Why do I so rarely need Calcium?

[Strangelove]

My tank has been up about 4 mos.

90 AGA, 95# LR, 4-6" DSB, multiple polyps, a few fingers, 'shrooms.
Top Fathom 100A skimmer, 4x96w PC's.

I check Ca levels every week. I've only had to add Ca 3 times in 4 months. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Gene

[golfish]

Gene,
How is your coralline algae growing? the corals you have don't use up very much calcium. Have you double checked your levels with another test kit?

Mark

[Strangelove]

Mark,

My coraline is not doing as well as it did initially which I had attributed to my 2 Tuxedo urchins (forgot to mention them). As far as another test goes, I have been thinking about getting one of the Salifert Reef Basic kits. My calcium has gone down a couple of times with my current kit. The LFS mentioned that sometimes calcium will not be accessible to organisms for some reason. They say thay they sometimes have to put a small airstone in the showtank to get the ball rolling. Have you ever heard of that?

[golfish]

I have never heard of that, but then there's lots of things I have never heard of I would double check the levels with another kit. Salifert is about as good as they come for the $$......Its a new system with not much calcium draw but it is nice to have coralline growing.

BTW, what is your calcium level?

Mark

[snoopdog]

My Calcium stayed extremly high for the first 6 months, then within a months time it started dropping. Never had to add anything for the first 6 months, could be something to do with new aragonite. But I would get a second opinion.

[tlc]

you dont have calcium demanding creatures. i did not add ca for 6 months to my tank. i have since added 4 clams and several sps. no my ca gets gobbled up...

[Strangelove]

Thanks for the help, all.

Mark, Ca stays stable at 450.