Calcium Levels

I have a 10 gallon reef tank.

No matter how much I try, I can't get the calcium level above 360.

I treat it everyday & everyday it looks worse. Now I have a purple film growing on my front glass.

What am I doing wrong ?

What should I do ?

 

get your Mg above 1400 first. you'll need to maintain Mg above 1400 b4 you can maintain your Ca level.

 

Have you tested your alk and mag?

 

also make sure your test kit is good. take some water to your LFS have them test it. could be just a bad kit.

 

I had the same prob when i first got my tank going as peredhil says get your mag up first.

 

like everyone else says.

make sure your salinity is 1.024-1.026
raise mag to 1300-1400.
make sure you dkh is 8-12 (if its over 13 that could be problem)
raise calcium

have a nice day!

ohh and purple flim may be coralline. that will use calcium up.. 380-450 on calcium is good. you may need to use a flat razor to scrape coralline of glass. any pics will help us id.

 

I live in a relatively small city. We have one reef store, but it is big & well stocked. The people are very knowledgeable. The problem is, because they are growing so fast, they are relocating to a larger facility.Unfortunately I have no test kits for akl or mg. I mean those are the facts. I can't change them so, what is my game plan while I wait for their opening ?I mean, we have to do the best with what we have. Put yourself in the same situation. What would you do ?

 

If they're going to be more than a week before they reopen, I'd order the kits online. A lot of places have cheap flat rate standard shipping.

 

Order kits online until the store reopen. Don't make your tank suffer over loyalty.

 

I use api reef master kit for calcium,dkh/alk,nitrate,and phos.
and red sea for mag.

petmountain has api kits cheap. I got the reef master kit for $25 bucks shipped.
red sea mag is about $20.