Dosing too much 2 part?? Advice Needed!!

[relradi888]

Setup:
Display tank 180 gallons
Sump and refugium about 50 gallons
Protein skimmer Aquamaxx EM300

Ever since I transferred my 90 gallon tank into a 180 gallon mixed reef I have had problems keeping my parameters stable. The tank is about 8 months old since the transfer. I am having to dose my BRS 2 part way more then I should, about 250mL for both Ca and Alk. I am having to dose alot just to raise those levels a few ppm.

My levels are currently: Ca 340 - 360
Alk 8.2 - 8.4
Mg 1340 - 1360

I feel like I am already dosing too much for my tank and I am afraid to dose anymore then I already am. I would like my levels to be Ca 420, and Alk 9-10.


I have several pieces of sps, the largest being a birdsnest the size of two fists. I also have a fair amount of LPS with some pretty large sizes as well. I also have 2 clams, one large and one small. However I do not consider my tank to be heavily stocked with coral.

Now I have done research on this and found some people dosing way more then me and having alot of calcium buildup on pumps and heaters. I also read that some people cut their dosing in half or even stopped dosing all together when they had this problem and waited for the system to "balance out" and then begin dosing again, slowly.

Now my questions are:
1) Should I stop dosing all together or cut the dose dramatically and wait for it to balance out?
2) If I should stop dosing, how many days or weeks should I do so?
3) Will the corals be effected in any negative ways if the levels start to drop?

I was thinking about doing a large water change and monitoring the levels for about a week and then start dosing. Please give me your advise and guidance.


Thanks
Rodi

 

[Pete polyp]

Add kalk dosing

 

[relradi888]

Add kalk dosing

so you would recommend using both kalk and the 2 part?

 

[beaslbob]

Kalk and 2 part can be combined and work very well together.

Please keep in mind that diy 2 part is not some majical so many ml of each per day formula. The idea is you measure alk and when it drops dose calcium and alk equally. Then after using up a gallon of the calcium and alk mixtures, dose mag.

Your parameters seem fine to me. I would just do the 2 part when the alk drops down per the instructions.

my .02

 

[jservedio]

Check your sand and pumps to make sure you aren't just precipitating all of your Ca and Alk out. If a large percentage is precipitating out, your sandbed will turn into concrete. Lift a rock if you can and see if there is a big hunk of sand stuck to it - that'll let you know in a hurry. If that is happening, I would stagger my Alk and Ca much more and take up as much of the dosing with Kalk as Pete suggested. If you are on a doser, I would split it up into 12 doses of each part of the 2-part and stagger each dose by an hour.

 

[relradi888]

Check your sand and pumps to make sure you aren't just precipitating all of your Ca and Alk out. If a large percentage is precipitating out, your sandbed will turn into concrete. Lift a rock if you can and see if there is a big hunk of sand stuck to it - that'll let you know in a hurry. If that is happening, I would stagger my Alk and Ca much more and take up as much of the dosing with Kalk as Pete suggested. If you are on a doser, I would split it up into 12 doses of each part of the 2-part and stagger each dose by an hour.

I do dose each over a 12 hour period. Ca when the lights are on and Alk when the lights are off. I did also check for precipitation on rocks, sand, pumps, and heaters which I did not see any signs of.

 

[dankreef]

Anytime I had trouble before I got a ca reactor I always added more mg. Mg tests are pain to read they could be lower than you think.

 

[relradi888]

Anytime I had trouble before I got a ca reactor I always added more mg. Mg tests are pain to read they could be lower than you think.

Thanks I guess I'll keep a closer eye on that and make sure it's in check

 

[Pete polyp]

so you would recommend using both kalk and the 2 part?

Yes, the kalk will help to keep the parameters stable. I drip fully saturated limewater with a homemade ato. Also I use two part to dial the desired parameters in and the kalk will aid in maintaining them. I went from dosing 18ml of two part daily to 1ml daily. In my case kalk isn't enough to keep up with the consumption, so I have to dose some 2 part.

 

[relradi888]

Yes, the kalk will help to keep the parameters stable. I drip fully saturated lineage with a homemade ato. Also I use two part to dial the desired parameters in and the kalk will aid in maintaining them. I went from dosing 18ml of two part daily to 1ml daily. In my case kalk isn't enough to keep up with the consumption, so I have to dose some 2 part.

Makes perfect sense. Seems like a cheap solution I could later try.

 

[Pete polyp]

Mrs. Wage pickling lime is like $3/lb. Its much cheaper than any 2 part out there, even diy.

 

[mcarroll]

Strangely, I've never found Mrs.Wages for sale locally, so if there's trouble finding it, don't be surprised. Hopefully you'll have better luck...paying for shipping kills a lot of the value.

FWIW, I think DIY two part is pretty competitive....cost is close enough to zero on both I wouldn't bother computing the difference. The advantage to lime vs road salt is the purity, IMO. (Jury is out how big that advantage is as I think I'm in year three of road salt without issue...still don't really recommend it to most people though.)

-Matt

 

[jduck]

are you using a decent salt? have you checked the paramaters?