Alkalinity/Calcium Daily drop with no livestock

[Jeff Miotke]

It's the higher accuracy at a lower resolution. Take Zach or myself up on the offer to use one of ours. Then you can see if there's a reading at all on your tank. I'm in Duluth so we're both pretty close to you.

Thanks bud. I appreciate it but based on Randy's response it wont make any difference.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Excellent. This makes sense as the price of them is the same. I will stick to my checker then. Thanks!

Well, the ultralow does read lower.

 

[anit77]

No, they measure exactly the same thing in the same way (same chemistry). They just chose to report the units differently, like inches and centimeters.

IMO, its a poor marketing gimmick to make the ultra low unit look even lower. lol

Can the Phosphate LR checker read down to .01~.03ppm accurately? I thought the 4% left a margin of error higher than that.

 

[Myka]

Excellent. This makes sense as the price of them is the same. I will stick to my checker then. Thanks!

The 736 ULR Phosphorus reads lower. It goes down to 5 ppb which Randy (correctly of course) converted to ppm. Calculate ppb to ppb like this:

5 ppb x 0.003066 = 0.01533 ppm or rounded like Randy displayed is 0.015 ppm.

The 713 Phosphate Checker reads in ppm only as low as 0.04 ppm. So the ULR does pick up a small window that the other doesn't.

FWIW, my ULR Phosphorus checker read 0 ppb, and Triton read 0.010 ppm, so PO4 in my tank was too low for the ULR to pick up on. I usually have a happy dance when I can get a PO4 reading on my ULR checker.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Can the Phosphate LR checker read down to .01~.03ppm accurately? I thought the 4% left a margin of error higher than that.

The claimed uncertainty of the LR checker (HI713) is +/- 0.04 ppm. So no, to the question you ask.

The uncertainty of the ULR checker HI736 is lower at +/- 0.015 ppm, so it is more suitable to the range you mention.

 

[xilez]

BRS did a video comparing the two

 

[Brew12]

I initially picked up the LR checker but it just wasn't cutting it. The ULR checker is really much better for a reef tank imo. Fortunately, I can plug the results into my Apex and it converts them to PO4 for me.

 

[GoVols]

I initially picked up the LR checker but it just wasn't cutting it. The ULR checker is really much better for a reef tank imo. Fortunately, I can plug the results into my Apex and it converts them to PO4 for me.

Used the math formula, until I found this cheat sheet.

 

[zachxlutz]

Used the math formula, until I found this cheat sheet.

That's the same chart I've been using.

 

[GoVols]

@Brew12
I just pulled down the "log Measurement" to my Apex dashboard.
Tried the hanna ulr it's a tad off from the math formula and the spreadsheet but I have not done a update on the classic version in years. I hate having to shut off the wifi and the other stuff to preform the updates for the classic.
It nails all my other kits.

I've just been using the Apex for temp. and DOS pumps but the DOS has been collecting since last fall.
BRS had the Red Sea ABC+ powder 5kg bucket on sale last fall for $32 and figured, why not...

Now I'm using the ABC+ powder with RS colors C & D and my corals love it.
The ABC+ powder already has colors A & B in it.

Keeping the Apex-DOS in case the ABC+ goes wacky on me in the future.

Thanks for the heads up, Freddie

 

[Jeff Miotke]

This is all very interesting. I just watched the BRS investigates on the checkers and it cleared things up. Love that video series.

 

[Jeff Miotke]

Readings from today:

NO3 1ppm
pO4 0
Alk 7.2
Ca 410
Mg 1440 (my new salifert kit)

The brown fluffy stuff on the rocks is receding. Greyish green stuff on rocks is more pronounced now. Wiped down film off glass (been doing this every 3 days) and looks brown on cloth as usual.

Added corals look the same.

Plan on upping 2part from 125ml to 190ml/day to keep levels stable. Continued dosing of KNO3 of 1ppm/day.

 

[Brew12]

Readings from today:

NO3 1ppm
pO4 0
Alk 7.2
Ca 410
Mg 1440 (my new salifert kit)

The brown fluffy stuff on the rocks is receding. Greyish green stuff on rocks is more pronounced now. Wiped down film off glass (been doing this every 3 days) and looks brown on cloth as usual.

Added corals look the same.

Plan on upping 2part from 125ml to 190ml/day to keep levels stable. Continued dosing of KNO3 of 1ppm/day.

The fact you are seeing slow changes is a good sign. Nothing good happens fast!

How much are you getting out of your skimmer? Is it working hard and pulling a lot of dark skimmate?

 

[GoVols]

Nothing good happens fast!

+1
"The only one thing that happens fast in a reef is.......... BAD"

 

[anit77]

That's an awful lot of 2-part to be dosing in 105 gallons of water. You may not need so much Calcium. Your at 440 now...

What do you guys think?

 

[Brew12]

That's an awful lot of 2-part to be dosing in 105 gallons of water. You may not need so much Calcium. Your at 440 now...

What do you guys think?

I would agree. Normally it is recommended to dose both parts of a balanced 2 part equally. This is based on coral being the major consumer of both. Since I believe it is bacteria consuming some of the Alk, I would dose both as needed instead of keeping them balanced.

 

[anit77]

In my system I have my Apex control 2-part dosing via DoS (260 total gallons). I do it like this.
Alk
Start 00:00 End 23:50 Add 114ml
Cal
Start 00:10 End 23:59 Add 114ml

This spreads the dosing out throughout the day and keeps 10 minutes between Alk & Cal. It also makes if very easy to adjust the dose as you only need to change one dose instead of multiples. Basically it's 1.2ml every 10min of each.

If Jeff does something similar he could keep the Cal dose the same or lower it and increase the Alk. Then he would need to test only the alk daily until it stabilizes and starts rising. At which point it'll be time to start lowering it, probably quickly after it starts rising. Those kinds of high doses sounds like a precip nightmare waiting to happen.

Am I correct with this thinking?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That's an awful lot of 2-part to be dosing in 105 gallons of water. You may not need so much Calcium. Your at 440 now...

What do you guys think?

I think if he was adding too much, it would be rising, but I wouldn't dose anything except equal parts dosing of a two part unless calcium got too high (say, well above 500 ppm).

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I would agree. Normally it is recommended to dose both parts of a balanced 2 part equally. This is based on coral being the major consumer of both. Since I believe it is bacteria consuming some of the Alk, I would dose both as needed instead of keeping them balanced.

Bacteria do not consume alkalinity' unless nitrate is accumulating. .

 

[Jeff Miotke]

In my system I have my Apex control 2-part dosing via DoS (260 total gallons). I do it like this.
Alk
Start 00:00 End 23:50 Add 114ml
Cal
Start 00:10 End 23:59 Add 114ml

This spreads the dosing out throughout the day and keeps 10 minutes between Alk & Cal. It also makes if very easy to adjust the dose as you only need to change one dose instead of multiples. Basically it's 1.2ml every 10min of each.

If Jeff does something similar he could keep the Cal dose the same or lower it and increase the Alk. Then he would need to test only the alk daily until it stabilizes and starts rising. At which point it'll be time to start lowering it, probably quickly after it starts rising. Those kinds of high doses sounds like a precip nightmare waiting to happen.

Am I correct with this thinking?

yes this is exactly how my dosing is setup. Accept instead of 10 minute offset it is 5 minute offset. I see no precipitation in the sump.