Does anyone dose their newly mixed salrwater for water changes? My calcium was at 480 before water change,mag at 1400,alk at 9.5. After the water change i tested the next day everything dropped by 40ppm and my alk dropped to 8 so should I start adding to my new saltwater before my wc?
Dosing water for water change?
- Thread starter ReefNo0ob
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is there a reason youre keeping mag that high?
IME, regular salt is more than adequate to keep parameters stable UNLESS theres a ton of lps/sps colonies in your tank.
I have a 40 gal with about 50-60 frags that I do a monthly 5 gal change on and the parameters barely change (in regards to mag/cal/dkh)
Although, dosing dkh/mag is something I have no experience in. Ive never had a massive amount of uptake of those parameters.
IME, regular salt is more than adequate to keep parameters stable UNLESS theres a ton of lps/sps colonies in your tank.
I have a 40 gal with about 50-60 frags that I do a monthly 5 gal change on and the parameters barely change (in regards to mag/cal/dkh)
Although, dosing dkh/mag is something I have no experience in. Ive never had a massive amount of uptake of those parameters.
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When selecting salt its always best to use a brand that mixes to the level you want to maintain your Reef tank too. Example if you like to keep your alk at a 8 dkh, use a salt that will mix up to a dkh of 8. This will help for getting spikes of Alkalinity that can effect the health of your. SPS. Some mixes of salt can be used with in an hour of mixing the batch up some require 24 hours before use. The main thing is having stable water parameters before during and after a water change.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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It was only 7 gallons (10%) of my normal weekly wc and im using instant ocean reef crystals. Could have been a testing error because all my soft and lps corals including my 5 sps frags looked fine
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Corals would be fine at either level anyway.
Normal IO is a lower calcium mix, and you may need to supplement calcium disproportionally if you want to keep it higher. Boosting the calcium in it is a fine plan (I did it for years) unless you are also using limewater (kalkwasser) which itself will offset that need.
That said, I don't expect it dropped quite as much as that 40 ppm suggests. 10% change might have dropped it by roughly 10 ppm, depending on the salinity.
Okay great i never knew much about my salt i just bought a brand new 65lb box for crazy cheap and i was told its good salt. I use red sea liquid a,b,c coral growth program 5ml of calcium and alk a day and thats been keeping my calcium at a consistent level. Magnesium im using 30ml/day (seems like a ton for 70 gal. Total tank water volume, but its been keeping mag level consistent) and seachem potassium iodide 1ml/day.
