alk, mag, cal

numsie · Feb 18, 2014

So my 90 reef has been up since May and doing quite well except it seems like my alkalinity is up one week, down the next week, never the sweet spot. It gets tested weekly at my LFS, Sunday the 9th it was 6.4 last Sunday the 16th it jumped to 13.6, Mag was 1410, Cal 430. I dose part A & B with the doser set at 15ml daily. My tank is stocked with lots of zoos, palays, Euphyllia's, montoporias, mushrooms, so lots of soft corals and some hard corals. The only corals I am having issues with are my acans and blasto, just can't find the right spot for them. So I am wondering a few things, is the alkalinity the reason? I also check my PH each week and is always 8.2, also 0 nitrates and 0 phos. Should I invest in something better then part A&B using a doser? I have an Apex Jr, should I be keeping a closer eye on my PH by adding a PH probe? Right now very confused

Any words of wisdom out there? Thanks

NanaReefer · Feb 18, 2014

What is your water change schedule? Could be you don't even need to dose. Nothing much in your tank that's consuming the amount your dosing.

KoleTang · Feb 18, 2014

Sounds like either you dosed too much or you have a bad test kit. You have to be careful with alk, too high or too fast swings will fry your tank.

First thing you need to do is shut off the doser. Check the alk, then raise it by .5 dkH if it is too low. The next day, do the same (no more than .5 per day) until you reach the desired level. Once at the level, wait a day and check the level. By seeing how much it has dropped you have the maintenance dose. This is how much your doser should be adding daily. Keep testing daily to fine tune it. Your maintenance dose will change as you stock more.

Use this to calculate how much to add. 'Reef Chemistry Calculator FV'

numsie · Feb 18, 2014

I do 30% water changes every other week and I think the tank it pretty heavily stocked.

This photo was taken in Dec, since then my Acans are only doing so so.

Bry · Feb 18, 2014

I would get my own Alk test kit so it could be tested everyday until you nail down where your tank is and how much dosing it really needs.

redfishbluefish · Feb 18, 2014

My first recommendation is to forget about your LFS doing the testing.....I'd highly recommend the Red Sea Pro Multikit for Alk, Calc and Mag. (And I'm a little ticked because I paid 49.95, and I now see it's considerably less.)

I think I'm seeing a Hammer, Acans, and maybe some other LPS....so you do have carbonate requiring corals. 15 mls per day is not that much for a 90 gallon tank. The increase from 6.4 to 13.6 is hard to believe. I question your LFS testing....one reason why I'd like to see you doing your own testing.

The second thing I'd suggest is to get dosing pumps. This really stabilized my tank. I was manually dosing, and not real happy with my tank. Once I started using pumps, everything started looking very good and growing like crazy.

And by the way, I have a 90 gallon DT as well, that is mixed reef, and dose 55 mls per day of each Alk and Calc.

numsie · Feb 18, 2014

I do use dosing pumps, my LFS tell me 15ml per day. I think I am going to get a Hanna Checker for ALK MAG & CAL and see if they are correct.

Singlefin · Feb 18, 2014

Don't get the Hanna calcium checker. Too much variables. Alk is awesome. Haven't used the mag one. I use salifert. You need to find your daily consumption. Period. Whenever I see my acans looking weird, it's usually alk. Doser is empty or something. Alk is huge. On the other side. You can fry your tank with too much. Plus.

mike007 · Feb 18, 2014

First of all you need to test yourself. If you are using a dosing pump first thing to do is get your alkalinity and calcium levels where you want them by manually dosing. Then go 3 days without dosing and test again then you will divide results by 3 and that will tell you your daily consumption. Then you can go to the reef calculator and determine how much to dose each day to keep parameters stable. You might have to tweak a bit but it should get you close. Most of us buy 2 part in bulk which is much cheaper. 15 ml on a heavy stocked tank seems low to me.