Maintaining calcium Level

[Patrick]

According to one LFS in Balestier, there is this arogonite (spelling maybe wrong) chips which is better than coral chips to help maintain Calcium level. It is said to dissolved slowly in water. Whereas coral chips will not and turn dirty. It is quite expensive. Wonder if any bros have used it before. Konw CR is the ultimate but decided not to keep SPS so wont be geting it. Any opinions and advice are welcome. Thanks!

[chewytang]

Currently using argonite sand, have been using it for the past few years in my set ups for my tanks..expensive yes..but an added value to the calcium...but you would still need to top up your calcium where & when necessary....

[jervismun]

Currently using argonite sand, have been using it for the past few years in my set ups for my tanks..expensive yes..but an added value to the calcium...but you would still need to top up your calcium where & when necessary....

So you use argonite instead of normal sand for your sand bed? How much does it costs?

[hammy]

just bought this Reef advantage calcium from seachem . instant solubility and love it very much . cheap way to raise calcium.

alternatively i dose Kalk .

cheaper because i am not into SPS too

[bawater]

According to one LFS in Balestier, there is this arogonite (spelling maybe wrong) chips which is better than coral chips to help maintain Calcium level. It is said to dissolved slowly in water. Whereas coral chips will not and turn dirty. It is quite expensive. Wonder if any bros have used it before. Konw CR is the ultimate but decided not to keep SPS so wont be geting it. Any opinions and advice are welcome. Thanks!

Hi Patrick,

aragonite can be used as a substrate to help buffer pH & calcium but you will need to go with a DSB(deep sand bed) to actually benefit from it.

If aragonite(which is calcium carbonate) dissolves in regular seawater,there won't be any hard corals on earth or liverocks for that matter.

Aragonite starts to dissolve at pH 7.5 or so - but our tanks are kept at pH 8+.

In order to get this low pH environment you will need to have a thick enough sand bed where organics break down and lower pH enough. For this to work it needs to be deep enough and usually DSB's start at around 5-6"(inch) depths.

The dissolving rate is also very slow.

Coral chips will also do the same to a certain extent but you need grade #0 or #1, too big and they won't produce the environment you need.

*The 1st generation of calcium reactors actually used coral chips as media.*

(it is also why freshwater African chiclids owners use them as buffers in their tank as they keep their water pH around 5.5-7.5).

If you keep LPS and maybe 1 or 2 small sps colonies - regular water changes of 10%, kalkwasser in water top off and/or calcium additives will suffice.

The most important part of all this is a Calcium Test Kit and a KH Test Kit.

Take a test at a certain time of day (e.g 9pm), take another test 24hrs later (next day 9pm). You get your daily consumption,or do the test a week apart if its very low.

From here you will be able to choose your needed tool according to your volume.

you can replenish up to 15-20ppm per day in kalk water alone depending on evaporation and tank volume, or just boost up by 50ppm weekly from additives.

But what you need for sure is a KH additive(Alkalinity buffer) as a standby. It will be needed on occasions to buffer the water.

Regards

[Patrick]

Thanks bro bawater. Your explanation is so clear and concise. Love it. You can write a book!

[Tigger]

It not a neccessary to have. If yr Ca up take is really that much, u might as well invest in a CR. Else normal topping up limewater or Ca additives shold does it