Help! Low Ca & Alk

Okay, I know I should provide more info - but I don't have the time right now. I'm beginning to get really worried - more of my corals are showing stress & some are dying off quickly. Currently the Ca is 380 & Alk is 6.1 dKH. We just did a 15% water change last night.

Based on this skimpy info, can anyone offer any suggestions on how to raise my levels of Ca & Alk? Apparently what I've been doing (which isn't a lot) is not enough.

TIA,
julie

 

Get some sodium carbonate and slowly raise the alk use this calculator to add the right amount:
Reef Chemistry Calculator
Sodium carbonate is sold in the laundry section at the grocery store if you can't find that you can use baking soda.
Or order one of the commercial buffers which are about the same thing.
Pure soda ash from bulkreefsupply.com is good and cheap.

 

Get some sodium carbonate and slowly raise the alk use this calculator to add the right amount:
Reef Chemistry Calculator
Sodium carbonate is sold in the laundry section at the grocery store if you can't find that you can use baking soda.
Or order one of the commercial buffers which are about the same thing.
Pure soda ash from bulkreefsupply.com is good and cheap.

 

i haven't found a salt mix yet that has the right amount of all 3 cal,alk and mag at the same time. i currently use corallife, it has good cal levels of around 460 so i only have to dose alk and mag. you should buy buckets of cal, alk and mag from bulk reef supply (they have good deal and you get alot for your money unlike the local fish store stuff). they have a calculator on their website that tells you how and how much to add.
you didn't mention your mag level. that is the most important one. get your mag up to between 1400 and 1500 ppm, them start with the cal and alk.
cal will drop as alk goes up and vise versa. eventally you will get them where you want (cal around 450 ppm and alk around 10 to 12 ppm).
good luck and be patient, nothing good happens fast.

 

Have you tested your mag?

 

Thanks for your help -

mag is around 920. What is the best way to raise it?

TIA,
julie

 

I use epson salt or kent m-tech to raise mag first. make sure your salinity is 1.025-1.026 or your water wont support those mag levels..

I use a ph buffer w/ dKH builder in it. but you need to check your ph first before using that.. if your ph is 8.1-8.3 already then use some baking soda..

remember you can only raise one thing at a time. dont try to do it all in an hour.. takes a couple days for everything..

 

Yeah, that's gonna take a lot of epsom salt to raise it enough. Use the same calculator above. Read the notes ... don't raise mag more than 100 per day. Walgreens has epsom salt on sale often for $2 -2 quarts. Grab a few of them.

 

Once you raise your mag to 1500 or thereabouts, you should have no problems raising your calcium and alkalinity to proper levels. Not before, though--you must raise the mag first.

 

Thanks so much for the suggestions - one question though - do I add the epsom salt during a water change, or do I put it in the DT?

TIA,
julie