I feel speacial!....UH OH is this plausable???

[GaryP]

My intentions were that after he gets his perimeters in line to add equal parts of both to help keep them in line.

OK, I can understand that. But here is where there is a problem. They aren't used in equal parts. You will always use more alkalinity then calcium, especially in a soft coral tank. Even in a hard coral tank, calcification takes places at a ratio of 2:1 (carbonate:calcium).

In a soft coral tank, calcification is not going to be the main demand on the alkalinity levels. Neuutralization of bacterially produced acids is going to be the major demand. The bacteria chewing up the waste products in a tank produce low molecular weight acids such as acetic acid (vinegar) and CO2. The demand on alkalinity is the sum of these non-calcification demands and calcification.

If we are looking at a soft coral tank, the demand on alkalinity is going to be a lot higher then it is for calcium because of the bacterial acids. Soft corals do have some calcification, especially leather corals, but not to the degree that stony corals do. I usually recommend that reefers work out a weekly or daily calcium and alkalinity demand and dose supplements accordingly. If your daily calcium demand is 5 ppm and you are dosing 10 ppm, you are quickly going to be out of balance once again. This was probably the case with Louie's tank. Once you are out of balance, dosing more alkalinity does not result in regaining balance, it just makes sand (calcium carbonate precipitation). Of course there is a non-coral calcium and alkalinity demand component as well from things like coraline algae and other critters such as snails. A "reef salt" will usually have enough calcium to meet this demand without much additional calcium supplementation. The alkalinity in such a salt is usually not much higher then NSW levels and will need to be supplemented.

One of the problems I have noticed in my own tanks is that we get into what I call a supplement roller coaster. We may dose a 2 part on Saturdays, but by the following Friday the level is low again. Rather then doing that, I would recommend dosing smaller amounts more frequently so the highs and lows are not as exaggerated, in other words smooth out the roller coaster.

[acrofreak]

I agree. That's why I would suggest a two part. I dose my tank daily in the am, now my tank is sps and clams only so I have a higher demand. And if your balances are in check, dosing equal parts on a daily basis will help you stay off the rollercoaster. In his case he may only need dose 10-15ml a day. That would something he would have to determine for himself.
With a softie tank he may not to dose at all if he dose weekly water changes with a good quality reef salt. If he uses IO then he may have to dose. I agree he doesn't need a high ca and his alk levels need to stay up. But if he can maintain NSW levels he shouldn't have any problems.

sorry I have to talk in lamens terms, Don't speak in scientific lingo to well.
Sticking to basics and good tank maintance will keep you out of trouble every time. Well 99% of the time

[matt]

Louie, did you dose 8 tsp of baking soda in a 55 gallon tank? That sounds like quite a lot. If your calcium is really high, dosing that much baking soda would probably cause a snowstorm of calcium carbonate, so maybe your calcium isn't that high.

Here's why Liquid Reactor is such a bad idea. Alk test kits work by using acids and an indicator to show how much acid is needed to drop the ph of the sample. The liquid reactor stuff is just ground up calcium carbonate, and those tiny particles stay in suspension where they are not usable by your corals, but will cause an Alk test kit (maybe Calcium too, I don;t know) to give you a false reading because it takes excess acid to dissolve the calcium carbonate in your sample. Don't believe me? Try taking a sample of aquarium water, testing for Alk, then take another sample, stir in some sand like SD, and test the cloudy water. You'll find the Alk off the chart, even though obviously there are not more carbonate ions in solution. People sometimes say they add stuff like that and their Ca and Alk is much more "stable" That's because the stuff is not usuable by corals, and consequently stays in the water, ready to fool the test kits.

Back to Louie's tank...get a Salifert Alkalinity and Calcium test kit from Premium Aquatics. They're not that expensive and just think of the money you're going to save using household products instead the absurdly marked up aquarium products to get your tank chemistry together. Okay, once you have the kits, you could do a big water change as everyone else is sayng with IO, but you should probably measure the Ca and Alk of the new water before you add it to your tank. Usually IO mixes to about 350 PPM Calcium and about 9.5 DKH Alk. If you want to lower your Calcium, fine, add it as is, but ultimately to use IO you need to add some calcium chloride to new water to bring it to 400 PPM.

Somehow, you have to get your tank water so that Ca is about 400, and Alk is about 8-10 dkh, using the SALIFERT KITS. Once that's done, you can dissolve baking soda in fresh water in one container, dowflake or dupont calcium hardness increaser or even kent turbo calcium (if you can get a deal or just enjoy spending lots of money) in water in other container, and then there's your ultra cheap and ultra effective two part supplement. This is "Randy's recipe" for a two part additive; you'll probably use recipe 1 to get and keep your ph up. Here's a link for the recipe:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Okay, so your tank levels are in balance and you have the home made two part supplement. Now you test your alkalinity at a certain time of day, right down the number, don't add anything to your tank (except fresh water top off) for 24 hrs, and test alkalinity again. Don't worry about Calcium. Then compare the second day number with the first. No difference? Fine, do the same thing again 24 hrs later. Make sure you do the test at the same time every day. BTW, this won't work with testing for Ca everyday; that level drops and raises much more slowly. Use the Salifert Alk test kit.

Okay, so eventually you will find, by comparing the numbers, a daily (or weekly if it's slow) drop in Alk. Then you go to the reef chemistry calculator that I posted for you last time, plug in the numbers, and you'll see how much of Randy's recipe 1 (or 2 if you're using it) you need to increase the Alk to the first day's level. That's how much of each part you dose on a daily (or weekly, depending on your drop rate) basis. You don't have to worry about the Ca level, just does the two parts, monitor the Alk level, and if it's okay your Ca will also be okay.

For a comparison, my 60 gal corner tank needs 1 gallon of KW per day and 2 ozs ( big shot) of recipe 2 everyday to maintain Alk levels at 8-10 dkh. That's a high demand for such a small tank, and it's going up fast as my corals and clams grow. If I were buying aquarium products like Kent KW mix, and B-ionic 2 part, I'd be spending a significant amount on this stuff. Instead, I can get a year's supply of KW for $1.50 (pickling lime) a year's supply of Alk supplement for $1 (baking soda) and a year's supply of Ca supplement cheap by using dowflake....I have not actually done that yet because I was able to trade Ace a couple of becketts for a big tub of turbo calcium, but when it runs out I'll get the dowflake.

Man what a long post...sorry, but if you follow this method you'll take care of all your Ca and Alk problems. Without the right test kit you're out of luck, so start with that.