Crazy kH consumption?

ReefMadScientist · Aug 31, 2015

Okay last thread of the day for me.

I was just checking my kH and it has been steady using 28ml a day until recently. My numbers were at 7.78 so I bumped it up slowly. A week later I was at 8.6 (last night) and today I am down to 8.00 even. So I am adding a little more kH to help the swing overnight until I can get my doser to get up to speed.

So I guess I will try 30ml per day now. My Ca dropped a tad bit from 420 to 410 so I will add 1ml extra.

Recap:

kH: 8.
Ca: 410
Mg: 1350

Has anyone experienced this much of a turn around in a week span? Its crazy that I was dosing 28ml and now that seems to be too little. My SPS are looking healthy as heck.

SPSREEFS · Aug 31, 2015

RMS,
If your running a doser, check your output line ends. KH will clog in 5 days on mine. I just pinch it and roll it in my fingers. Clear it, and my KH stays stable. I have a 65 gallon tank and use 70 mls a day!!

ReefMadScientist · Aug 31, 2015

SPSREEFS said:
RMS,
If your running a doser, check your output line ends. KH will clog in 5 days on mine. I just pinch it and roll it in my fingers. Clear it, and my KH stays stable. I have a 65 gallon tank and use 70 mls a day!!

Thanks for the suggestion! I pinched the lines and its clogged-free. I also ran my doser manually to see if anything comes out and everything is normal. I do know my doser is operating as I see it come on every hour.

Wow 70ml!!! Can't wait lol. So have you ever noticed that one day your tank just guzzles kH? I was always used to a gradual increase but now it jumped out of the blue.

xmas_one · Aug 31, 2015

Are you testing at the exact same time everyday? KH can vary quite a bit in just a few hours.

ReefMadScientist · Aug 31, 2015

xmas_one said:
Are you testing at the exact same time everyday? KH can vary quite a bit in just a few hours.

Yeah I am. Around 8pm

Sabellafella · Sep 1, 2015

Yea by the look of ur tankkk itss deff going to keep increasing slowly like that ,, what kind of doser u have and for me i usually always test around 5 pm every 3 4 days, i was taking the test before and after my dose was set not realizing sometimes i would get different readings , so now i take test after my 530 dose

ReefMadScientist · Sep 1, 2015

Sabellafella said:
Yea by the look of ur tankkk itss deff going to keep increasing slowly like that ,, what kind of doser u have and for me i usually always test around 5 pm every 3 4 days, i was taking the test before and after my dose was set not realizing sometimes i would get different readings , so now i take test after my 530 dose

Eshopps doser.

Sabellafella · Sep 1, 2015

Youd be suprised how much it flux even with a doser set 10 times a day, especially if u have a crazyyyy tank like yours

SPSREEFS · Sep 1, 2015

Are you keeping you magnesium in the correct range?? It will help stabilize it if it's low, then you correct it.
I run the kamoer doser and I love it.

Sabellafella · Sep 1, 2015

I would add an extra 2 ml to the doses atleast an hour or hour 1/2 before 8 or when you test and youll kno in 3 4 days from now if one of those stags grew another leg =) beside 8-9 alk is primee

ReefMadScientist · Sep 1, 2015

Sabellafella said:
Youd be suprised how much it flux even with a doser set 10 times a day, especially if u have a crazyyyy tank like yours

Thanks man!

SPSREEFS said:
Are you keeping you magnesium in the correct range?? It will help stabilize it if it's low, then you correct it.
I run the kamoer doser and I love it.

Yeah my Mag is at 1350

NanaReefer · Sep 3, 2015

I use 30ml on my 40B. SPS/LPS dominant.

ReefMadScientist · Sep 3, 2015

I have a feeling my daily dose should be around 60ml. I need a little more observation with my Apex but its starting to look like that is what it should be.

reefndude · Sep 3, 2015

Going through same issue. Holding steady then all of a sudden kh went out of whack. Still trying to dial it in.
Increased dosage from 41-78 ml a day in a two or three week span.

ReefMadScientist · Sep 3, 2015

reefndude said:
Going through same issue. Holding steady then all of a sudden kh went out of whack. Still trying to dial it in.
Increased dosage from 41-78 ml a day in a two or three week span.

So glad I am not the only one. I will be testing Mg today to make sure it hasn't dropped too much with all the kH additive. Strangely enough, Ca has been pretty reliable.

I am testing everyday and its a pain trying to dial everything in slowly lol.

reefndude · Sep 3, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
So glad I am not the only one. I will be testing Mg today to make sure it hasn't dropped too much with all the kH additive. Strangely enough, Ca has been pretty reliable.

I am testing everyday and its a pain trying to dial everything in slowly lol.

Calcium hasn't moved for me either.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 3, 2015

ReefMadScientist said:
So glad I am not the only one. I will be testing Mg today to make sure it hasn't dropped too much with all the kH additive. Strangely enough, Ca has been pretty reliable.

I am testing everyday and its a pain trying to dial everything in slowly lol.

Without any dosing, when you see a 2 dKH drop in alkalinity you'd only expect about a 13 ppm drop in calcium and 1 ppm or less drop in magnesium.

For that reason you always see a drop in alk much more readily when underdosing, even when underdosing them all. You also see it rise first when overdosign them all.

reefndude · Sep 3, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Without any dosing, when you see a 2 dKH drop in alkalinity you'd only expect about a 13 ppm drop in calcium and 1 ppm or less drop in magnesium.

For that reason you always see a drop in alk much more readily when underdosing, even when underdosing them all. You also see it rise first when overdosign them all.

Shold I keep alk and calcium dosing equal?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Sep 3, 2015

reefndude said:
Calcium hasn't moved for me either.

reefndude said:
Shold I keep alk and calcium dosing equal?

Keeping it equal and basing the dose for both on the alkalinity needs will generally keep calcium about where it is, assuming the two part was made correctly.

There's nothing "wrong" with dosing them unevenly, but it usually isn't necessary. Just because you can, doesn't mean constant tinkering is worthwhile, especially given the uncertainty and poor reproducibility in the kits we use.
Folks using limewater (kalkwasser) or a CaCO3/CO2 reactor cannot jigger the ratios, and those tanks do perfectly well compared to two part tanks.

That said, there are a few reasons a tank may need more alkalinity, especially if nitrate is rising.

So either way is fine. Just don't agonize over calcium levels. As long as it is at least about 400 ppm, there's little concern about it.

reefndude · Sep 3, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Ma

Keeping it equal and basing the dose for both on the alkalinity needs will generally keep calcium about where it is, assuming the two part was made correctly.

There's nothing "wrong" with dosing them unevenly, but it usually isn't necessary. Just because you can, doesn't mean constant tinkering is worthwhile, especially given the uncertainty and poor reproducibility in the kits we use.
Folks using limewater (kalkwasser) or a CaCO3/CO2 reactor cannot jigger the ratios, and those tanks do perfectly well compared to two part tanks.

That said, there are a few reasons a tank may need more alkalinity, especially if nitrate is rising.

So either way is fine. Just don't agonize over calcium levels. As long as it is at least about 400 ppm, there's little concern about it.

Mag is sitting over 1500. I use esv 2 part. I've been lowering nitrates with water changes. Not stressing over calcium, have been checking more often because I have been tinkering with dosing. My main concern is stabilizing alk again. I was also dripping lime water, but for whatever reasons I can't keep my drip line dripping all of a sudden as well.