online livestock buying...

[dadstank]

the tank is a 55 gallon with loads of places for him to hide. the others eventually left it alone after a while... i don't have anywhere to hold the fish in quarantine other than a bucket. i let him swim in there for about an hour while i slowly dripped in tank water.

the calcium level in my tank is 345. i had it up around 380, then the next day it was back down. i don't get it. why will it not stay? i know my father used to mix a scoop of bio-calcium (in a blue container, i am at work and don't know who makes it) with a quart of water when he topped off the sump. since it is SO dry in my apartment i am running through about a gallon every two/three days of evaparation. i thought the buffer was when i added ro water (which i am carring into the city from my mom's house in jersey...) without salt? i also thought the buffer had to do with Ph, not Ca?

the feather dusters are looking great. they have been bloomed since i laid them down. so my fingers are crossed as tight as possible....

anyother suggestions will never be disregarded. sometimes we all need someone to tell us to sit down and relax.... something i forget to do........

thanks for the reminder!

 

[Mihai]

Well, quite a bit of things going on:

1 - you're confusing quarantine (a 3-4 week process) with acclimatization. They are not interchangeable... read about quarantine here: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004- ... /index.htm

2 - there is no way your calcium would vary that much in one day: you have a bad calcium test. Seachem is well known and trusted.

3 - I'm not sure what's in the blue container, but if it is Ca(OH)2, i.e., calcium hydroxide, then you're OK, as that takes care both of the Ca as well as alkalinity (OH). It's true that pH and Alk are related, the point is that when creatures use Ca, they also use Alk in the same proportion (they combine them in calcium carbonate), hence, if your calcium is low, your alkalinity is also low (lower in fact, as there is less Alk reserve in the water than calcium).

4 - if the blue container has Ca(OH)2, you're making what is called kalkwasser - this is known to raise the pH temporarily, so it's better if you can drip it instead of dumping it in the sump. A sudden peak in pH would stress many invertebrates a lot.

5 - do you have stony corals (aka SPSs)? If you don't, you probably don't need lots of Ca additives.

6 - if you want to be serious about this, spend the $30 or so on Fenner's book - othewise you're sure to spend many times over this sum in livestock and eventually leave the hobby out of frustration. There are lots of things to learn about marine aquariums and those forums are not the best place to learn. A book is the best way to start and only then come back to these boards with specific questions and looking for advice. Also read the two excellent online magazines (Advanced Aquarist and Reefkeeping Magazine), also after the book.

M.

 

[m-fine]

If your PH is too high your calcium will precipitate out and it can drop 100 or more in a day. Calcium Alk and PH are all interrelated becasue they are a balence of different ratios of the same components.

The ironic thing about Kalkwasser is if you add it to raise your calcium but add to much/too fast you will end up lowering your calcium, possibly drastically. Back when I was still using the crap, my drip bucket got knocked into the sump once, and the calcium precipitating out of the water turned sections of my gravel into rock! Hmm that gives me an idea of what to do with the old Kalkwasser I have

I personally recommend newbies (and anyone else really) avoid kalkwasser like the plaugue. Either spend upfront for a calcium reacter and not worry about Ca or Alk, or buy the B-ionic 2 part calcium and buffer liquid stuff which is a lot closer to fool proof then Kalk is.

m-fine

 

[Mihai]

Sure, if it precipitates you can lose lots of Ca fast, but I assume you'd have noticed if your water became like milk all of a sudden .

So, the corrected statement is "Unless your Ca precipitated, there is no way your calcium would vary that much in one day."

Regarding Kalkwasser, I don't use it myself, but I didn't hear of major problems as long as you are careful with it (just don't knock your drip bucket in the sump) .

I favor homemade two part additives myself.
M.

 

[Jolieve]

I disagree. I don't use seachem anything in my tanks.

I also believe that it was more likely that he was misreading the test kit, than it is that the kit itself is bad. Salifert test kits please. No test kit is perfect, but salifert tests are easy to perform and VERY easy to read the results of.

Doesn't do you any good to have a test kit that's so hard to read, that you can't tell what it's saying.

J.

 

[Jolieve]

Oh.. and I agree, 2 part additives are best when you're starting out.

J.

 

[Anonymous]

It's true that pH and Alk are related, the point is that when creatures use Ca, they also use Alk in the same proportion (they combine them in calcium carbonate), hence, if your calcium is low, your alkalinity is also low (lower in fact, as there is less Alk reserve in the water than calcium).

I'm not sure how something "uses" Alkalinity. Alkalinity is just a measure of the buffering capacity of the water, it's not a tangible substance.

 

[Mihai]

I disagree. I don't use seachem anything in my tanks.
J.

That is so true. I did mean Salifert (what I use) but apparently I was unable to remember the right brand (I wrote the answer at work when I didn't have the tests handy). So.... Salifert it is!

I'm not sure how something "uses" Alkalinity. Alkalinity is just a measure of the buffering capacity of the water, it's not a tangible substance.

Au contraire! It is true that is the measure of the buffering capacity. However, there is a substance does neutralize the acidity. That substance in seawater is bicarbonate and carbonate. See the details here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... mistry.htm

M.

 

[Anonymous]

Au contraire! It is true that is the measure of the buffering capacity. However, there is a substance does neutralize the acidity. That substance in seawater is bicarbonate and carbonate. See the details here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/ ... mistry.htm

I gotcha. Carbonate and bicarbonate do get used which will effect alkalinity. Jyst being a semantics nazi.

 

[Mihai]

You were "technically" correct. I was "essentially" correct. Basically we're both correct .

M.

 

[K9coral]

Someone HAS to be wrong! :wink:

 

[Bojangles]

I've only bought once...kind of a tester order of sorts from www.petsolutions.com

I bought some of everything from fish to corals to inverts and everything I had gotten looked great. I did lose one of the clownfish in the qt for no apparent reason during wk 2, but the corals were super and the crabs came in decent shape, kinda blah coloration, drastically varying sizes.

One thing I will say is when you order something make sure to look at the size. If you are ordering a Small coral...it will come SMALL! Mine came on 1/5 lb LR

 

[Ben1]

Tropic Marin Bio-calcium is what you father was using, it is a decent product. I perfer salifert test kits and use the salifert coral CA in ym smaller tank to maintan CA at 450 ppm, this tank also uses a kalkreactor.

5 - do you have stony corals (aka SPSs)? If you don't, you probably don't need lots of Ca additives

Clams will also suck down CA very fast, more so IMO then most SPS. If you cant mantain your CA/ALK level correctly also check your Mg.

 

[Mihai]

Someone HAS to be wrong! :wink:

You are correct as well .

M.

 

[K9coral]