Dosing Issues

[FisheRare]

Hello All.

I have an 100 gallon water box and current parameters are
Alk-8.24
Cal-368
Mag-1269
PH-8.06

I initilially started with kalwassar to increase Ph and kept increasing dosage up until it got to 8.15 but it never got any higher .i was up to 130ml per 24 hour period and started getting the precip and destroyed my heater and return pump . So i stopped dosing the kalk and let tank sit for 7 days . And started dosing all for reef thinking it would be easier since its one solution .i am dosing 110ml of all for reef in a 24 hour period and ALK and Cal levels maybe increase to 8.1 and calcium goes no higher than 391 .definitely thinking I’m doing something wrong. So i stopped dosing everything and will let the tank sit for a week . I currently us HW marine mix salt . Salinity is 1.026 ,ammonia is 0 ,nitrite is 0 ,nitrate is 10PPM . Temp is 78

thanks for any help you can give me

 

[PBar]

Hello,
To be sure, how much Kalk were you dosing? 130 ml/day is quite low.

If AFR is keeping your alk at 8dkh… then it is fine.
I wouldn’t bother much with calcium. Remember that calcium tests are not that accurate.

Yet, I have to admit that 110ml of AFR is lot for 100 gal tank. Can I assume that your tank is rather full of corals?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

To have a substantial pH effect, you'd want to be dosing closer to a gallon a day.

 

[FisheRare]

Hello,
To be sure, how much Kalk were you dosing? 130 ml/day is quite low.

If AFR is keeping your alk at 8dkh… then it is fine.
I wouldn’t bother much with calcium. Remember that calcium tests are not that accurate.

Yet, I have to admit that 110ml of AFR is lot for 100 gal tank. Can I assume that your tank is rather full of corals?

I have exactly 7 corals in my tank, and they are small, i have one torch that is about 6-7" i don't think that is a lot. as i said i stopped dosing all together for a week to see if tank restabilizes to natural numbers . should i continue with the All for reef at a much lower dosage and use soda ash instead of kalk to increase PH. i know 8.0 is good for PH but want to get it to 8.2 or 8.3. what are your suggestions?

 

[FisheRare]

To have a substantial pH effect, you'd want to be dosing closer to a gallon a day.

What do you recommend in Kalk dosage or soda ash to increase PH?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Kalkwasser or a sodium hydroxide based two part has twice the pH boost of sodium carbonate/washing soda/soda ash per unit of alk added.

That doesn't mean you need that much, but if you need a bigger pH boost, then one of those is a better choice than soda ash for alk.

All for Reef will not tend to raise pH at all.

 

[FisheRare]

Kalkwasser or a sodium hydroxide based two part has twice the pH boost of sodium carbonate/washing soda/soda ash per unit of alk added.

That doesn't mean you need that much, but if you need a bigger pH boost, then one of those is a better choice than soda ash for alk.

All for Reef will not tend to raise pH at all.

Agreed. Now when dosing any of these is it wise to dose at same time or Kalkwasser during the night and all for reef during the day. i read somewhere in my research that i shouldn't dose at the same time. what are your thoughts on this?

 

[PBar]

Hello,
If you allow me, I would focus on keep more or less the alk stable… and ignore ph for now.

The “visual” difference of ph higher than 8.0 is rather limited compared to the effort.

Let’s put this way: if have already an “incredible” tank and wants to seek for an extra refinement… makes sense.

Otherwise, I would definitely focus on other basic important parts.

I’m still a bit puzzled with the dosing values.
How are you measuring ph, alk and calcium?

I feel that you are dosing too much AFR for the size of the tank with not much corals.

Answering your question, I dose 80ml of AFR during the morning and 3.000ml of Kalk during the night (100 gal tank)
Again, I have already a rather full tank.

For now, I would dose less AFR e use more KH aiming for a alk around 8.

Cheers!

 

[FisheRare]

hello and thank you for the reply. i use apex Neptune trident for PH ,alk, cal, and mag and API test kit for all other parameters. i agree i felt the AFR was too high a dosage as my sand bed was starting to clump up. So now i discontinued dosing AFR and soda ash for a week and will let the tank drift back to its normal parameters. My tank isn't no where near stocked with corals like your i actually only have 6-8 corals torch's, anemones , and this is why i had a feeling I'm not doing it right. i have had my tank 2 plus years but very new to dosing, what is your suggestions going forward, where should i begin and what to start with

 

[KStatefan]

My opinion is that dosing kalk to maintain alk is a great way to start until you need to dose more then evaporation rate.

 

[FisheRare]

hello and thank you for the reply. i use apex Neptune trident for PH ,alk, cal, and mag and API test kit for all other parameters. i agree i felt the AFR was too high a dosage as my sand bed was starting to clump up. So now i discontinued dosing AFR and soda ash for a week and will let the tank drift back to its normal parameters. My tank isn't no where near stocked with corals like your i actually only have 6-8 corals torch's, anemones , and this is why i had a feeling I'm not doing it right. i have had my tank 2 plus years but very new to dosing, what is your suggestions going forward, where should i begin and what to start with

 

[FisheRare]

My opinion is that dosing kalk to maintain alk is a great way to start until you need to dose more then evaporation rate.

my evaporation rate is almost a gallon a day. and i would have to dose more Kalk than my evaporation can take

 

[KStatefan]

my evaporation rate is almost a gallon a day. and i would have to dose more Kalk than my evaporation can take

Ok. I would not have thought you had that much alk demand.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Agreed. Now when dosing any of these is it wise to dose at same time or Kalkwasser during the night and all for reef during the day. i read somewhere in my research that i shouldn't dose at the same time. what are your thoughts on this?

Dosing kalkwasser or other high pH additives at nigth stabilizes pH. Dosing them during the day stabilizes alk.

I'd dose All for Reef in the morning, or spread out during the daylight hours, front loaded more to the AM.

 

[PBar]

Hello!
If it is easy, I would dose Kalk over the night.
Pay attention to the area that you let it drip in the sump (with some reasonable circulation).
And step by step monitor the alk. If kalk alone is not enough, add AFR on top as supplement.

Side remark: dosing AFR takes generally a day to do effects on alk.

In my case, I was just measuring alk once a day at the same time. Each day, increasing or decreasing AFR a bit the dosage.

Don’t worry, I went for the same challenge in the beginning.

Cheers!