Alkalinity how much dkh a day?

[thatmanMIKEson]

I see on here sometimes people talk about dosing so many m.l of alkalinity a day wich equals a certain amount of DKH added a day.

How is this figured out? I dose Randy's 2 part with brs soda ash and calcium chloride @65 m.l a day of alk/cal in 120g total system. id love the answer but I'd like to know how this is figured out, thanks for any help!

 

[Lavey29]

Well determine what you want your alk set at and once you have it at that specific number, check it every 24 hours for a couple days and you can determine your tanks alk consumption. This will dictate how much supplement you will need to dose daily to keep your alk at your desired level.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Well determine what you want your alk set at and once you have it at that specific number, check it every 24 hours for a couple days and you can determine your tanks alk consumption. This will dictate how much supplement you will need to dose daily to keep your alk at your desired level.

Thats not what in saying I understand that but x amount = what in added dkh

For example which is completely made up

50m.l a day to 120g system is 4dkh

I know that can't be right but this is what I'm looking for not how to figure out daily consumption, I listed my daily, I want the science!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Here's a calculator for this purpose:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Just enter water volume and what you are dosing and how much of it.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Here's a calculator for this purpose:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Just enter water volume and what you are dosing and how much of it.

So thats still a daily consumption calculator right? No way of knowing what 65m.l of soda ash a day is in a 120g tank if dkh of aquarium stays at 8dkh, unless a correction is needed?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

So thats still a daily consumption calculator right? No way of knowing what 65m.l of soda ash a day is in a 120g tank if dkh of aquarium stays at 8dkh, unless a correction is needed?

The calculator has no time dependence and cannot determine what a tank needs to maintain a specific level of anything. It just tells you how much of a supplement attains how large of an increase in the aquarium.

To use it, you either need to know how much (in ppm, dKH, etc.) you want to increase the aquarium, or how much (in mL, teaspoons, grams, etc.) you are actually dosing. Your question seemed to fit the latter need.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

I'm sorry sometimes I'm just not smart enough to understand simple things, there must be a conversion I'm missing. Thanks for helping sorry for not being able to understand, but I guess its not that important I've never needed to know before, I was just curious what 65m.l would be, if my tank was consuming 1,2,3,4,5,6 DkH a day but ill leave that for the smarter reefers that know all that stuff, I just add water and fish food n such anyway.......

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The purpose of this forum is to help folks understand reef chemistry, so there's no problem.

Let's walk through it.

Take your example...

65 mL of soda ash presumably means 65 ml of the BRS recipe, which is my DIY Recipe #1.

So you enter Randy's DIY recipe #1 under the alk portion of the calculator. Enter 120 gallons for water volume.

The calculator is really designed to go from dKH to mL, and you want to go the other way so we do it by trial and error.

Enter 1 dKH for the alk rise by inputting any two alk values 1 dKH apart (say, 6 dKH for current and 7 dKH for desired alk). and hit calculate.

It says you need 85 ml. More than you are dosing, so your alk usage is less than 1 dKH.

Try entering 6 for current dKH and 6.8 for desired dKH (a boost of 0.8 dKH). You get 68.5 mL. Very close

Repeat with 0.7 dKH difference and you get 60 mL, which is further away.

So when you dose 65 mL, it is between 0.7 and 0.8 dKH per however often you add it (presumably once a day, but could be anything).

That help?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

The purpose of this forum is to help folks understand reef chemistry, so there's no problem.

Let's walk through it.

Take your example...

65 mL of soda ash presumably means 65 ml of the BRS recipe, which is my DIY Recipe #1.

So you enter Randy's DIY recipe #1 under the alk portion of the calculator. Enter 120 gallons for water volume.

The calculator is really designed to go from dKH to mL, and you want to go the other way so we do it by trial and error.

Enter 1 dKH for the alk rise by inputting any two alk values 1 dKH apart (say, 6 dKH for current and 7 dKH for desired alk). and hit calculate.

It says you need 85 ml. More than you are dosing, so your alk usage is less than 1 dKH.

Try entering 6 for current dKH and 6.8 for desired dKH (a boost of 0.8 dKH). You get 68.5 mL. Very close

Repeat with 0.7 dKH difference and you get 60 mL, which is further away.

So when you dose 65 mL, it is between 0.7 and 0.8 dKH per however often you add it (presumably once a day, but could be anything).

That help?

That absolutely helps , I was nervous to ask in the first place and even more so to ask again, but I can't tell you how good and comfortable that response makes me feel, thank you so much, I do appreciate it, also for the information! Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're very welcome.

 

[muzikalmatt]

That absolutely helps , I was nervous to ask in the first place and even more so to ask again, but I can't tell you how good and comfortable that response makes me feel, thank you so much, I do appreciate it, also for the information! Thank you

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the freaking best isn't he?

To reiterate what he said, don't ever be afraid to ask a question around here. That's what these forums are here for and more experienced reefers are always happy to chime in and help you out. Everyone wants everyone else to be successful. That's how we grow and improve the hobby and keep these amazing creatures alive and thriving.

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

@Randy Holmes-Farley is the freaking best isn't he?

To reiterate what he said, don't ever be afraid to ask a question around here. That's what these forums are here for and more experienced reefers are always happy to chime in and help you out. Everyone wants everyone else to be successful. That's how we grow and improve the hobby and keep these amazing creatures alive and thriving.

yes i agree and get all that, social anxiety effects everyone differently....

 

[MexiReefer]

This thread made me happy. People helping each other. I know is simple hobby stuff, but for some reason I needed this.

 

[muzikalmatt]

yes i agree and get all that, social anxiety effects everyone differently....

I definitely understand that too. I just wanted to let you know that you can feel comfortable around these parts. The mods are very good about nipping any negativity in the bud, but typically it's not needed as everyone is so nice and helpful.

 

[muzikalmatt]

This thread made me happy. People helping each other. I know is simple hobby stuff, but for some reason I needed this.

With everything going on the world today, it's easy to get jaded and see nothing but the negativity. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of the inherent goodness in most people.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I see on here sometimes people talk about dosing so many m.l of alkalinity a day wich equals a certain amount of DKH added a day.

How is this figured out? I dose Randy's 2 part with brs soda ash and calcium chloride @65 m.l a day of alk/cal in 120g total system. id love the answer but I'd like to know how this is figured out, thanks for any help!

Thats not what in saying I understand that but x amount = what in added dkh

For example which is completely made up

50m.l a day to 120g system is 4dkh

I know that can't be right but this is what I'm looking for not how to figure out daily consumption, I listed my daily, I want the science!

Ok, I see what you were asking. Let me see if I can help (and not make an error that Randy needs to correct for )

You are dosing 65ml/day of Randy's #1 recipe into 120G. That recipe has 5300dKH/L. So let's do the math.

5300/1000 = 5.3 (dKH/ml)
5.3 * 65 = 344.5 (dKH/ml * dosed is what goes into water volume)
344.5 / (120 x 3.74) = 0.7676024955 dKH/L (daily added dKH divided by water volume in liters)

So the 65ml you are dosing per day amounts to about 0.77 dKH.

Dennis

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

Ok, I see what you were asking. Let me see if I can help (and not make an error that Randy needs to correct for )

You are dosing 65ml/day of Randy's #1 recipe into 120G. That recipe has 5300dKH/L. So let's do the math.

5300/1000 = 5.3 (dKH/ml)
5.3 * 65 = 344.5 (dKH/ml * dosed is what goes into water volume)
344.5 / (120 x 3.74) = 0.7676024955 dKH/L (daily added dKH divided by water volume in liters)

So the 65ml you are dosing per day amounts to about 0.77 dKH.

Dennis

Thanks Dennis, it helps to have it layed out like that, I can see it better in steps, thank you for the math! Thank you!

 

[Neil Cohen]

This forum is the best. My LFS is great but #1:they are in business to sell stuff #2:they don't really know reef chemistry, but even if they did, see the #1

Getting a better understanding of reef chemistry, and how everything is tied together, has changed my tank for the better and saved me a fortune in additives and killing things.

Keep asking questions, it helps all of us. Of course, we would be no where with out Randy and others like him. It's like having a marine biologist/chemist on speed dial.