[ahayes]

so i checked my water today and my parameters are

alk 13.3 / ph 8.5
calcium- 450
ammonia- 0
nitrates- 0
salinity- 1.023

so first off i havent added any additives to my tank in a few months. i used to add bionic component 1 and component 2 but havent done it in a few months. but things seemed a little high so i quit adding.
so my question is how is that my calcium and alk still stay at the levels that they do and stay on the high end even though i dont add anything to the tank???? has my tank just balanced itself out and is just staying at those levels. the balance between fish/rock/corals. ??? just wondering how they can be staying at those levels even though i dont add anything anymore. ???

any thoughts are appreciated.

[unclejed]

Sounds to me as if you have fish and live rock? If nothing is consuming the Calcium then your salt is keeping things as is. Your Numbers are good. Alk is a tad high but nothing to worry about. Leave it alone, you are o.k.

[Roady]

Originally Posted by unclejed

Sounds to me as if you have fish and live rock? If nothing is consuming the Calcium then your salt is keeping things as is. Your Numbers are good. Alk is a tad high but nothing to worry about. Leave it alone, you are o.k.

just test every other day or so to see how your levels are doing and add supplements as needed.

[ahayes]

unclejed---

well i do but i just have softies mainly. i have zoos, gorgonia, mushrooms, sponges. and if i am correct? i think these also use up calcium. i was just wondering that if im not adding anything to the tank why it is that the alk/calcium dont go down any???

i know many people always have to keep trying to keep their alk and calcium up. so i was just wondering why it is that mine just stays up??? lol. does that make sense???

amanda

[WILLIAM1]

In some cases the calcium is depleating at a very slow rate give it a few weeks even a month. You would have to have a huge colony of zoas and other softies. The 2 part is great I used it for a year or so with no problems. How much where you adding? daily, weekly you probly could do once a week or so.

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by ahayes

unclejed---

well i do but i just have softies mainly. i have zoos, gorgonia, mushrooms, sponges. and if i am correct? i think these also use up calcium. i was just wondering that if im not adding anything to the tank why it is that the alk/calcium dont go down any???

i know many people always have to keep trying to keep their alk and calcium up. so i was just wondering why it is that mine just stays up??? lol. does that make sense???

amanda

Nothing you mention uses calcium.

[unclejed]

Sorry Amanda, I forgot to view your stats in your profile. What type salt do you use and are you using RO or RO/DI water to mix? How often are you doing your water changes? My hunch is you do weekly changes and your mix is causing things to stay at the levels you mention.

[ahayes]

okay lets see i was using the component a and b daily. not much but daily. then realized things were a tad high so i quit using it all together, since all my readings were okay. so i havent used it in probalby 3 months. but i keep up with my parameters so if need be at some point i will go back to using it.

as far as things using calcium, i didnt know that none of the softies i had didnt use calcium. ???

and my water i do biweekly water changes. i use ro water that i get from my lfs.

thanks for the input everyone.

---amanda

[jimw369]

Originally Posted by ahayes

okay lets see i was using the component a and b daily. not much but daily. then realized things were a tad high so i quit using it all together, since all my readings were okay. so i havent used it in probalby 3 months. but i keep up with my parameters so if need be at some point i will go back to using it.

as far as things using calcium, i didnt know that none of the softies i had didnt use calcium. ???

and my water i do biweekly water changes. i use ro water that i get from my lfs.

thanks for the input everyone.

---amanda

Things like clams, LPS, SPS, even snails use up Ca. Anything without a skeleton does not use Ca in any noticable amounts.

Other than that Coraline algae would be the biggest consumer of Ca. If you have a lot of that coming on your LR that can eat up your Ca.

Good luck with the tank.

[dinor2]

Well, this is sort of on topic but, that got me thinking about the corraline... I've been dosing kalk at night for the last couple of months and my tank is pretty much bursting with coralline, looks great! I don't have more than three types of corals but anyways, I have another algae bloom in my tank now and I'm starting to wonder if it's because my calcium is lower than normal, haven't tested in a while, I should do that! Curious...

[dinor2]

Ok, my calcium was thru the roof too high, so, doing small water changes every other day to help lower the level and stopped topping at night with kalk, using fresh ro/di water. Monitoring the calc and it's slowly coming down, my poor corals! They're doing ok though, I hate to say it but, let this be an example to others about how important testing is! Especially if you're dosing anything in your tank... I've learned my lesson!