help with dosing please

[Tuono]

I have been dosing the Fauna Marin balling lite method for a while now but think I'm not doing it correctly. Am I supposed to be dosing the calcium and alkalinity parts in equal amounts ?
my tank runs at dkh-8.3 and cal-440 and mag at 1400, I dose 25ml of the KH solution and 4ml of calcium solution to achieve this.
I only have spa frags in my tank and a few lps colonies so thought this was acceptable as they are not putting much demand on the calcium yet but have been reading everywhere that they should be dosed equally.
any help would be appreciated, thanks

 

[Tuono]

guess what I am asking is this, if they have to be dosed equally how do I get from where I am at the moment dosing 25ml of alk and 4ml of cal a day to adjusting to where I need to be without causing to much of a swing or am I ok to carry on
hope this all makes sense

 

[Dennis Cartier]

Being a Balling method, you should dose all the parts equally. This will maintain the balance of the major and minor elements. If you dose them unequally, the traces and major elements are going to become skewed.

I know it seems like you don't need to add any more calcium, but you have to remember that the calcium portion moves your calcium very little based on the amount dosed because of the large amount of calcium in the water column. The same amount of the alkalinity portion will move your alkalinity a lot because of the small amount of alkalinity contained in the water column as compared to calcium. Most people feel that their tank demands a lot of alkalinity and very little calcium, however the system parts already take that into account.

You can do some water changes to re-balance and lower your calcium, or just stop dosing the calcium portion temporarily, and then do some water changes to re-balance and start dosing equally.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Just start dosing both equally.

The proportions are designed so that only the equivalent
consumed amount of Calcium is added.

You will not see a measurable Calcium rise.

As long as you're doing regular water changes, the ionic balance will restore itself.

 

[Tuono]

thanks for the reply, so you say just up my calcium to 25ml in line with the alk and I'm all good ?

 

[Tuono]

Being a Balling method, you should dose all the parts equally. This will maintain the balance of the major and minor elements. If you dose them unequally, the traces and major elements are going to become skewed.

I know it seems like you don't need to add any more calcium, but you have to remember that the calcium portion moves your calcium very little based on the amount dosed because of the large amount of calcium in the water column. The same amount of the alkalinity portion will move your alkalinity a lot because of the small amount of alkalinity contained in the water column as compared to calcium. Most people feel that their tank demands a lot of alkalinity and very little calcium, however the system parts already take that into account.

You can do some water changes to re-balance and lower your calcium, or just stop dosing the calcium portion temporarily, and then do some water changes to re-balance and start dosing equally.

thanks for the reply Dennis, appreciate it, think I understand what you Are saying, if I stop dosing calcium how low should I let it go before I start dosing both equally ? thanks in advance

 

[Tuono]

Just start dosing both equally.

The proportions are designed so that only the equivalent
consumed amount of Calcium is added.

You will not see a measurable Calcium rise.

As long as you're doing regular water changes, the ionic balance will restore itself.

thanks, so you say just up my cal to 25ml a day the same as my alk and I'm all good ?

 

[gbroadbridge]

thanks, so you say just up my cal to 25ml a day the same as my alk and I'm all good ?

Yes, that is correct.

Technically the balanced Calcium for an Alk of 8.3 is 420ppm, but if your Ca is 440 that is going to be within the measurement error of your test kit anyway, so I'd just start balanced dosing immediately.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

thanks for the reply, so you say just up my calcium to 25ml in line with the alk and I'm all good ?

yes, and then if you need to, adjust calcium up or down based on longer term measurement.

 

[Dennis Cartier]

I agree with gbroadbridge here. A calcium of 440 is not really elevated. Depending on what salt you are running, your water change may be providing a calcium level at or exceeding 440. Calcium is considered elevated until above 500.

I am sorry, when I looked back at your original post and saw the calcium at 440, after gbroadbridge pointed it out, it is nothing to be concerned about.

 

[Tuono]

Yes, that is correct.

Technically the balanced Calcium for an Alk of 8.3 is 420ppm, but if your Ca is 440 that is going to be within the measurement error of your test kit anyway, so I'd just start balanced dosing immediately.

thank you for your help

 

[Tuono]

I agree with gbroadbridge here. A calcium of 440 is not really elevated. Depending on what salt you are running, your water change may be providing a calcium level at or exceeding 440. Calcium is considered elevated above 500.

I am sorry, when I looked back at your original post and saw the calcium at 440, after gbroadbridge pointed it out, it is nothing to be concerned about.

thanks Dennis, I'm using tropic Marin pro and when I set up the tank last year I was at 500 cal and 7dkh with my salinity mixed to .026 that's how I got so one sided with the dosing of alk over the cal, once again thanks for the help