Description
Red Sea’s Reef Foundation A Calcium is a high quality powdered buffer.
It contains blended salts of calcium and strontium in the ratio required by corals to grow healthily.
Balanced formation of coral skeleton
Reef Foundation A is designed with the reef aquarium in mind. Calcium, magnesium, strontium and carbonate are the basic foundation elements of coral skeletons. All of these elements need to be available in balanced proportions for positive coral health and growth. Therefore all these elements are absolutely essential for healthy corals and good coral growth. Maintaining calcium in an aquarium is hugely important. Incorrect levels, as well as wild or frequent fluctuations in these important minerals, can have some seriously negative effects on your aquariums inhabitants. In reef aquariums corals and invertebrates rely on stable calcium levels for their health and growth and can be very sensitive to fluctuations or general lack of these essential minerals. Calcium is even important for fish, allowing them to grow their bone structure too.
What should my calcium level be?
You should always aim to keep your calcium level above 400ppm. Red Sea Recipes recommend parameters between 410ppm – 465ppm depending on which type of reef aquarium you have. Coral colouration will be better when the calcium level is kept to the lower end (around 410 – 430ppm). However, coral growth will be better if you keep the calcium to the higher end (430 – 465ppm). In an aquarium, it is important to keep the right balance between the foundation elements to achieve healthy coral growth.
The foundation elements are the essential building blocks of coral skeleton. If they are not available in the correct ratios, one of them will quickly become a limiting factor. Over 90% of coral skeleton is comprised of calcium carbonate, which is made by combining calcium and carbonate ions from the water. This combination can form a strong crystal structure known as aragonite or a more brittle crystal structure known as calcite. In unbalanced conditions (eg. where there are relatively low levels of magnesium) the skeleton will develop with a higher proportion of calcite. This would make a coral more brittle and more susceptible to damage.
Ideally test the aquarium’s calcium level at least once a week. If your calcium level is not correct it is worth measuring the salinity with a reliable salinity meter. If your salt level is too low, you may see that the calcium is also low and if the salinity is too high, you may see a high calcium reading.
The key to a heathy aquarium is stability
Whatever calcium level you decide to run your system at, try to keep it consistent. Swings in the foundation levels are stressful to aquarium livestock. Regular testing is a must to ensure correct dosage and to allow you to get to know your aquariums requirements. we recommend using the Salifert calcium test kit at least once a week. Red Sea’s Reef foundation A Calcium is part of the Red Sea Reef Care range. All of the Red Sea’s Reef Care Recipes use it. For best results, use in conjunction Reef foundation B (KH) and Reef Foundations C (Magnesium) to ensure a healthy and balanced aquarium. You can learn more about the Red Sea Care program by clicking here. Reef Foundation A can also be used as a standalone calcium buffer for marine aquariums.
Powder supplement: 1g will raise the calcium level of 100 litres (25 gal) by 3.6ppm.
Learn more about why to use Reef Foundation A Calcium here:
Click here to see the Reef Foundation B KH Material Safety Data Sheet
