C-ballance & salt

[ANDREA]

HI ..
I am to the point where i have calcium 450alkalinity 3.8 mag 1120 (low) ph 8.4
i am do for a water change
i need to keep using c- ballance two part's from two little fishies every day or slow down for some time ???
and also what is a good salt ??!!
now i am using istan ocean but maybe in the market there is a better salt to use
there is no salt with calcium /alkalinity and othe good staf in it??
thank you one more time:D

 

[Brian_G]

it all looks pretty good other than your mag, which could use a little buffering.

This is how I did it and it seemed to work for me.

-get all your levels where you want to keep them.
-go 1 week without dosing anything.
-check how much everything dropped and divide that by 7 and dose that small amount everyday. dosing everyday reduces stress and keeps your water balanced.
- make sure you still test your water weekly to make sure you dont need to increase or decrease your daily dosage.

-when dosing cal and alk wait a few hours between to prevent precipitation

salt is a story in itself. salt has calcium and alk and mag and all kinds of other things in it already. its just that different salts have different amounts. the best thing to do is test your fresh mix of salt then buffer it to your tanks peram before doing a water change.
I use Instant ocean reef crystals and it works well for me

 

[ANDREA]

there is any salt with out calcium and alk or very low ...
i ask that because when i mix my RO water with the salt if i keep the salinity at 32 ppt or under my calcium and alkalinity are perfect but if i set my salinity at 35 ppt my calcium is good 400 ppm but my alkalinity go up to 4.8m/l or over and i use ken salt
next question is
what is the epsom salt.. maybe i can use that for having my salinity to 35 ppt and mix my ro water with the ken salt to 32 ppt

 

[reeffreak]

Instant Ocean is notorious for low calcium.I'm not sure about alkalinity and magnesium since I never tested IO for those.It wouldn't hurt to try a different brand.Personally,I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro.Calcium,pH,alkalinity and mag is well in the acceptable range.

 

[ccCapt]

HI ..
I am to the point where i have calcium 450alkalinity 3.8 mag 1120 (low) ph 8.4
i am do for a water change
A- i need to keep using c- ballance two part's from two little fishies every day or slow down for some time ???
B- and also what is a good salt ??!!
now i am using istan ocean but maybe in the market there is a better salt to use
there is no salt with calcium /alkalinity and othe good staf in it??
thank you one more time:D

A- You must test everyday or every few days to see what your tank is consuming in regards to calcium and alkalinity. Only testing will tell you how much and/or how often you need to dose.
B- I highly recommend Red Sea salt. I've been using it for well over 15 yrs. A fresh mix at 35 ppt will give you around 400 calcium, 8 dKH alk and 1300 mag. I tried Red Sea Coral Pro and used it for about 2 yrs, but the calcium was a little too high for me (490) and the alk was a little too low (7 dKH).
I tried a 200g mix of the new Instant Ocean recently. I did not like the high alk (11 dKH) but the calcium (400) and mag (1350) are right on. The new Reef Crystals is too high in everything for my liking....490 ca, 13 dKH alk and 1440 mag.

what is the epsom salt.. maybe i can use that for having my salinity to 35 ppt and mix my ro water with the ken salt to 32 ppt

Epsom salt is a magnesium supplement. DO NOT use it to raise your salinity....even tho adding enough will raise it, along with raising your mag. Kent salt generally runs around 1200 mag, so your right in the ballpark of where that salt puts you.