Confused on BRS 2 Part

[Fishbro]

So I know now I need to dose my tank. 3 days after a water change my tank is at 8.3 and my Reef Crystals mix tests to 10.3. The thing is, even if I’m doing a 5 gallon water change today (tank is a Biocube 32) will get up to my desired target of 9? Also so when I figure out how much I need to dose, I don’t dose on water change days right? What if the water change bumps the Alk too high? Also, can I use two part to get my my Alk to where I want it then start testing to see how much my Alk really drops?

One last thing that’s confusing me. My Alk seems to be dropping but my calcium is steady. I thought you were supposed to dose equal amounts of Alk to Calcium with two part?

 

[dopey]

When's the last time you tested all? It could be that it's been lower for a while and the water changes just haven't been sufficient.

I'm just starting the dosing journey myself after a similar "surprise" when I tested for the "first" time on this tank. Mine was worse, 4.7 when my salt mixes at 12! I had assumed water changes was keeping up, then I went to test alkalinity and realized I lost the Hannah vials took a couple weeks to source new vials... Bit panic, and I really didn't think I had that much consumption..still don't understand how it got so low.

There is calculators out there to enter you starting level, and target level and it will tell you exactly how many ml to dose . (You also tell it the solution you are using).

I don't know enough to give you the right amount to adjust in a day, but slower the better. I know in a brs video they suggest a month to increase 1dkh -- the investigate about higher alk and growth.

In general you will want to test daily, dose, retest until you understand the consumption rate then you can dose and do less frequent (but still consistent!) Testing to ensure your dose matches your consumption.

I think some people adjust their mixed salt to match their target. I hadn't understood why everyone didn't prefer high dkh salts, now I get it. Will likely switch to a salt just under my target, work out the required dose and dose nsw before doing the water change. I have no idea if that's right, but it's my current plan. Or just #yolo and see how things look by dosing as normal the tank and doing water changes weekly without adjustment..

My personal experience: Ive been testing twice daily and dosing since that first test. It seems now that my consumption is around .3dkh/daily and I'm dosing 24ish ml of fauna Marin each day.. personally I'm going with fauna Marin "balling method" and will dose using the ghl doser 2.1 .. until then I've been only manually all as I'm hoping it'll arrive this week

 

[Fishbro]

Ahh ok thanks for clearing it up. I tested last Saturday after a water change and I believe it was at 9ish. So this is kinda my plan. Water change Saturday, test Alk before and after water change then every day leading up to the next Saturday. That should give me my consumption rate but there’s one problem. If I can’t get water changes to bring me back up to 9, can I just dose to bring me to 9 like a day before the water change on Saturday so I’m starting at the target I want then see how much it actually goes down from
there. Or I could dose to get up to like 8.5 if I’m not already there then the water change would give me the boost to 9?

 

[dopey]

I really can't say the safe magical number. If it was me I'd probably dose straight to 9 from 8.3.. but it would depend on the livestock in the tank, etc.

To be super safe I'd probably dose .1ishh dkh a day more than your consumption rate. I'd measure two days in a row, and on the second day calculate the dosage to get back to the previous day's value + .1dkh wait an hour and test again to confirm. Then the next day I'd test and note the decrease from the previous day (after dosing value) and then dose again the needed amount + .1dkh and test again.

Rinse/repeat until I saw a consistent consumption each day and got to my target level slowly but surely... Then I'd just maintain that level.

I think most would say 8.3 is more than acceptable, so finding a dose to maintain that and slower the better to increase if you have a target of 9 the better.

 

[Fishbro]

Also I just tested Alk again and it’s still 8.3 same from two days ago.

 

[Fishbro]

I really can't say the safe magical number. If it was me I'd probably dose straight to 9 from 8.3.. but it would depend on the livestock in the tank, etc.

To be super safe I'd probably dose .1ishh dkh a day more than your consumption rate. I'd measure two days in a row, and on the second day calculate the dosage to get back to the previous day's value + .1dkh wait an hour and test again to confirm. Then the next day I'd test and note the decrease from the previous day (after dosing value) and then dose again the needed amount + .1dkh and test again.

Rinse/repeat until I saw a consistent consumption each day and got to my target level slowly but surely... Then I'd just maintain that level.

I think most would say 8.3 is more than acceptable, so finding a dose to maintain that and slower the better to increase if you have a target of 9 the better.

Yeah and I’m sure 8.3 is fine but if my tank really is consuming I’d rather keep it stable then do water changes to keep it up. I’m just gonna test every day after the water change at the same time to see what my consumption is. Also, if my calcium is steady but my Alk is being consumed, can I just dose Alk and not calcium? I know two part you’re supposed to dose equal parts.

 

[homer1475]

Its easier to keep your tank at what your salt mixes up to, in your case 9DKH.

It's perfectly fine to jump 1dkh point in a single dose. It's also fine to not dose equal parts, all though they are designed to be.

 

[Fishbro]

Its easier to keep your tank at what your salt mixes up to, in your case 9DKH.

It's perfectly fine to jump 1dkh point in a single dose. It's also fine to not dose equal parts, all though they are designed to be.

Well so my Reef Crystals mix’s to 10.3 but I thought that was a bit high to maintain. Can I just have 9 as my target and not dose on water change day to get the Alk back to 9?

 

[homer1475]

Most certainly can. There are also calcs out there(don't have a link) that will calculate how much a WC will change your chemistry.

I find it easier myself to either keep my tank where my salt mixes up to, or use a salt that I have to buffer so it doesn't change my dosing schedule.

In another words my WC water is what I keep my tanks parameters at.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

A 10% water change with new water at 10.3 dKH and tank at 9 dKH only boosts the alk to 9.13 dKh, so there is no need to match the new salt water.

with a small alk consumption, the expected calcium consumption is too small to see day to day with a kit.

 

[Fishbro]

Ok so I have one more question. If my Alk is at 8 now, can I dose one Dkh a day till it gets to 10 on water change day Saturday? That way I can test from my proper Alk level to see how much my tank actually consumes?
Edit: Well my Alk target actually is 9 so should I just dose to 8.87 then let the water change get me to 9 then start testing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Ok so I have one more question. If my Alk is at 8 now, can I dose one Dkh a day till it gets to 10 on water change day Saturday? That way I can test from my proper Alk level to see how much my tank actually consumes?
Edit: Well my Alk target actually is 9 so should I just dose to 8.87 then let the water change get me to 9 then start testing?

You are in for a world of frustration if you start targeting 8.87 dKH as different from 9 dKH. lol

It is fine to dose 1 dKH per day until you get to 9 dKH, assuming you do get there.

 

[Fishbro]

You are in for a world of frustration if you start targeting 8.87 dKH as different from 9 dKH. lol

It is fine to dose 1 dKH per day until you get to 9 dKH, assuming you do get there.

No sorry I meant that because you said in an earlier post a water change would only bump my Alk by .13 so I was just including a water change in there. I’ll start dosing today should I split it up into two separate doses?

 

[homer1475]

You can BOLUS dose it all at once(1DKH a day), just watch for it turning cloudy(precipitating) and not mixing in well. Pour slowly.