i use brs 2 part for calc and alk. i was adding it to the 75 g sump section. I had a problem with gfo levels coming up. the gfo pump was in the main part of the 75g fuge, along with my carbon filter i moved both of these to the sump section to clean and treat the water before it goes to the main tank, and it seemed to work very well. my sump section is about 8"x 10" maybe holds 8 gallons of water i figured that if i had two maxijets with gfo and carbon in that small amount of water the odds of the water being lower in gfo and organics would increase, and this seems to be true. Now to the question my calcium and alk drip into this section too via brs dosers 1.1ml per min. and my alk and calc are lower. I went from adding 100ml per day to 130 and still my calcium is 400 i want about 430. Can my additives be removed by gfo or carbon? one other possibility is i mixed my solution weak, i went from the 1 gallon jugs to the 2.5 gallon jugs, but i added correctly i know because i marked them.
No.
Thanks ken that’s the most strait forward answer I’ve seen lol. So no way this can happen that’s good news.
Never heard of GFO or carbon absorbing calcium, carbonates, or magnesium. You don’t mention magnesium at all what level is it at?
Most of us are constantly fiddling with our aquariums and even if you don’t believe you have changed something recently something you did 2 months ago the tank could still be adjusting for. It may be possible that some animal or algae in your aquarium is depositing a calcium carbonate skeleton(which includes Mg and other elements) more then it used to. May just need to increase the amount you are adding.
"in that small amount of water the odds of the water being lower in gfo and organics would increase, and this seems to be true. "
This confuses me. I am not sure what you are saying here. I assume you mean being lower in phosphates and organics.(gfo is good stuff that we add to remove phosphates which we don’t want) Getting past that if your return pump is on the water in your sump is essentially the same body of water as what is in your display tank unless your return pump is only creating a drip into the display tank.
my return pump moves about 1000gph it is in the small sump section i made on the 75 g fuge and in this sump section i have two maxi jet pumps running gfo reactors and a carbon reactor also the 2 part drips into this section so the two part is concentrated in this small amount of water i just wonder if that concentrated amount of two part can negatively affect or be affected by carbon or gfo. thanks for the help
No.
k.
They will not negatively effect each other no. If you add too much of either supplement at a time it can precipitate out of solution(can think of this as the calcium can be transformed into a solid and will not be in the water column, so it will be of no use to your corals.)
Are you testing your Mg? if your Mg reaches a low level your calcium will remain low no matter how much you add to the tank. You shared your levels and spoke of just Calcium, and Alk with out mentioning Mg… You can’t get away with ignoring this element in the long run.
Mg forgot. It’s 1400 steady. I have been testing a lot lately I always do ca and alk I do mag a lot less be cause its always 1400 I do add mag too. But not much. I think my ca is lower because I am adding equal amounts of two part. I will do some extra ca dosing to see if I can get it to 430 and see If it holds.
If you’re changing the amount of suppliments, and not seeing any change while testing, be sure it’s not faulty testing equipment before being too aggressive with suppliments. I know it’s a redundant point, but it’s still relevant.
Also, a high alk will precipitate calc out of solution faster. Mg aids in keeping these 2 chemicals in suspension, but it seems your Mg is within a good range.
Good luck :
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Sound advice. Only takes one tank crash to learn that lesson. I also never use crappy Salifert kits any more. Wouldn’t even if they were free.
Well I have a lot of test kits while they are not exact they at consistent. What is wrong with salifert? I have a seachem reef status and hate using it. I don’t like the kits that use or depend on di water for dilution. If I remember you like Elos?
I emailed Elos after hours yesterday and received a response in less then 24 hours. For over three years there was no way the end consumer or a retailer or a wholesaler could contact anyone associated with Salifert. They used to have a go to guy in the US who was easy to reach and talk with out their products, but about the same time they started putting out batch after batch of bad test kits, he disappeared, their number was disconnected, their emails bounced, and there website was shut down… Somehow they continued to sell products, but the wholesalers had to learn what numbers were associated with the bad batches and refund LFS and the end consumer with their funds.
That is enough of a reason to not like their products and even if they have changed now it is kind of hard to come back from. The icing on the cake was when I trusted one of their kits and over dosed one of my aquariums. This was years ago and I should have known better then to dose that much with out knowing how the levels could have gotten that low. Four other hobbyist locally and many more all over the nation found many other bad test kits.(~400-500ppm off, not just a little bit)
Meanwhile Elos is expanding rapidly, attending every major conference in the industry, building high line beautiful stores in NYC and many other major cities across the world. I’m not saying their products are perfect or anything of the short, but if you compare it with Salifert…
I use Elos for Ca, Mg, and KH. I have tried many others and these worked best for me.
Ok yeah that’s why at times salifert is hard to find. The Elos calcium do you need di water or is it done without?
You mean RODI or distilled water? Nope. 5ml of tank water and the included reagents.
Cool that’ll be my next kit