Alk and Calc dosing balance

[PeterEde]

When I first started dosing the difference between additives was only a few ml.
Now the difference is much more

Dosing Randy's Recipe 1 with Reef Anabolics (Aussie brand trace)
my current dosing is:
Alk = 18ml per day maintains Alk at 8
Calc = 8ml per day maintains Calc at 420

PH is 8.2
Mg 1245 last test


My tank is softies/LPS with 2 plating montipora that so far have not shown any growth.

Should these doses be closer to the same?

 

[blaxsun]

Very rarely. Typically you'll find alkalinity consumption is the highest, followed by calcium, magnesium and then the other trace elements.

 

[Lavey29]

Bring your magnesium up and verify your salinity.

 

[PeterEde]

Bring your magnesium up and verify your salinity.

Oddly Mg has just come down from a high of 1600. It was high for a long time and only come down since switching to NSW

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There are a variety of things that mess with the relative demand ratio. Generally these are things that add or remove alkalinity and not calcium, but water changes that do not match the tank is another.

Rising, falling or dosing nitrate (or ammonium chloride) impacts alk, and sulfur denitrators deplete alk.

I don’t see any way magnesium makes a substantial difference.m to the demand ratio.

Thus has more:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[srobertb]

Red Sea premix product: I was dosing 65ml of Alk, to 28ml of Calcium and 0 mag for:

11Alk
450 Ca
1400 mg

10% weekly AWC (24/7 cycle)

Testing is done 4x daily.


My tank was doing well (it sprang a leak last week and I’m trying to pull parameters back to normal).

Point is: I’m not sure the “ratio” is super important. I have giant beautiful Acropora’s and I have to beat the coralline algae off the glass with a stick.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Red Sea premix product: I was dosing 65ml of Alk, to 28ml of Calcium and 0 mag for:

11Alk
450 Ca
1400 mg

10% weekly AWC (24/7 cycle)

Testing is done 4x daily.


My tank was doing well (it sprang a leak last week and I’m trying to pull parameters back to normal).

Point is: I’m not sure the “ratio” is super important. I have giant beautiful Acropora’s and I have to beat the coralline algae off the glass with a stick.

The ratio is not super important.

If you accept all of the numbers as written, water changes will slightly underdose alk relative to calcium, so that may be part of the issue.

 

[srobertb]

The ratio is not super important.

If you accept all of the numbers as written, water changes will slightly underdose alk relative to calcium, so that may be part of the issue.

Absolutely have to believe my salt mix- which I believe has a starting alk of 8, plays a part in all this. I’m sure my dosing would be drastically different if I was trying to “maintain” but in fact I’m actually needing to “boost” certain parameters to my desired level.

 

[PeterEde]

There are a variety of things that mess with the relative demand ratio. Generally these are things that add or remove alkalinity and not calcium, but water changes that do not match the tank is another.

Rising, falling or dosing nitrate (or ammonium chloride) impacts alk, and sulfur denitrators deplete alk.

I don’t see any way magnesium makes a substantial difference.m to the demand ratio.

Thus has more:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

Thanks Randy I did read a number of your papers on this trying to figure it out.
Do I assume there is no real harm as long as the Alk/Calc is in balance?
I have also added Mg to raise it back to 1350 over the next few days.

I didnt have any issues until swapping to NSW. I didn't measure the content before the change. But my local waters are not conducive to corals so dosing is a must

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy I did read a number of your papers on this trying to figure it out.
Do I assume there is no real harm as long as the Alk/Calc is in balance?
I have also added Mg to raise it back to 1350 over the next few days.

I didnt have any issues until swapping to NSW. I didn't measure the content before the change. But my local waters are not conducive to corals so dosing is a must

As long as you keep track of both alk and calcium, dosing unbalanced is fine.

 

[PeterEde]

As long as you keep track of both alk and calcium, dosing unbalanced is fine.

Thanks Randy.
Always appreciate your thoughts.