Hey, I have a 2.5 year 120 gallon mixed reef. Over last few months my calcium has been dropping to 380. Ive been 2 part dosing for over a year and maintain alkalinity around 8 while my calcium has been dropping from 440 now to 380. I do use api to test calcium and hanna for alkalinity but i was getting normal readings for calcium months ago using the same api tests.. I currently dose 60 ml of alkalinity and 78 ml of calcium BRS 2 part daily (been slowing increasing calcium dosing last couple months). Is it normal for dosing to be that different between calcium and alkalinity? Coral growth good.
Consuming calcium more than alkalinity?
- Thread starter Jet915
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montethemoster
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I usually need to add more alkalinity than calcium, but that being said it could be your calcium mix is less concentrated than you think if you mixed it on your own, or your dosers could need calibration.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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There is no mechanism to consume more calcium than normal for the alkalinity consumed.
perhaps you are adding alkalinity in some other way as well, or made the solutions incorrectly, or are not adding the mL you think you are (all of these have been the case for folks in this forum).
perhaps you are adding alkalinity in some other way as well, or made the solutions incorrectly, or are not adding the mL you think you are (all of these have been the case for folks in this forum).
Jet915
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I am dosing kalkwasser as well, mainly for pH and since I was already dosing it prior to 2 part. Would that make the difference? I started using the ready made brs 2 part packages (mainly because they were out of bulk).
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Nope. Limewater (kalkwasser) actually adds a little too much calcium relative to alkalinity so over a long period of time, calcium will rise using limewater.
Did you ever find out why your were consuming more calcium than alkalinity? I'm noticing the same issue with my tank. I'm dosing almost twice as much calcium as I am alkalinity. I'm using BRS calcium chloride and Randy's sodium hydroxide solution. The only other source of alkalinity I'm dosing is I mixed kalkwasser into my nopox to negate the pH effect, but that should be relatively balanced.
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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is nitrate declining? That adds alk.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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That initial drop adds about 1 dKH. The rise would then deplete it again.
pecan2phat
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Have a question for BRS users.
When you follow directions with the 1g pouches (empty powder in 1g jug, then add 1g of RO/DI water), do you find that the calcium chloride container cannot hold the entire gallon of water? Maybe this is the case with unbalanced dosing. Should the end product of the mixed powder solution be 1g vs adding the entirety of the 1g of purified water possibly?
When you follow directions with the 1g pouches (empty powder in 1g jug, then add 1g of RO/DI water), do you find that the calcium chloride container cannot hold the entire gallon of water? Maybe this is the case with unbalanced dosing. Should the end product of the mixed powder solution be 1g vs adding the entirety of the 1g of purified water possibly?
Randy Holmes-Farley
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The recipe itself was my DIY, which BRS now uses. In that recipe, the directions are to add the solid and then water to 1 gallon, so it should fit in 1 gallon total.
An Improved Do-it-Yourself Two-Part Calcium and Alkalinity Supplement System by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
Recipe # 1, Part 1: The Calcium Part
Dissolve 500 grams (about 2 ½ cups) of calcium chloride dihydrate (such as Dowflake 77-80% calcium chloride or ESV calcium chloride; see below for substitutes and sources) in enough water to make 1 gallon of total volume. You can dissolve it in about ½ gallon of water, and then pour that into the 1 gallon container and fill it to the top with more freshwater. This solution has about 37,000 ppm calcium.
