Could my recent coralline surge be effecting my parameters?

[Solarfall]

My coralline started taking off a few days ago. My Hydor Ks and overflow box is getting covered really fast and I'm seeing some of my ugly rocks turn purple/maroon. That's awsome and everything, but I've noticed my Calcium and DKH sinking rapidly.

Normally my calc is around 450-500 ppm without dosing, ever. I checked it just a few days ago and it was down to 400, so I dosed a little. I checked again today, and it was at like 350, so I dosed a lot.

My DKH was at a constant 11, last test being about a week ago. I checked today and it's between 7 and 8. I guess I'll have to get a buffer for it, but would the coralline be effecting it that much if at all?

I also have a lot more corals in there since the frag swap. I have 2 small SPS frags and a total of 3 LPS corals in there. But not what I would think to use that much calcium in such short order.

Anyone have an answer? I'm afraid I'll come home from work tomorrow and my DKH will be down to some heinous level and kill everything,

 

[Ted]

Coraline, sps and lps all use calcium. So ya that sounds about right. How often are you doing water changes? I think if you are dosing it would be better to dose small amount every day rather then big amounts once a week.

 

[yote]

+1 Ted
Coralline will suck the calcium and carbonate/bicarbonate right out of the water and do it pretty dang quick.Thats why I test my parameters daily (when work allows) and dose accordingly.
Teds also right about dosing.Dose small amounts daily instead of a big dose once a week.Stability is the key when it comes to a reef tank.
Also,instead of spending money on buffer,pick up a box of baking soda and bake it at 400 degrees for an hour.Then use this calculator to figure the dose.
Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[Solarfall]

Alright, I did the baking soda thing and used half the reccomended dosage. Alk went up to 10, so that's good. I'm using that crappy Kent calcium buffer and it's barely putting a dent in my calc deficiency, what would you guys reccomend for a calcium buffer?

Oh and Ted, I do about a 15% water change at least weekly, I keep my nitrates between 1 and 2 ppm just for my Maxima Clam's sake so I don't think I'm lagging on PWCs. I'm about to test my mixed RO water for calcium just out of curiousity.

 

[Melosu58]

Instead of dosing why dont you do some frequent PWC`s. Better for the tank. Replenishes trace elements and dilutes excessive nutrients.

 

[Ted]

Alright, I did the baking soda thing and used half the reccomended dosage. Alk went up to 10, so that's good. I'm using that crappy Kent calcium buffer and it's barely putting a dent in my calc deficiency, what would you guys reccomend for a calcium buffer?

Oh and Ted, I do about a 15% water change at least weekly, I keep my nitrates between 1 and 2 ppm just for my Maxima Clam's sake so I don't think I'm lagging on PWCs. I'm about to test my mixed RO water for calcium just out of curiousity.

Cool I know a lot of people get lax on water changes. What kinda of salt are you using?

 

[Solarfall]

Instant Ocean

 

[Ted]

I used instant ocean for almost 10 years when I was doing a fowlr its a good salt in my opion. I went to reef crystals when I switched to doing reefs. Mainly I did that becasue of the added calcium in that mix. I have been happy with it so far.

 

[sen5241b]

I used instant ocean for almost 10 years when I was doing a fowlr its a good salt in my opion. I went to reef crystals when I switched to doing reefs. Mainly I did that becasue of the added calcium in that mix. I have been happy with it so far.

Do you still have to dose???

 

[project5k]

i was adding about a half a cap full of purple up to my sump each evening, and my purple population just exploded after about a week of that... so did my algae tho, so i've stopped that till i can get the algae under control...

 

[Ted]

Do you still have to dose???

no I just do weekly water changes.

 

[tankedchemist]

I used to use instant ocean, but noticed the same issue-- calcium and dkh dropping. I hate dosing because I'm never home consistently enough. but when I changed to red sea coral pro salt, I stopped having that problem. i just do one 10% change a week, and never see the alk or cal drop.

 

[Solarfall]

At the advice of my employer I started dosing B-Ionic and it's working really well.
Thinking about switching to crystal reef salt too though because it's only a few bucks more and has a ton more calc/DKH buffers.