I drip kalwasser daily with 2 gal makeup water. My demands aren't being met and I adjust the calcium and alk with dowflake and baking soda. This is in my 90.

 

[R Baxley]

What size tank?

29g with a 10g sump. I haven't added the reactor yet, hopefully within the next month.

I'll be upgrading to a 90g w/i the next few months.

 

[NateHanson]

In my 30g with 10g fuge, and 175w MH I require about a gallon a day of makeup. I've been able to keep my Ca at 410, and Alk at about 3.5 by dripping about a 90% saturated Kalk solution for all top-off. I've got 3 palm-sized SPS and two smaller frags, as well as a bunch of zoas, polyps, leathers, etc.

Peter (shearwater), what's your Alk? If you're having trouble getting Ca up your Alk might be to high (precipitating Ca). That happened to me at first when I was dripping Kalk. I stopped dripping, and just used CaCl2 to bring Ca up, and let the extra Alk get used up over about a week. Then finding the right amount of Kalk was key to keeping those stable.

I'm suprised to hear so many people say that they can't keep up with Ca and Alk using limewater, especially in small, mixed-stock tanks.

(good thread Pete)

Nate