doseing alk help again

Anthony christian · Feb 15, 2016

I have been doseing 40 grams of red sea powder alk for a week everyday testing everyday just to be safe heres the problem I have seen no rise in the levels at all they stay at 7dkh the entire time. My parameters are as follows.....

no3 4ppm
po4 0ppm
cal 450ppm
mag 1400
alk 7dkh
sal 1.025
temp 78
ph 8.0

I'm trying to raise my alk to 10 dkh so what am I doing wrong hopeing randy will cimeinhere with some insite as to help me understand this doseing stuff better. ihave also been doseing 14ml of no-pox4 for a week and have not seen a change in no3 but I will assume it takes a bit to see a change I ma change to vodka as I think but not sure that is mainly all this no-pox is I think it would be cheaper to dose vodka instead. let me know what you guys think.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 15, 2016

What size is the tank?

How long after dosing are you measuring alkalinity?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 15, 2016

For dry Reef Foundation B, use the entry for dry sodium bicarbonate in the calculator below as an estimate of how much you are boosting alkalinity with each dose. It will probably be a bit on the low side in dKH boosted (and entering sodium carbonate would be on the high side), but I could not find an exact set of data from Red Sea for their dry powder.

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

McMullen · Feb 15, 2016

No3 4? What's the problem? Are you shooting for zero just so you can then dose it back in? Same with Phosphate?
Without knowing more about the tank increase your alk dose, though dosing without even a small increase does not make since.
Also striving for 10 is fine but the reality is that number will change so maybe strive for a narrow range. Your tank is a living organism and it may prove more beneficial to find the sweet spot with all these numbers organically. Watch your coral and optimize based on their appearance and growth. My sps suffer with alk 10, some tanks thrive. My point, don't chase a number!

Anthony christian · Feb 15, 2016

My tank size is 240 tank 60 gallon sump estimated total volume is 260gal. I really don't check no4 as often maybe that's just lazy of me but it always is 0ppm when I do check it. I am in the middle of a 450 gallon build and am waiting for the new tank now just was trying to get a better understanding on dosing as I am going to be doing it on a larger scale and am wanting to not only be able to do it right but want to understand what is happening inside the aquarium.

Anthony christian · Feb 15, 2016

I'm not seeing dry sodium bicarbonate under the drop down menu I used the flash version of chart. And as a side note ill be going to Randy's 2 part when these tubs are empty. These containers maybe just me but hard to understand the dosing information.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Feb 15, 2016

Anthony christian said:
I'm not seeing dry sodium bicarbonate under the drop down menu I used the flash version of chart. And as a side note ill be going to Randy's 2 part when these tubs are empty. These containers maybe just me but hard to understand the dosing information.

Sorry, it is labeled "baking soda".