I've always dosed the same amount per @Randy Holmes-Farley directions. 320ml of alk and 320ml of cal
Elevated PH, Elevated consumption. How much?
- Thread starter Shinister
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I've always dosed the same amount per @Randy Holmes-Farley directions. 320ml of alk and 320ml of cal
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Ok, that makes sense. If I recall correctly you should see a drop of around 10ppm calcium for every 1.3dKH you drop.
Magnesium is much less consistent since corals take it up in very different rates.
They are, but Randy has come up with a few different ways to make balanced 2-part. BRS only carries 2 of them I believe.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
I am not sure on that, I just know that they mix the 2 part for a 1:1 ratio, that's why everyone thinks that if I dose this much alk, then i should use the same cal, and that isn't always how it works out.
Exactly. I should see a drop of 30ppm of calcium per day but Im not. Thats why this is so confusing for me. I ruled out bad test kits too. My hanna and salifert calcium at within 2 ppm of each. My hanna alk was giving me low incorrect readings compared to my red sea non-pro alk test (hanna at 7.2, red sea at 8-8.5) so the salifert was the tie breaker as it was reading +/-0.5 compared to the Red Sea. So now I use Salifert for every test, Mg/Cal/Alk/NO3 with the exception of the PO4 since I cant easily differentiate the colors
Gotcha.
Do you think maybe the high calcium dosage is lowering my alk since its a see-saw effect between the two? If so, then the night dosing of alk and day dosing of cal may be a solution.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
I'm not an expert for sure, but I do know that your supposed to dose mag first, alk 2nd, and cal 3rd, and all roughly 10 mins apart, so dosing alk at night, which will help with ph drops at night, and cal in the daytime can't hurt. Plus, your 8.5 ph might be a triple effect, photosynthesis during daytime, dosing alk during the day, and the Co2 scrubber.
Just wondering if dosing such high levels at the same time, roughly, may be the cause.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
Hopefully not, but your ph will naturally drop at night.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
I agree that is a good way to do it with smaller amounts, but I wouldn't do that on a tank with higher demand. If the alkalinity doses are not broken up through multiple additions it can cause some large detrimental swings.
It is important to make sure there is a little time between when one ends and the other starts. It is also important not to let mag get too low.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
Totally agree, it's easier for me because I don't dose such high amounts.
Billldg
My Gem Tang Is Watching You
I just cant get over a 4 dkh drop daily. Its either precipitating by itself or something is binding the alk causing it to precipitate. I seriously doubt wwc or tsa has a 4dkh drop in their frags tanks and they r under a serious load.
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After testing, should I up the numbers (cal/alk) manually and start a lower dosage like 50ml of each? Or should I leave it the dosers off and see how much it drops from the desired values (430ca, 9dkh)
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Let's see what the numbers show after not dosing and then come up with a plan.
Brew12
Electrical Gru
Not what I was expecting... but if it's dropping while you aren't doing any additions, something is using it.So it went down a full dKH to 6.2
Here’s a full tank shot
What do you think your actual water volume is?
Not what I was expecting... but if it's dropping while you aren't doing any additions, something is using it.
What do you think your actual water volume is?
I believe it’s 120 total volume. When I plug that in to the reef chem calculator to raise values, 120 is pretty accurate.
