Calcium and alk

Mpdan

Premium member
Tested water yesterday Calcium 400 and dkh 4. I had some salt mixed up and tested that Calcium 420 dkh 7. I did a water change this morning, 5 gallons weekly 28 gallon tank, now readings are Calcium 400 dkh 5. Should I start dosing? I have been seeing decent growth in the tank, but the dkh is scaring me a bit.

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I'd encourage you to investigate kalkwasser (I use it via ATO). It's the easiest way to dose, and unless you have a larger tank, or significant amounts of SPS growth, it is typically "enough".
 
What are you using to test? Is the test kit good? How do your coral look?
API test kit. I tested it 3x same results. Had it tested at lfs yesterday and he said calcium was 380 dkh was 4-5. Corals are looking good

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What kit did the store test your water with? There's no way your dkh was at 4; your rock and sand would be dissolving to try to balance out the carbonate buffer system in your tank.
 
I don't know what kit they used. I guess I will be picking up another kit today.

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If you decide to buy another tester, I've had good luck with my Hanna alk checker, very consistent and super quick.
Matches nicely with Red Sea Pro but a fraction of the time to test.
I'm also not seeing variations between lots of the reagent, which is indication to me of quality manufacturing of their chemicals.
Good luck!
 
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