Doug's Reeftank Page 2

REEFTANK CHEMSTRY

Calcium levels can be 350-380 mg/L if you have mainly a soft coral tank but if you want good coralline and stoney coral growth you'll need to maintain 420-450 mg/L and Alkalinity of 9 dKH or 2.5 meg/L.. 2. Don't allow your Magnesium to fall below 800 mg/L or you'll have problems maintaining the proper Calcium levels.. Low magnesium levels have also been associated with a declining dKH and PH.. 3. Alkalinity should be held at 7 to 10 dKH.. It has been my experience that Alkalinity above 11 dKH will cause premature failure of powerheads and internal plumbing calcification.. A dKH below 7 will certainly be followed by a drop in the PH.. 4. Keeping your Phosphate levels low will allow the growth of coralline algae while depriving the undesirable algae of one of their essential nutrients.. 5. Nitrates are much less of a problem than many reef keepers have thought in the past and are actually required (1-3 ppm) by some clams.. However, nitrates should be kept to a minimum as a part of good maintainance.. 6. Start a new reef tank with RO (Reverse Osmosis) or DI (DeIonized) water to reduce the risk of excess diatoms and algal blooms.. Be aware that RO and DI water are both Calcium and Magnesium depleted so, use a good quality salt mix like Tropic Marin or Instant Ocean.. 7. Your reef tank temperature stablilty is more important than the actual temp.. My tanks range 80-82f during the summer months and 78-80f the rest of the year.. A stable temp (within 2 degrees) is not necessarily a problem but a temp swing of more than that and you should add a fan for circulation or consider a chiller..