Help with 1st time dosing

[Flux Capacitor]

That lid is probably causing your ph to be lower. I’m not saying it’s 7.2 as Randy said above is unlikely, but it’s probably still on lower side due to the lid. Remove the lid and the air exchange with fresh air should help.

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Sorry, I missed the 2 part. I use bionic 2 part which is basically the same. You determine dosing needs from alk consumption. Measure alk at the same time over a 3 day period and see how much your tank consumes then you will know how much to dose. Alk and cal typically get consumed proportionally while magnesium get consumed at 1/10th the ratio of alk. These are general guidelines. Have you par checked your lights? Also for reference, I dose 42ml of alk and calcium daily spread over a 24 hour period. I dose 20ml of magnesium once a week.

I went and picked up a mag kit and a ph test.
PH now shows as 7.8-8 , was hard to tell the match
Mag is 1560
Calc is still 535
Alk still 7.2

Any thoughts?
Like the one response, I have considered going to a mesh lid, but may be a few weeks

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Some pics

 

[Lavey29]

I went and picked up a mag kit and a ph test.
PH now shows as 7.8-8 , was hard to tell the match
Mag is 1560
Calc is still 535
Alk still 7.2

Any thoughts?
Like the one response, I have considered going to a mesh lid, but may be a few weeks

Ok those aren't bad numbers. Mag and cal slightly elevated. 7.2 alk is ok, basically NSW level but just a little on the low side for typical reef tank but seems to be consistent with your salt mix right? Numbers will adjust slightly as you correct your salinity. How about phosphate did not see that one? I agree with the mesh lid. That is what I use.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I went and picked up a mag kit and a ph test.
PH now shows as 7.8-8 , was hard to tell the match
Mag is 1560
Calc is still 535
Alk still 7.2

Any thoughts?
Like the one response, I have considered going to a mesh lid, but may be a few weeks

Those values are ok and once salinity comes down, Ca and Mg will fall in line.

You may want to dose some alk before long.

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Ok those aren't bad numbers. Mag and cal slightly elevated. 7.2 alk is ok, basically NSW level but just a little on the low side for typical reef tank but seems to be consistent with your salt mix right? Numbers will adjust slightly as you correct your salinity. How about phosphate did not see that one? I agree with the mesh lid. That is what I

Phos is somewhere between .5 and 1 , was hard to choose which on the sheet

 

[Ryan Kindle]

Those values are ok and once salinity comes down, Ca and Mg will fall in line.

You may want to dose some alk before long.

Thanks, should I start today or keep an eye on it for a few days?

 

[thatmanMIKEson]

From many threads ive read here and reading/watching brs 77-80 seems pretty normal. Stable as in, its been running for 3 years and no torches, hammers, bubble coral, duncans and a few others have died. Just very slow growth. Ive also read many debatable threads about salinity levels.
Im asking for advice, my first post says what I have availabe to dose if needed.

yeah that temp is good I'm right between that.

don't believe my PH, it's probably not even 8.1 right now, but don't worry about PH as long as you have good water flow and surface gas exchange, with low C02 in the area/home, PH isn't anything to worry about and definitely not something to dose anything for. let PH do what it does ^ v ^ v ^ v every am/pm

kalkwasser would be a good intro into dosing it adds alkalinity and calcium in equal parts basically but you can weaken the mixture to suite your needs.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, should I start today or keep an eye on it for a few days?

I’d watch it and dose when it drops below 7 dKH.