Dosing 2 part

[CoryC]

For the purposes of this thread, i will be chronicling the beginning stages of a 2 part dosage regimen in my display tank. For far too long i've neglected doing this, and occasionally lost some more sensitive pieces of coral or had retarded growth because I didn't understand or underestimated the importance of the calcium and alkalinity relationship in reef tanks. After seeing seased's tank over the weekend, i realized if i wanted good growth, color, and stability, i needed to dose. I had only occasionally tested these params prior to water changes, and relied on WC's alone to boost my alk and calc. So now i've done daily, and multiple daily, tests of alkalinity to kind of gather a basic starting point and understanding of the levels in my tank. Last night I made an alk solution based off randy's 2 part recipe, split in half, as only had a half gallon sized container to mix it in. I used a reef supplement caluclator to calculate the doseage needed to increase my alkalinity by approx .4 dkh a day. 19.9mL. Yesterday evening at 12am my dkh was at 7.39, and as off writing this it is 7.616. I am using a hannah alk checker for these purposes, testing multiple times at each interval, approx every 12hrs or so. I have noticed some interesting things. I've heard alk supposedly stays constant regardless of light cycle, however mine doesnt appear to. i've noticed some slight deviations during the light cycle but i suppose that could be noise in the testing procedure. I'm also keeping track of my calcium, but it isnt moving much yet, I will begin to dose it as well as my alk in the coming days. Right now it's at around 450ppm. My target alk is 9-9.2 and calcium of around 420ppm. I hope this is useful to you guys, do not neglect this relationship in your tanks. it's as essential for proper growth as a good light source is, and i now understand it. Any comments or input would be greatly appreciated.

 

[EvilMel]

Good thread, buddy!

Here's an article on calcium and alkalinity in the reef aquarium. Also, don't forget magnesium!!

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems ? Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[Engloid]

I don't know what you are dosing with for calcium, but I've got a couple bottles of instant ocean calcium booster here that I probably won't use. They are both unopened.

However.... If you're at 450ppm calcium now, and your goal is 420, you probably don't want it. What are you going to do to lower calcium? Mine was so high that I swapped to Instant Ocean instead of Reef Crystals for a while. I've got a calcium reactor (with CO2 for alkalinity), but haven't used it since the pump burned up on it. I do need to start watching these two things more and get them stabilized...and at the level they should be.

 

[CoryC]

well as my alk begins to rise and stay constant, calcium will begin to fall as it's rate of absorption is increased. Last night i mixed some saltwater for a couple hours, planning to do a small wc before starting this process and i measured the alk of that batch at 10.9! may not have mattered once mixed with my tank water, but as i dont have any noticeable phosphate or nitrate is just decided to continue with the water in my tank. I added 20ml last night and it went from approx 7.4 to around 7.6 this afternoon about 16 hours later. I'll probably up the dosage slightly. i'm not familiar with the instant ocean stuff you mentioned, so i'm not sure i could use it properly in my current two part system. i know the club has some dry calcium chloride i'll probably pick up. my new dosing pump should be here friday! EXCITED!!!

 

[seased]

Sounds like you have a good plan. Monitor it closely at the beginning and develop at regimen. Like Mel said, keep an eye on your Mag. What brand of doser did you buy?

 

[CoryC]

bubble magus, t-101. BRS sells the heads and they are easy and cheap to replace if anything happens. i liked your liter meter a lot, just a bit out of my price range.

 

[NanoPoseidon]

Ive started down this path as well but on a slightly less complicated operation. I am using Aquavitro products (Calcification and eight.four) to regulate the parameters. Alk swings are definitely hard to understand and maintain as mine can move quite quickly. I will be following this thread for pointers!

 

[EvilMel]

Cory, my main advice would be to do all these things slowly. Dramatically changing your Ca/Alk too quickly can affect your tank negatively.

I love that we're having this discussion!

 

[CoryC]

would you say that moving it from 7.4 over the course of a week or so is bad? i'm moving it about .4 dkh a day.

 

[EvilMel]

I'm honestly not an expert on that. I just wanted to make sure that you were taking your time. I didn't actually look at how fast you were moving.

 

[k2parkstar]

Mel is an expert advice giver, just not an expert at reading what she's advising about

 

[CoryC]

haha. yeah the recommendations i've seen at no more than 1.4 dkh per day. i'm moving at about 1/3 that. .4-.5 dkh per day. dosing at around the same time every day, and taking measurements through out the day to get an idea of consumption. it appears to be at around .2 dkh per day, but that could increase as i get closer to my target level. i'm at 8.6 right now. should be there tommorow night and then it's on to dosing to keep that level, and automating the process. mel, you know chemicals dont you? my sodium carbonate solution gets what looks like jelly floating at the top. is this just like the soda attached to bubbles from when i've shook it up? looks weird.

 

[EvilMel]

Mel is an expert advice giver, just not an expert at reading what she's advising about

This is true. I don't always thoroughly read through a post. You got me.

Mel, you know chemicals dont you? my sodium carbonate solution gets what looks like jelly floating at the top. is this just like the soda attached to bubbles from when i've shook it up? looks weird.

I do know chemicals...sort of. I know a lot about certain chemicals and not very much about others. I don't know much about sodium carbonate. Once it settles back down after you've shaken it up, does it look normal? Generally, if a chemical looks funny to me I don't use it. You could always make another small batch and see if it does the same thing. If it does, then you're probably fine. If not, toss the first one. You might PM Dave (Cee) and ask him about it. He's got more experience with two-part solutions and dosing than I do. If we were on RC I'd say to ask Randy or Chris Ray. They would both know, for sure.

 

[dRsLy]

Congrats on your decision to dose! I truly feel that maintaining proper/stable alk and calcium levels is the key to success with SPS. You will definitely see notable differences in the growth of your coral.

 

[CoryC]

so far dosing is going really well. no really marked improvement yet. some better color among my acros but i'll see how growth is effected. been figuring out how to dose properly using the pump and programing it with my apex. doing about 5 ml every 4 hours or so, that way i dont have any large swings. may be a good topic at the meeting i'll discuss it further.