Confirming what i'm doing is right?

tfrad · Aug 11, 2017

Super new to the hobby so i'm learning as I go even with all the research i've done before i started my tank up. I've got a month and a half old 20 gallon tank with a few small frags Acan/Chalice/Zoa/Frogspawn & a small RBT Anemone. I started with Live rock thats now just about completely covered in coralline algae. I do 5 gallon water changes every week with red sea coral pro and 0 TDS water.

Every day it seems that i'll need to dose Reef Code A & B as it seems my alk falls at least 1dkh per day and calcium can drop as much as about 40ppm per day? It doesn't seem like those elements should be consumed so quickly. I thought I would be able to keep my parameters up by just doing water changes? so far i'll need to dose 10ml reef code A and 5ml reef code B to keep my calc at 400 & Alk at 8+Dkh? So i guess my question is, is it possible i'm dosing too much causing weird issues like this to happen. or is it just the way it is and coralline algae just consumes a lot of alk & calc because It was like this before i got 3/4 frags i have now.

Parameters taken last night before dosing alk & calc:
Temp 78.7
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Salinity 1.024
Alkalinity 7.2
pH 8.2 (might be higher hard to tell with API test kit)
Calcium 360

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 11, 2017

I think the calcium is certainly not being used that fast and may just be testing error. Changes in the salinity due to evaporation and water replacement will impact these results, especially in a small tank.

I'd try not adding anything for a few days and see what happens.

Do you have fish and are you feeding them? Rising nitrate will show a depletion in alkalinity,

tfrad · Aug 11, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I think the calcium is certainly not being used that fast and may just be testing error. Changes in the salinity due to evaporation and water replacement will impact these results, especially in a small tank.

I'd try not adding anything for a few days and see what happens.

Do you have fish and are you feeding them? Rising nitrate will show a depletion in alkalinity,

Thanks for the response Randy, been reading a lot of your posts trying to follow along as best as i can!

It probably is a testing error on my part and i'll try to pay more attention to that in the future. I test Calc with the API kit usually can only test at night time which makes things difficult to get an accurate color reading. I'll switch to testing in the the AM and natural light?
I've got a cardinal and 2 orange firefish that are always hiding my CUC is 1 small fighting conch 2 trocus 1 astrea 3 tiny hermit crabs. my feeding schedule is always different and i need to figure out some sort of schedule but for the time being i'll almost always feed at night time every day about 1/8ths cube amount of frozen brine shrimp and 1/8 cube of mysis shrimp. Since cycle ended and fish added to the tank i've only tested 0 nitrates with API kit.
18pounds live rock 20 pounds live stand 7.1l seacam matrix & 5.5oz chemipure blue.

For Alk i use Tropic Marin Pro test kit. Thats interesting thats very interesting, rising nitrate depletes alkalinity. I'll stop dosing for a few days, but i have a 5gal water change coming up this Saturday. Should i hold off on that too? I should also mention that I just bought calibration solution for my refractometer and noticed that i was running 1.022SG in my DT the whole time so i slowly just recently brought it up to 1.024 doing the top off method.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 11, 2017

No, do the water change as usual.

Bringing up the salinity (by replacing evaporated water with seawater) will boost the calcium, so just let that happen.

tfrad · Aug 15, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
No, do the water change as usual.

Bringing up the salinity (by replacing evaporated water with seawater) will boost the calcium, so just let that happen.

Water change done on Saturday 8/12 an hour or so after WC parameters are
Temp 78.2
Sg 1.024
Alk 7.9dkh
Calc 400ppm

Water parameters tested 08/14 @ 9pm
Alk 7.1dkh
Calc 400ppm

I'm happy that my calc has remained stable and the decrease in alk hasnt been too much. Should I continue waiting or start to dose alk? Also is 8.0dkh a good target?

Thank you!
Tyler

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 15, 2017

7 dKH is fine coral reef tank and I'd not dose again yet (wait a few ore days) if it stays at 6.8 dKH or higher.

tfrad · Aug 15, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
7 dKH is fine coral reef tank and I'd not dose again yet (wait a few ore days) if it stays at 6.8 dKH or higher.

Tested today at 8pm
Alk 5.4
Calc 360

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 16, 2017

tfrad said:
Tested today at 8pm
Alk 5.4
Calc 360

I'd restart dosing just enough to maintain 7 dKH, and I'd do it with baking soda, not a commercial buffer (unless it is intended to be a low pH additive, such as ESV B-ionic Bicarbonate).

tfrad · Aug 16, 2017

Having reef code a and b. it sounds like you would not recommend me to use that anymore? is it increasing my pH to much? I have the api ph test kit and its very very difficult to accurately distinguish any pH range between 8.0+. Should i buy the brs 2 part https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/brs-2-part-calcium-alkalinity-total-package-bulk.html or just use regular baking soda? Also is it worth getting the magnesium test kit in my situation i've read people talking about how a low magnesium level could be the reason for needing to add so much alkalinity in my tank. I'm not sure is 1dkh drop per day in my tank is abnormal with only 5 frags and coralline algae in a 20 gallon.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 17, 2017

The Reef Code is likely an OK product, but if the goal is to reduce precipitation in the short term, baking soda is a better best due to its lower pH effects.

Is doubt magnesium is any part of the explanation since it is unlikely to have become depleted.

1 dKH per day is not abnormal.