Herbs Botanicals

Calcium for Saltwater reef tank.?

OK this is a new 110 gal tank, with only a few small soft corals. My calcium level is a bit low.

Pleccy is right calcium made for human consumption has chemicals to assist with it's uptake that aren't good for your water quality. Not to mention if you add calcium without an alkalinity buffer your ph will suffer. If your magnesium levels are too low or too high you won’t be able to keep calcium in solution 1200-1400 ppm of Mg will keep calcium in solution anything outside these parameters will cause problems. Frequent water changes (at least 25% per month) will help keep your water chemistry stable but not all synthetic sea salts are made the same. Many older salt brands aren’t designed to work well with ultra pure RO or DI water. Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals and Kent Marine are the best salts to mix with ultra pure water because they have higher concentrations of the chemicals your tank needs to stay balanced. The best and most controllable method to increase your calcium level is a calcium reactor but they are expensive. Kalkwasser is another option but with a pH of 12 it is very caustic it must be used very carefully or it can shoot up your pH and lower you alkalinity. Then there are the two part solutions like C-Balance this will boost both calcium and alkalinity in a balanced manner the main drawback with this method is it can increase non-desirable algae growth. If you have argonite gravel or sand a premium salt mix and proper magnesium levels with frequent water changes you shouldn’t have a problem.

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