Cal/Mag/Alk Where to start?

[Magma]

Now that I have started to add a few SPS frags to my tank im wondering about checking Cal levels and how to go about raising them. I want it as simple and as easy as possible.

I have never checked or dosed for Cal before, I do my water changes and have always had some good growth on my corals (mind you it has been slower than people who dose and keep up with it).

Little info on the tank:
Approx 180gal water volume
Run Carbon and GFO through BRS Dual Media reactor
SWC 160 Skimmer
LED Lights
IO Salt (Not reef, just regular with purple lid, I plan to switch back to IO Reef at Christmas when it goes on sale)

Water Changes every 3-4 weeks (aprox 30gal of water)


Coral growth so far:
Zoas, Colt Coral, Acans, Mushrooms, Frogspawn all have shown noticeable growth within the few months of setup.

SPS growth/Change
Birdsnest went from Brown to greenish on the flesh, not much for polyp extension
Red Millie has gone from white to brownish green with visible polyp extension and starting to encrust the plug its mounted on
Pink poccillopora(I believe) has kept its pinkish tone, started to encrust the plugs and has very visible polyp extension.


I tried a cheap API Calcium test when I started in the hobby and to be honest it never worked, I think I ended up adding 60 drops of the stuff to the vial and the coral never changed. This kind of soured me on trying to keep it all in check, instead I just kept up with water changes and never had SPS corals.

So when starting out what you recommend for a beginner in this area, what kits to use for testing, whats the simplest solution for me all the while keeping it cost effective as I have a newborn which takes a lot of my tank time.


Thanks for any help/advice you can offer

[Aquattro]

For now, frags won't take much Ca at all, so regular water changes will be enough, although IO is a bit low out of the box so you might want to add a bit of Ca (I use seachem) to your new water. Get a better kit, I like Elos or Salifert, and once the water changes don't keep up, you can start thinking about adding Ca/alk. But you should be good for a while yet. Best way to tell is get a reading after your water change and another just before the next one. See what the difference is. As long as you're above 380ppm, you're fine.

[Magma]

Each SPS frag is probably 4-5" and I have 3 different Frog spawns growing now (a few heads broke off when I moved the main colony to the new tank)

Also trying to accelerate the coralline algae growth a little bit.

[Aquattro]

Each SPS frag is probably 4-5" and I have 3 different Frog spawns growing now

Still probably ok with water changes. Best way though is to measure your consumption between water changes. Then you know exactly what/if you need to supplement. One you know if, you'll know how much and then better be able to determine the best "how".

[Magma]

Guess I shall look into test kits which wont break the bank yet are better than API since those dont seem to work for me.

[Aquattro]

Try Elos or Salifert. Once you get a handle on levels, you won't have to test all the time. My Ca kit is well over a year old and has 80% left.