Dosing and alkalinity

[Paul31733]

Hey everyone. I recently switched testing brands as I ran out and did not personally like the brand I was using for alkalinity/ph.

I am now using Aquaforest tests for dkh, calcium and magnesium. I find them easy to use.
I recently added some more corals to my tank and have been testing alkalinity for the past 3 days. It appears my alkalinity is dropping at 0.1 dkh per day.

Should I wait longer and monitor? Or should I start to dose something?
I have the entire redsea reef kit, but I have been holding off as not sure if or how much to dose.

Any advice is appreciated!!
Paul.

 

[WIReefer]

Hey everyone. I recently switched testing brands as I ran out and did not personally like the brand I was using for alkalinity/ph.

I am now using Aquaforest tests for dkh, calcium and magnesium. I find them easy to use.
I recently added some more corals to my tank and have been testing alkalinity for the past 3 days. It appears my alkalinity is dropping at 0.1 dkh per day.

Should I wait longer and monitor? Or should I start to dose something?
I have the entire redsea reef kit, but I have been holding off as not sure if or how much to dose.

Any advice is appreciated!!
Paul.

Are you testing your Alk roughly the same time everyday? And I think with that small of drop weekly water changes will do the job.

 

[Paul31733]

I am testing it around the same time... Within an hour or two. Right after I get home from work. I do a ten percent water change every saturday.

 

[WIReefer]

I am testing it around the same time... Within an hour or two. Right after I get home from work. I do a ten percent water change every saturday.

That’s good keep that up and just keep testing once you add more corals there may be a need then!

 

[Paul31733]

Thanks!! Just for future reference. Is there a set number per day I should look for which would indicate the need for dosing?

 

[WIReefer]

Thanks!! Just for future reference. Is there a set number per day I should look for which would indicate the need for dosing?

I would probably start with kalkwasser since it’s pretty easy for dosing at first! I would test daily and dose small amounts until you see how much it actually rises!

 

[Paul31733]

Ok I will look into kalkwasser. But would it be like over 0.5 dkh per day when you would start to worry? Or just when I start to notice my water changes are not keeping my dkh to where it used to be?

 

[WIReefer]

Ok I will look into kalkwasser. But would it be like over 0.5 dkh per day when you would start to worry? Or just when I start to notice my water changes are not keeping my dkh to where it used to be?

Prolly both if your losing .5 per day then I would definitely start dosing, kalkwasser is very easy to learn and use. Start small. Dose small amounts over a long period of time and test daily at first.