All settled to bottom of sump

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I dosed Red Sea alk today and about 15 min I went back and all of it had settled at the bottom of the sump. I used a turkey baster to blow it around and swish the water around. But why would it settle like that?

 

[Oshengems]

Is the water flowing in there ? I have my doser lines in the baffle between the refugium and return chamber the water flow Mixes everything up fairly quick

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

Is the water flowing in there ? I have my doser lines in the baffle between the refugium and return chamber the water flow Mixes everything up fairly quick

Yeah. I can see the water flowing. Maybe it’s just not flowing fast enough?

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

There was some crud built up on top of the baffle. Maybe that was blocking it from flowing over some.

 

[Applegate]

You didn't dose alk and calcium at the same time did you? If so they will precipitate.
Also higher Ph I believe can cause similar effects.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

You didn't dose alk and calcium at the same time did you? If so they will precipitate.
Also higher Ph I believe can cause similar effects.

PH is 8.1. I had just dosed calcium but I waited about 10 minutes before putting the alk in. Maybe it wasn’t long enough

 

[lapin]

Its possible that your Alk is too high and you have an imbalance. When you dose the Cal, the excess falls out of solution. Low Mag can also effect the amount of Cal to stay suspended in solution.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

Its possible that your Alk is too high and you have an imbalance. When you dose the Cal, the excess falls out of solution. Low Mag can also effect the amount of Cal to stay suspended in solution.

Hmm. Mag was 1280, Calcium was 435, and Alk was 7.8. I was trying to raise up everything just a little bit.

 

[lapin]

I dont see any problems. Maybe try to raise mag a bit and try again. It could be a little low and not keep the 2 apart like it should. It could just be dosing both products too close in time to each other. Dose Alk in the evening when ph is low and Cal in the am. This might or might not help.

 

[Oshengems]

You might want to add it in an area in your sump that has good water movement doesn’t have to be crazy, I dose 53ml a day of 2 parts in the same area my DOS has a break for 15mins before it doses any of the 2 to avoid precipitation do I used to dose KH at night to avoid precipitation but my tank has reacted better dosing eventualy through out the day. That’s my dose schedule below they all end at the 45min mark into the hour to start dosing the 2nd part at the top of the the next hour

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

I dont see any problems. Maybe try to raise mag a bit and try again. It could be a little low and not keep the 2 apart like it should. It could just be dosing both products too close in time to each other. Dose Alk in the evening when ph is low and Cal in the am. This might or might not help.

Thanks I will give this a try.

You might want to add it in an area in your sump that has good water movement doesn’t have to be crazy, I dose 53ml a day of 2 parts in the same area my DOS has a break for 15mins before it doses any of the 2 to avoid precipitation do I used to dose KH at night to avoid precipitation but my tank has reacted better dosing eventualy through out the day. That’s my dose schedule below they all end at the 45min mark into the hour to start dosing the 2nd part at the top of the the next hour

I’m afraid to try automatic dosing as I’ve seen so many stories about doser’s all of a sudden dumping tons of alk in the tank at once. I do see the benefit of dosing throughout the day though. I may have to go that route once the demand gets high enough.

 

[Oshengems]

Thanks I will give this a try.

I’m afraid to try automatic dosing as I’ve seen so many stories about doser’s all of a sudden dumping tons of alk in the tank at once. I do see the benefit of dosing throughout the day though. I may have to go that route once the demand gets high enough.

Although the sad story about tech it fails doser being categorized into tech since it’s automated, get a well known doser brs dosers are very solid for their price, I been running the apex ones for 2 parts for almost 3 years had to calibrate then twice but only because I had to replace the lines so might as well calibrate. Don’t trust Chinese makers for delicate things like this my friends Jabeo dumped a bunch of calcium a few months back

 

[ckalupa]

WHen I was hand dosing the Red Sea ALK (part B) in the sump it was not uncommon to see some white chunks sitting in the bottom. However an hour later they would be dissolved. Since moving to a DOS and putting in merely a few drops every hour this has since stopped.

I would not indict all doser applications based on a few posts here. Usually it is some non-doser error that caused an issue (operator error). Understand the doser and approach it with proper diligence in the set up phase and you wont regret it IMO.

 

[Hemmdog]

WHen I was hand dosing the Red Sea ALK (part B) in the sump it was not uncommon to see some white chunks sitting in the bottom. However an hour later they would be dissolved. Since moving to a DOS and putting in merely a few drops every hour this has since stopped.

I would not indict all doser applications based on a few posts here. Usually it is some non-doser error that caused an issue (operator error). Understand the doser and approach it with proper diligence in the set up phase and you wont regret it IMO.

Bm-t11 will change your life brother.