Does anyone does Kalk with 2- part to maintain PH?

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sounds good.

Good luck.

 

[beachsidereefer]

Hi Randy,

Checking to see if you could review these results and let me know if they sound reasonable for a 200 gallon system with few corals which are mostly softies.

On Sunday I tested the water got the following results.
1360 ppm MG
415 ppm CA
6 dkh ALK

I decided that MG is fine but I want to raise the CA to 430 and ALK to 9.

using the BRS calculator I measured out the dose of CA needed and added it to the tank. Next I measured out what was needed to raise ALK. Since the last time I screwed up and added the soda ash solution to quickly which resulted in a lot of precipitation on the glass, I used my BRS 1.1 ML doser to slowly add it to the tank. It took about 24 hours to add all of the solution to the tank and I had almost no precipitation this time around.

So today (four days later) I retested CA and ALK and got the following results
398 PPM CA
5 dkh ALK

So my question to you is does this drop in CA and ALK sound about right? If not what would you typically expect to see? I completely understand it's a tough question since you have never seen my tank but always appreciate any of your thoughts on the matter.

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You lost 4 dKH in 4 days, or 1 dKH per day.

That's certainly reasonable, though it might have been much higher at the start and less at the end.

Folks typically lose 1-4 dKH per day, and even 2 dKH per day can come from coralline alone.

 

[beachsidereefer]

You lost 4 dKH in 4 days, or 1 dKH per day.

That's certainly reasonable, though it might have been much higher at the start and less at the end.

Folks typically lose 1-4 dKH per day, and even 2 dKH per day can come from coralline alone.

excellent, Thank You! So using the BRS calculator (I used 210 gallons to add in my sump volume) to maintain 430 CA and 9 DKH ALK I need to dose 5.85 ounces calcium solution and 5.05 ounces of Soda Ash solution per day. I thought I read some where that you should always dose equal amounts of 2 part so should I simply avg. these two numbers so I'm dosing equally or should I calibrate each doser to dose exactly the respective amounts?

 

[beachsidereefer]

Hi Randy,

So the saga continues..... I tested ALK and CA today and the values came it at 7 dKH and 396 PPM. So am I now chasing values and should I just leave it or re balance ALK and CA and up my daily dosing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Those values are OK, but if you want them higher, I'd raise the amount dosed daily bit a bit and see what happens over a few days.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

excellent, Thank You! So using the BRS calculator (I used 210 gallons to add in my sump volume) to maintain 430 CA and 9 DKH ALK I need to dose 5.85 ounces calcium solution and 5.05 ounces of Soda Ash solution per day. I thought I read some where that you should always dose equal amounts of 2 part so should I simply avg. these two numbers so I'm dosing equally or should I calibrate each doser to dose exactly the respective amounts?

Equal amounts are for routine additions, not substantial corrections to values.

It is also OK to drift the values from equal parts dosing, if needed, to maintain alk and to keep calcium from steadily rising or falling.