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Get the Seachem Equilibrium would be a better choice since it adds both Ca/Mg and loads of other stuff like K and Fe (folks seem to love this).
Regards
Peter Gwee
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
Has anyone used this b4?? i'm considering dosing some and i was wondering if there was any reccomendations on brands and such out there in the market now?? and if so where can i get it?
Thanks guys/.
Get the Seachem Equilibrium would be a better choice since it adds both Ca/Mg and loads of other stuff like K and Fe (folks seem to love this).
Regards
Peter Gwee
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
the reason why i dont use seachem equi is because it adds other stuff.. i especially dont like the K that it adds..
know anything else to use peter?? can i use those for saltwater aquariums ah??
Noticed you mentioned liquid calcium... why liquid, can you use other source of calcium like coral chips etc... ?Originally Posted by ranmasatome
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
Coral chips add other stuff.. and i cant really control how much i add to the water.. its in there and it gives out as much as it wants..i dont have much control of it..
Why is K an issue?
Regards
Peter Gwee
Er, I guess those for saltwater ones can be used, no reason to harm your tank in any way. It's probably just a calcium compound mix.
How come you don't like the potassium? It should be okay.
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
well..my tank has enough potassium already..i know more probably wont hurt but i am at a rate of about 40ppm of no3 per week, that gives me about 27-30ppm of K when i dose the Kno3. Seachem equilibrium is quite concentrated with K.. much more than it contains calcium...so adding more K just doesn't sound good to me..
i want to test and see if calcium is the one affecting the growth and at which levels it works best for my tank and having the VERY high EXTRA K there will only complicate this experiment...so thats why i looking for liqiud calcium..
Don't bother, its not the issue here. If you do EI on the rich side, its CO2 95% of the time.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Yeah, don't bother with the Ca. I have a bottle that is not even open.
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
Co2?? but i have been checking on that too...andit seems like its not the culprit.. when i first measured the co2 it was 72ppm.. 3kh and 6..1ph. Even then i increased it some more since the fish seem okay.. and still my plants are all weird.. thats why i dont think its co2..Don't bother, its not the issue here. If you do EI on the rich side, its CO2 95% of the time.
Regards
Peter Gweei also noticed that fish ocassionally come to the surface now..so i dont really want to increase it anymore. The tank is bubbling like crazy after 5hrs of light.. so now i just started on dosing reef calcium from seachem.. i dont think this is the issue as well but this is just to quell my own personal doubts..
Increased iron dramatically as well... see what happens loh..
Do you have surface movement on that tank? Get some going if you don't.(just good movement of the surface water and not ripples.) You can back off the last safe rate if your fish start to gasp or breathe harder. If you have covered all your bases (nutrients, light and CO2), all that is needed is just time for the plants to get going again. The new CO2 gas + dissolved CO2 at 30ppm method will further improve things.Co2?? but i have been checking on that too...andit seems like its not the culprit.. when i first measured the co2 it was 72ppm.. 3kh and 6..1ph. Even then i increased it some more since the fish seem okay.. and still my plants are all weird.. thats why i dont think its co2..
Increased iron dramatically as well... see what happens loh..
Do not pay so much attention to the pH/KH measurements and focus more on the plants/critter behaviour. As long as the rate of CO2 injection remains stable after being set, you are fine.
Regards
Peter Gwee
Yippie!! Reptiles and Fishies!
thanks Peter,
I've left it as it is..and will continue this regime and see what happens.. at least the new growth on the pantanal seems to take to the tank now so im hoping hings will work out.
Also i do have some surface movement... got 4 12v fans blowing at a 45 degree angle on the water.. its not giant ripples but movement like you said..
How about Calcium pill? Get the cheapest one from Guardian phmacy. They are CaCO3 in 600mg pill. The added vitamin D in it won't do any harm. Just pound it into powder and mix in warm water you get a milky solution. Add little each day. If add too much in one go will cloud the water - due to suspended CaCO3 particles. Your tank with high CO2 will dissolve it (water will clear up). Do a search in FINS will find the dosage guide.
I did a search in The Krib FAQ, a pioneer named George Booth did a test back in 1998 on Ca, Mg and CO3 uptake in tanks. He found that a high growth tank consume Ca at about 6mg/l per week and low-average growth tank only consume Ca at 1.2mg/l. He was surprised the lower rate than most people would have thought.
Crushed egg shells and washed sea shells are free.
Egg shells contain magnesium too.
May be I should share this finding :
Actually I often dose CaCO3 pill (bought from Gurdian Phamacy) - pound to powder and pre-mix with the PMDD.
I donot like the egg shell or filtering thru seashell method as I prefer to administer a known ppm of Ca each time.
Then one day I bought a Ca test kit and test the tank water and the tap water, found that the tap water has already around 20ppm Ca. Then from the net I read George Booth's finding of the calcium consumption of plant (6mg/wk the most). So if I upkeep the water change I should not be worrying about Ca deficency.
After all, dosing CaCO3 will cloud the water and took a few days to clear up.
Upated 24 May 06 :
- I now switch to using Seachem Equilibrium, 1/4 tsp to 80 liter once a week after water change. GH kept around 5.
I find this much easy to manage than seperately dosing CaCO3 and MgSO4.
Although I mentioned George Booth's finding above, but on the safe side I guess 1/4 tsp a week do no harm.
Last edited by dc88; 24th May 2006 at 21:46.
that's what i am using currently. my water in the other tank is still very soft, around 2 KH only. Using a DIY CO2 with ceramic diffuser, but PH nvr reach low enough to 6. probably due to the photosynthesis going on. but just worried about any extreme PH swings at night. Not a problem really, so simply place some egg shells. No hurry to change anything drastic.
Hi Kev0055
If your purpose is to buffer the water against PH crash due to CO2 injection, why not consider adding baking soda ? You get more precise control.
Every teaspoon (5ml) to a 100 liter of water give around 2 degree KH.
Rgds
DC
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