Raising calcium and buffer??

[fishymommy]

I have been having problems with my pH randomly changing from 8.8 down to 7.8 and then back up again. What is a good product for raising my buffer capacity? Is there something I add to my RO water during wc's or some sort of media that can join my GFO in my reactor??

Also, my calcium is usually around 360-400ppm. Is calcium something that should be relatively constant in my tank during tests? I have never had a weekly test be the same two weeks in a row. One week it will read 340, the next 380. Is this normal or an error on my part while testing?

Either way, what is a good lvl for hard corals? What can I use to raise the calcium up to those levels?

Thanks much!!

fishymommy

[fishymommy]

Anybody have any suggestions??

[Nautilus29]

When you do your testing do you do it every day, before your water change, after your wc?

[fishymommy]

Depends on the time. I try to wait at least a few hours after a wc before testing so everything has time to adjust and settle with the new water. Other times, if I notice something doesn't seem right, like my corals being mad, I'll do a random test between wc's.

[Nautilus29]

So are you adding only to water to your tank durring wc's? If so to water is very acidic and that's why you ph is moving so much along with calcium levels since to water is almost pure water. You can mix tap water in with the ro water to cmake your ph levels the same as your tank water( if you have hard water that is). If not you can add crushed coral to you filter which will help stablize your water, but you still need to find a way to get the water you add to the tank durring water changes up to your tank level because that large of fluctuation is bad for the fish. There are buffers that you can add to the water before you do a wc to raise theparameters.

Sorry for any mistakes I'm typing this on my iPod.

[MonkeyPox]

What substrate are you using?

[pinchyboy]

You can buy a calcium liquid at an aquarium store and i think u put a few tea spoons a week and your calcium gets higher and at a perfect level. hope i could help

[fishymommy]

I didn't know the RO water could be causing so much trouble. Thanks for letting me know. Unfortunatley, my tap water has a pH of 7.6 which is still lower than what it had dropped to. What suggestions do you have for pH "conditioners" I can add to my RO water to help stabalize it.

My substrate is just sand.. I'm not sure if its any special type since I got it from my mother-in-law when I set up my tank.

Where can I get crushed coral/what is a good brand? Also, what is a good brand of liquid calcium?

Thanks bunches for all the help so far!!!!

[MonkeyPox]

Aragonite and crushed coral are great pH buffers.

[fishymommy]

Ok. So does crushed coral help boost calcium levels too?

[Nautilus29]

I'm not sure about brands but you can look on drsfostersmith.com for everything.

[fishymommy]

Would this combo be good?
Reef Builder
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
and Seachem Reef Complete
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]

[MonkeyPox]

Those will raise your calcium levels and are fine products.
They won't buffer your pH, however. To do that, I recommend adding crushed coral or aragonite (my preference).

[fishymommy]

So the Seachem Reef complete and crushed coral would be a good combo? Can the coral go in a media bag in my skimmer or does it need to be mixed in with my sand?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Either way will accomplish what you are wanting to do. You are really getting into a rather tricky and very complicated topic with this one. The balance of Calcium, Alkalinity, and Magnesium is not all that easy to explain, but in short, those three levels are all interdependent.