Calcium question

[matroxD]

Hello all, I have a question on my new little ten gallon reef(not quite a reef as of yet).

I tested my h20 this morning and recieved a calcium level of 290 with a seachem reef status calcium test. I am using instant ocean, no additives(until I tested this and I added some Kent Liquid Calcium afterwards), an Aquaclear 30 with only the carbon, sponge and some Pura Phoslock. I am using R/O water(produced by a Kent marine unit w/add on DI cart)and TDS reading of 0 from the resulting water. I have 11 lbs of live rock, 4 lbs of live sand and a powerhead also turning the water over. SG is 1.024 and the temp is 78 degrees.

I actually am wondering what you all would recommend to get the calcium level up whether it is Reef Calcium Advantage or Turbo Calcium. I have added the Kent Liquid as mentioned above about an hour ago, tested the water and see no increase in the calcium level whatsoever. I know the calcium test is not bad because I tested the reference that came with the test, and it is spot on. I am wondering if there is some inability for the seachem test to read the added Kent calcium as absurd as that may sound. Also, my gravelbed is Carib Sea aragonite according to what I was told(I didn't buy a full bag this time), so shouldn't my calcium levels be higher without the additional dosing? I have used Seachem before with great/explosive results(Reef Builder and Reef Calcium Advantage), but I was attempting to go natural this time around.

Any help is most appreciated, thanks

D

 

[Anonymous]

In a small tank I would use something like B-Ionic.

 

[matroxD]

Thanks for the reply. I got the calcium level up higher yesterday and am trying to wait it out with the hair algea. The funny thing is that I didn't experience this before adding this "megawatt" light. I am thinking that for this tank till it cycles I may just put my 36 watt 50/50 back on there and then when I begin adding corals I may throw the 96 watter back on there. What do you think? I would like to really encourage the coralline growth and I don't believe with all of this light that I am going to be able to do it, or do you think it's just the cycling causing the hair algea growth?

Once again any help is greatly appreciated.

D

 

[ChrisRD]

IME starting the tank at a bit of a lower light level can help with both issues (ie. keeping hair algae at bay and encouraging coralline growth). IMO it's not a bad idea...

 

[matroxD]

Ok, thanks Chris.

I was am actually getting a bit down about the situation because it seems no matter what I do the crazy hair algea is being stubborn. Maybe I will take the light back and purchase a skimmer or something. I am not sure, and to be honest I cannot remember what I did before to avoid having this issue. One thing that I did not do this time is to run/setup a plenum below my gravel bed. I forgot to purchase the eggcrate and screening and didn't realize it until I had everything in the tank. Can this be making that much of a difference? Because I know for a fact that though I did not have this much light on the tank(the 9.6 watts per gallon, I was running a 5 gallon with 36watts of light previously), I never had any blooms whatsoever, but then again also, I was running a prism skimmer.

I am just a bit confused now as how to proceed. Hmmmnnn.... Any more suggestions?

 

[ChrisRD]

IMO the plenum (or lack thereof) is not a significant factor with regard to the hair algae issue. HA is mostly fueled by phosphates and if this is a newer tank with fairly new rock/sand it's pretty normal to see a hair algae outbreak in the early stages (die-off in/on the live rock/sand provides the phosphates that get it started). I'd pull out whatever you can reach by hand and do regular large water changes to help keep nutrient levels down until the tank matures a bit.

 

[matroxD]

Ok, and thanks again Chris. I actually took the light back and now hav emy littel 36 watt pc residing on the tank. I picked up a small bag of Purigen and some PurpleUp. I removed the carbon from the Aquaclear and replaced it with the Purigen. One thing I am wondering now is about the phosphate remover that the LFS sent to me because this is the first time I have used it. I probably simply need to go and purchase a phosphate test kit once again to actually test the phosphates and I probably will either today or tomorrow. However, your advice is exactly what the guy at the fish/reef store advised me in regards to patience and this is what I am going to do.

I have a Sunlight Supply 100 watt MH that I can use if/when I stabilize my tank/reef that will allow me to do SPS if I ever get there, so I am not at all upset about taking the light back. The one thing that concerns me about this lamp is that it is a horticultural light, and the spectrum if I remember is in the 6500K area. So I am not sure..

I recieved my reagent for my Alkalinity test(Seachem, and I love them for sending out new reagent since mine had dried out. They are the best for this in my experience for thier test kits!) and I have a total alkalinity of 4.5 with a borate of 2.0. I am not 100 on the borate simply because the reagent for the total is as I saw a little dried out as I saw, and I believe that I need more reagent for this test also. However, the total is accurate because I tested this 3 times to be on the safe side.

One thing that I did do on accident with the Purpleup is drivoe the calcium level to 610. It was at 425 alone with the Reef Advantage Calcium and I called myself dosing only a small amount with a syringe, but that solution obviously is stronger that I thought. I may do a water change simply to bring the calcium level down, but at the same time, I don't want to upset the tank any more than it has been, so I may deal with the high calcium level for now and just add my R/O topoff and hopefully the animals will in some way begin to use the calcium, but I doubt it. But at this point, I am a bit tired so, I am just going to relax with it and go on.

However, thank you very much Chris for the advice and I am going to follow it and simply run the Purigen and Phos remover(I am honestly thinking about going to pick up some Phosguard since I really am familiar and love the product) along with the sponge in the Aquaclear while dosing the tank with the Reef Calcium Advantage, Reef Builder, and Purple Up. Hopefully this will allow the tank to begin sprouting coralline in a month or so. On a positive side note, I noticed today that I have "tons" of bugs on the glass, more than I have ever had, so I am thrilled about that.

Ok, sorry for the long post, thanks once again,

D

 

[matroxD]

BTW, I tried to capture some video of the tank, but I had the corder set to widescreen and it looked retarded when I actually attempted to edit it, but I am going to try and learn how to basically upload and stream some video. If I can figure that out, then I will post some video clips.

Thanks again,

D