General dosing question

[TNOx16]

I have a 13.5 gallon evo and I have some corals tanks been up for about 5 months now I’m wanting to dose calcium and alkaline right now my calcium is 320 and alkalinity is 161.1 ppm how is my alkalinity? I know my calcium is low I’m wanting a target of around 400-420. I have brightwell code A and code B. I’m new to dosing please help. Also I have a API reef master test kit I use to measure these.

 

[blaxsun]

What's type of corals do you have in your tank (soft, LPS, SPS) and how often do you perform water changes? Also, so you by chance know what your magnesium level is? (also important)

Code A is calcium - Code B is alkalinity. There should be instructions on the bottle to calculate how much of either Code A or Code B you need to add (based on your tank size) to bring your calcium and alkalinity to the desired levels.

It's generally a good idea to spread the calculated amount across a number of days (there may also be a maximum recommended daily dosage).

 

[ZoWhat]

Too small of water volume IMO fir dosing bc you run the risk of overdosing veeeeeeeery easily.

Find a great Salt with the parameters you want and just roll with WCs

 

[blaxsun]

Too small of water volume IMO fir dosing bc you run the risk of overdosing veeeeeeeery easily.

Find a great Salt with the parameters you want and just roll with WCs

With a tank this size I would just dose manually if water changes didn't do the trick.

 

[ZoWhat]

With a tank this size I would just dose manually if water changes didn't do the trick.

Well I wouldn't. LOL.
WCs only

 

[Reef.]

Either do water changes or use All for Reef, much easier with one bottle, I have the same size tank and use AFR.

I have mine on a doser, but you can manually dose it if you wish, until you get sick of that , then just buy a single head doser.

I probably think it’s too early for you to start dosing, get your parameters right before you even start thinking about moving onto dosing. You are just going to confuse yourself.

 

[blaxsun]

Well I wouldn't. LOL.
WCs only

I don't know how much the OP performs water changes (and what %), nor how many corals he has. There does come a point where water changes won't keep up at least alkalinity.

All For Reef is a good suggestion (assuming OP already bought the Brightwell products, though).

 

[Reef.]

I don't know how much the OP performs water changes (and what %), nor how many corals he has. There does come a point where water changes won't keep up at least alkalinity.

All For Reef is a good suggestion (assuming OP already bought the Brightwell products, though).

Agree, sounds like the OP has already bought the products, I would still move to AFR, he’ll only lose a little money, I think AFR will work out cheaper in the long run, especially if buying 2 dosing heads instead of 1, and the products are more expensive too, so just cut your losses now.

 

[TNOx16]

Right now I have a blasto, Duncan, two gonis, GSP, pulsing Xenia , 2 rock flowers and a quarter sizes montipora. I get my salt water from my LFS 1 water change a month about 4 gallons. Thanks for your replies

 

[TNOx16]

Also the instruction say to use 5ml for every 25g so I’ve been using 2.5ml every other day. It also says to use them in two part so code a and code b could I use just code a for my calcium I feel like 161.1ppm is high right?

 

[blaxsun]

161ppm (~9dKH) is fine. You want a range between 7-11dKH. I run around 8.25dKH, but it really varies among reefers.

Yes, if you just wanted to increase your calcium outside of water changes, use Code A. Start with half the recommended dosage for the first week and test every few days. After a week you'll have a rough idea on how much (if anything) you need to adjust the dose.

 

[TNOx16]

Okay is the something I can use to measure my ppm to dkh? Or just do it on google the API TEST KIT only says ppm thanks

 

[TNOx16]

If I start using AFR and my alk is higher then my calcium is it safe to use since I wouldn’t want dose for alk too when I dose for calcium

 

[Reef.]

If I start using AFR and my alk is higher then my calcium is it safe to use since I wouldn’t want dose for alk too when I dose for calcium

The idea with AFR is you get your alk mag and calcium where you want them, so for me it’s 7-7.5 alk, cal over 400 and mag around 1400, then you dose the AFR the amount your corals are using to replace what they use, AFR is made to replace the correct amount of each element, you are meant to test for calcium and dose AFR the amount to get back to where the calcium was, ( I use alk to test and fuse to keep the alk correct either way works, just choose the one you feel has the best test kit)it will then also add alk and mag at the correct ratios, as corals tend to use a known ratio of each element, you can check them all every few months just to check as you will find mag for example may be a little out so you can add a little mag to correct, or calcium etc.

 

[TNOx16]

Thank you just got some AFR 30 minutes ago and added 2.5ml to my tank I appreciate the info from the pros I put the Code A and B in the closet for now I seen almost everyone on here and my Facebook thread suggest AFR and the fact is has mag is great because I wasn’t dosing for that at all.

 

[Reef.]

Thank you just got some AFR 30 minutes ago and added 2.5ml to my tank I appreciate the info from the pros I put the Code A and B in the closet for now I seen almost everyone on here and my Facebook thread suggest AFR and the fact is has mag is great because I wasn’t dosing for that at all.

When you replace it, buy the powder works out a lot cheaper, all you do is add rodi water to it.

The alk in AFR takes 3-4 days to show up, so don’t think it’s not working and add more, wait a few days then test, you’ll soon know how much your tank is using per day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I do not understand folks concerns about the small dosed volume being a problem. If he somehow had a problem dosing small amounts, two part additives like he has can be diluted with RO/DI to any extent he wants, making the additions become any size he wants.

 

[TNOx16]

Okay so I bought AFR did a test for my calcium and alk my calcium went from 360 to 340 but my alk went up 9 to 11 dkh. Is this normal?

 

[Reef.]

Okay so I bought AFR did a test for my calcium and alk my calcium went from 360 to 340 but my alk went up 9 to 11 dkh. Is this normal?

hard to say as you don’t go into details on how you tested it and over what time, or the tests used.

I don’t think you would see a 10 drop in calcium, it should go up assuming the test was over a short period, the alk could very well go up depending on how much you added and how long you waited to do the test but if you added the recommended starting dose, which should only increase alk a max of 0.2, I would say you have either added too much or your tests are incorrect.

 

[TNOx16]

Last I tested was Monday. I will do a follow up test tomorrow to see if anything goes up. I’m using the API reef master kit and only dosing 2.5ml a day what the instructions says