2 part dosing

Rkempka22 · Mar 18, 2020

When dosing 2 part is it recommended to dose in equal amounts? Currently I dose more alkalinity than calcium. I dose 25 percent less calcium than alkalinity, both are currently stable with DKH at 8.5 and calcium at 440. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

redfishbluefish · Mar 18, 2020

In an ideal world of balanced ionic stoichiometry, equal parts are needed. The reason it is rare that you actually add equal parts is because of the contribution from your salt mix. You are most likely using a salt that has high calc concentration. Continue using your test results to determine dosing amounts.

Sdot · Mar 18, 2020

Rkempka22 said:
When dosing 2 part is it recommended to dose in equal amounts? Currently I dose more alkalinity than calcium. I dose 25 percent less calcium than alkalinity, both are currently stable with DKH at 8.5 and calcium at 440. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Depends on your 2 part or program you are on. I currently use ATI essentials and its designed to dose both parts equally.

Paul J · Mar 25, 2020

Sdot said:
Depends on your 2 part or program you are on. I currently use ATI essentials and its designed to dose both parts equally.

How's that going in regards to using the same amounts?

Rkempka22 · Mar 25, 2020

Paul J said:
How's that going in regards to using the same amounts?

Hey Paul,

Still dosing more Alk than Cal, added 5 new XR15 Blues to the tank and the coral are really coloring up and growing so it’ll be interesting to see if they start pulling more calcium out of the water.

YankeeTankee · Mar 25, 2020

Rkempka22 said:
When dosing 2 part is it recommended to dose in equal amounts? Currently I dose more alkalinity than calcium. I dose 25 percent less calcium than alkalinity, both are currently stable with DKH at 8.5 and calcium at 440. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Yes dose equal amounts, it's normal to see alk move faster than Ca, more fluctuation I mean.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 26, 2020

Rkempka22 said:
Hey Paul,

Still dosing more Alk than Cal, added 5 new XR15 Blues to the tank and the coral are really coloring up and growing so it’ll be interesting to see if they start pulling more calcium out of the water.

Corals do not (cannot) adjust the relative amounts of alk and calcium used. They use 2.8 dKH for each 18-20 ppm of calcium. They may start using more of both, however.

Rkempka22 · Mar 26, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Corals do not (cannot) adjust the relative amounts of alk and calcium used. They use 2.8 dKH for each 18-20 ppm of calcium. They may start using more of both, however.

Randy,

So dose equal amounts because the alk and calcium solutions are proportionately balanced with each other base on how they will be consumed by the coral. Correct?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 26, 2020

Rkempka22 said:
Randy,

So dose equal amounts because the alk and calcium solutions are proportionately balanced with each other base on how they will be consumed by the coral. Correct?

If you are using an additive designed that way (not all are), then that is the best starting point. Dose to maintain alk.

Over time, slowly adjust the calcium up or down if it is getting too high or too low. Do not adjust calcium for daily fluctuations that are likely test error.

But water changes that do not match the tank and some other minor factors can impact the relative demand, and the lower the demand is, the more important those other factors become, so the more off of the specified ratio the demand will become.

Weevo · Mar 27, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
If you are using an additive designed that way (not all are), then that is the best starting point. Dose to maintain alk.

Over time, slowly adjust the calcium up or down if it is getting too high or too low. Do not adjust calcium for daily fluctuations that are likely test error.

But water changes that do not match the tank and some other minor factors can impact the relative demand, and the lower the demand is, the more important those other factors become, so the more off of the specified ratio the demand will become.

Is evs an equal part dosing ? Or can different amounts be added.
Thanks

User1 · Mar 27, 2020

Weevo said:
Is evs an equal part dosing ? Or can different amounts be added.
Thanks

I does a bit more ALK than Ca using ESV 2 part right now. From ESV's web portal FAQ:

Do I have to dose equal amounts of alkalinity and calcium?
It is okay to temporarily dose unequal amounts of alkalinity and calcium until you arrive at your target levels. Once you are at your desired levels, you can go back to dosing equal amounts of each component. The disruption of the ionic balance is insignificant when temporarily altering the component amounts to correct a calcium/alkalinity imbalance. It is possible that it may actually balance ionic ratios better than where they previously were

Weevo · Mar 27, 2020

saf1 said:
I does a bit more ALK than Ca using ESV 2 part right now. From ESV's web portal FAQ:

Do I have to dose equal amounts of alkalinity and calcium?
It is okay to temporarily dose unequal amounts of alkalinity and calcium until you arrive at your target levels. Once you are at your desired levels, you can go back to dosing equal amounts of each component. The disruption of the ionic balance is insignificant when temporarily altering the component amounts to correct a calcium/alkalinity imbalance. It is possible that it may actually balance ionic ratios better than where they previously were

Thank you for that

User1 · Mar 27, 2020

Weevo said:
Thank you for that

You are welcome. I was trying to put a link to their FAQ but their web portal was acting up on my browser. Sorry. You can just hit ESV's portal and at the top there is a FAQ link. I'll say ESV 2 Part is a great product and I've had no problems with it. Mixing the gallon jugs sometimes can be a pain during the colder winter but other than that it is a great product.

My tank is maturing so that is why I was dosing slighting more ALK than Ca. I just checked and I was dosing 36 ml ALK and 33 ml Ca. Not much different really but that seemed to keep my ALK at 8.5 and Ca around 490. Please note that my tank is an upgrade, 210 gallons, and has 150 lbs dry Pukani rock as the base. Starter frags are showing some decent upticks in growth but most of the Ca I'd wager is being consumed by the corrillian algae encrusting on the rocks.

Best of luck!

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 27, 2020

Weevo said:
Is evs an equal part dosing ? Or can different amounts be added.
Thanks

it is designed for equal parts dosing, but it is ok to use a different ratio of long term monitoring suggests a different ratio is better.

Paul J · Mar 28, 2020

Rkempka22 said:
Hey Paul,

Still dosing more Alk than Cal, added 5 new XR15 Blues to the tank and the coral are really coloring up and growing so it’ll be interesting to see if they start pulling more calcium out of the water.

Yes its always that way for me more Alk. I will consider changing the method of dosing materials. The two part l use is the mix of cal and mag and alk and sodium sulphate. Not that it will change the amount of Alk and Mag needed. Alk will no doubt will be needed more than Cal

PeaBrain · Apr 20, 2020

Hopping on here - I find myself dosing 40ml each of alk and ca daily. Keeping alk at 9 and ca at 400. Am I way off or is this typical? 90Gal mixed DT.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Apr 20, 2020

PeaBrain said:
Hopping on here - I find myself dosing 40ml each of alk and ca daily. Keeping alk at 9 and ca at 400. Am I way off or is this typical? 90Gal mixed DT.

What product?