Beefing up premixed saltwater

[dmcoates]

hey guys,
I have a 100 gallon mixed reef heavy on sps, the tank is mostly automated. I auto water change about 1-1/2 gallons per day and use kalkwasser in my auto top off. I am using the max amount of kalk 2 teaspoons per gallon.
The tank is burning thought alkalinity and I am having a hard time keeping the DkH above 7.5. I know it's time to upgrade to a dosing pump.

I was think until I get a dosing pump can I beef up my premixed saltwater with soda ash and calcium cloride to help keep levels in the display right without precipitating out calcium.

I am using reef crystals now. I had to swap over from RS coral pro when amazon stopped shipping.

Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

No, you can't boost salt mixes much (especially not a high alk mix like RC) since you'll precipitate calcium carbonate in the mix.

 

[sghera64]

hey guys,
I have a 100 gallon mixed reef heavy on sps, the tank is mostly automated. I auto water change about 1-1/2 gallons per day and use kalkwasser in my auto top off. I am using the max amount of kalk 2 teaspoons per gallon.
The tank is burning thought alkalinity and I am having a hard time keeping the DkH above 7.5. I know it's time to upgrade to a dosing pump.

I was think until I get a dosing pump can I beef up my premixed saltwater with soda ash and calcium cloride to help keep levels in the display right without precipitating out calcium.

I am using reef crystals now. I had to swap over from RS coral pro when amazon stopped shipping.

Thanks

Besides the DkH at 7.5 (which I don't think constitutes a problem) what other observations indicate there is a problem to be solved?

 

[dmcoates]

I am having to manually dose soda ash a few times a week to maintain that 7.5 and ph slips to 7.7 at night as well. I just ordered a dosing pump so I should be good.

Any idea how much to start with when dosing 2 part?

 

[rkpetersen]

I have a similar size tank with a sizable bioload and was having identical problems including frustratingly low alkalinity and pH swings that I didn't like, despite manual dosing. As I eventually came to realize with the help of a certain reef chemist, I absolutely must have been having a great deal of invisible abiotic calcium carbonate precipitation in tank (you probably are too), even though I was manually dosing the 2 part components at different times and locations. Plus it was a pain in the butt dosing all the time.

Getting an automatic doser literally solved all the issues I was having with alk and pH. Every tank is different, but I'm using 59 ml/day each of Reef Fusion 1 & 2, which keeps my alk around 9 and my calcium around 450, pH has a diurnal cycle between 8.05 and 8.2. Even though it's present in RF1, I do sometimes need to add a bit of supplemental magnesium, which I just dose manually based on twice weekly testing.

Another thing - I don't know if you noticed that the alk level of Reef Crystals, although high at 10-10.5, is still considerably lower than that of Coral Pro at 12-12.5. So your salt switch isn't doing you any favors.

 

[spiraling]

Any idea how much to start with when dosing 2 part?

It depends on what you are using. Each one has its own formula, but you should be able to find something like "x ml raises the alk 1 dkh per 10 gal" on the bottle. BRS has a handy online calculator to avoid math problems. You should know by now how much you are raising it (ie 1 dkh 3 times per week) with the soda ash on a weekly basis. Just start with that amount divided by 7 daily, then start testing daily to make sure you are on track. In about a week you should be dialed in pretty close.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I am having to manually dose soda ash a few times a week to maintain that 7.5 and ph slips to 7.7 at night as well. I just ordered a dosing pump so I should be good.

Any idea how much to start with when dosing 2 part?

If you make the two part using sodium carbonate (soda ash), then you'll be dosing the same amount as before.

 

[sghera64]

I am having to manually dose soda ash a few times a week to maintain that 7.5 and ph slips to 7.7 at night as well. I just ordered a dosing pump so I should be good.

Any idea how much to start with when dosing 2 part?

What happens if you stop dosing for a week or so?

I'm guessing growth slows down and the system starts to approach a sense of stability and equilibrium. I'm not recommending that stop additions long-term. I'm wondering if the system will stabilize so that you can begin to slowly increase your additions once you obtain your dosing pump.