Getting Calcium level up

My tank is a 60 gal.. around 10 months old..
I'm having problems getting my calcium level to 440..

It was 360, now is 380.. I use Kent Liquid Reactor. and IO salt..
RO water, sump and skimmer not hooked up yet..

I started out with 1 piece of liverock the rest deadheads..
Around 80#'s + . 15 #'s livesand on top of cleaned old sand..
All the rock has colored up nice, and looks really good..
2 clown fish, and 1 sailfin tank.. Abunch of snails, 1 sandshifting star..

Corals..
leathers, mushrooms, misc softys..
1 good sized hammer, 2 smaller frogspawn, platecoral, 5 candycanes,
1 birdsnest, and a frag of monty ..

I have gone from 360 to 380.. It's taken over a week, I add it slow..
I have used almost 1/2 a 16 oz. bottle.. I used a cal. that said to raise a 60 gal tank from 360 to 440 would take 7.8 oz..
I check at night after the lights have been on all day..

I think IO salt is low of calicum to start with, made more for fish then corals.. My LFS has went out of business.

Am I on the right track.. ??
Just keep adding and testing..?? I don't think my tank has ever been above 360.. I just got the test kit a month ago.. Things are hard to find where I live, etc..

Just take things slow, and see what happens..??

 

hows your other levels..your alk?I have never used that stuff you are using. I am now using 2 part solution from Bulk Reef supply and it does really well and would probably do really well for your corals. You dont have alot of high calcium demanding corals so that should be enough to do the trick. I have a lot of clams, SPS etc so I now have to dose kalk in addition.IO I think is designed more for fish only. I have switched to reef crystals

Also your calcium needs will increase as that coralline grows!

 

hey Shipbear, IMO your on the right track , you can bring it up using any of the commercial calcium addition products - the table you used probably also describes what amounts you need of varying products to achieve the levels you want -

but you might want to consider a salt mix for future with higher calcium levels as this will save you some time and effort making the adjustments your making

you dont have many high calcium requiring corals, so once you get it up there it will be relatively easy to maintain it.

steve

 

Have you verified the test results? See if you can at least borrow another test kit for CA, just to make sure the one you are using is still accurate. I keep 3 kits on hand just for that reason.
And, schackmel hit it on the head, we will need to know your MG and dKH levels as well, as they all bind in with each other along with CA.

 

getting your ca up will involve raising your mg too. they work hand in hand. test your mg then dose accordingly, then wait an hour or so and then retest ca and dose accordingly. I've found adding a large amount of Mg will not harm anything. I did this by accident(put way too much) and everything thrived and my ca was able to be brought up and stay up.

 

Hi Guys Kent Liquid reactor also contains magnesium I believe

Steve

 

Most bottles like Kents cal/mag contains enough mag to maintain. And if you buy the powder, you get 2x amount for same price as liquid. Gotta have alk/mag up so your cal will go up. You can get some Seachem mag for reg dosing.

 

If you want only your Ca increased, proper use of kalkwasser can do it. You need to make sure you do it properly though. Otty posted a great article he got from Curt (Inwall) not too long ago:
https://www.3reef.com/forums/water-chemistry/does-kalkwasser-affect-46224.html#post421434
It's a good read, it helped me figure out that I was misusing my kalk last year.

 

Thanks.. I've been reading all I can on Calcium, Alkalinity, Magnesium and pH ..
Thanks again for the info.. Now I think I know what to do..
I've also been reading the " Old School " ways....

Later, Larry

 

The corals you are keeping does not need Ca that high to live. You are just wasting money trying to get it that high. But if you must then get pure calcium cloride and then you will have to raise your Mg to around 1400 and ALK to around 13 to keep it there.
I think those two part solutions are a waste of money. I only add what I need to raise.