How to maintain stable alk

[Sophie"s mom]

Hello, so my tank is 90 gallons, 8 months old, I do not have a sump, or refugium. I have a skimmer, UV sterilizer, HOB FLITER AND AN oase canister filter. A friend recently gave me a PC RAINBOW ACRO, so I am in need of keeping things as stable as possible and I have never done SPS before. So my question is, what is the best method for this? I have read a lot about using 2 part dosing for maintaining calcium and alkalinity, but which is best? And when to use? Any and all help is much appreciated

 

[crazyfishmom]

Hello, so my tank is 90 gallons, 8 months old, I do not have a sump, or refugium. I have a skimmer, UV sterilizer, HOB FLITER AND AN oase canister filter. A friend recently gave me a PC RAINBOW ACRO, so I am in need of keeping things as stable as possible and I have never done SPS before. So my question is, what is the best method for this? I have read a lot about using 2 part dosing for maintaining calcium and alkalinity, but which is best? And when to use? Any and all help is much appreciated

I would consider All for Reef. It uses calcium formate which releases slowly as bacteria process it allowing for steady alkalinity to be released over the course of 24-48 hrs which reduces spikes. Especially if you’re planning on manual dosing, AFR is a great choice. It also maintains calcium, magnesium and most trace elements steady.

 

[bobnicaragua]

You can use 2 part or kalkwasser to maintain calcium and alkalinity. I always start with kalkwasser because it gives you a PH boost.

You will not need to dose much with 1 frag, but I recommend getting a doser. EcoTech Versa is a good one.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

I would consider All for Reef. It uses calcium formate which releases slowly as bacteria process it allowing for steady alkalinity to be released over the course of 24-48 hrs which reduces spikes. Especially if you’re planning on manual dosing, AFR is a great choice. It also maintains calcium, magnesium and most trace elements steady.

I would consider All for Reef. It uses calcium formate which releases slowly as bacteria process it allowing for steady alkalinity to be released over the course of 24-48 hrs which reduces spikes. Especially if you’re planning on manual dosing, AFR is a great choice. It also maintains calcium, magnesium and most trace elements steady.

can I use that without a doser? That would be my preference because I do like Tropic Marin. How much and how often do you use it?

 

[X-37B]

Hello, so my tank is 90 gallons, 8 months old, I do not have a sump, or refugium. I have a skimmer, UV sterilizer, HOB FLITER AND AN oase canister filter. A friend recently gave me a PC RAINBOW ACRO, so I am in need of keeping things as stable as possible and I have never done SPS before. So my question is, what is the best method for this? I have read a lot about using 2 part dosing for maintaining calcium and alkalinity, but which is best? And when to use? Any and all help is much appreciated

The best advice would be to get a 2 part. ESV will make it simple and you will learn how much you tank uses daily. It is a liquid 2 part.
Get a good alk and calcium test kit. I like Salifert tests.
Check alk, log it, then check alk in 24hrs. This is how much your system uses daily.
Follow the dosing instructions.
Simple to do and you will then get an idea of what your system is doing.
A4R is a simple 1 part but I would start with 2 part until you understand what your system is doing.
This is the best approach for new reefers, imo.
If you need help pm me.
Its really very simple if you start with a plan.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

The best advice would be to get a 2 part. ESV will make it simple and you will learn how much you tank uses daily. It is a liquid 2 part.
Get a good alk and calcium test kit. I like Salifert tests.
Check alk, log it, then check alk in 24hrs. This is how much your system uses daily.
Follow the dosing instructions.
Simple to do and you will then get an idea of what your system is doing.
A4R is a simple 1 part but I would start with 2 part until you understand what your system is doing.
This is the best approach for new reefers, imo.
If you need help pm me.
Its really very simple if you start with a plan.

I don’t know how to PM someone on here! But I would certainly appreciate the help. Thank you

 

[X-37B]

I don’t know how to PM someone on here! But I would certainly appreciate the help. Thank you

Up near your Avatar is a little letter.
Click on it to send a pm.

 

[X-37B]

I don’t know how to PM someone on here! But I would certainly appreciate the help. Thank you

I will send you one and you can reply.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

I don’t know how to PM someone on here! But I would certainly appreciate the help. Thank you

If you're on mobile, click the person's avatar, then:

 

[Sophie"s mom]

If you're on mobile, click the person's avatar, then:

Ahh easy , thank you very much

 

[twentyleagues]

Yes I dose all for reef manually. Right now I dose 18ml daily. Like @X-37B said you need to test daily for about a week to get how much you use. Unless you have a lot of hard corals or a lot of coralline growing water changes will probably be enough for now.

Wow thats a lot of posts that have happened since I started this reply....lol. Work really cuts into my hobby time.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

Yes I dose all for reef manually. Right now I dose 18ml daily. Like @X-37B said you need to test daily for about a week to get how much you use. Unless you have a lot of hard corals or a lot of coralline growing water changes will probably be enough for now.

Wow thats a lot of posts that have happened since I started this reply....lol. Work really cuts into my hobby time.

lol yeah that happens to me a lot too. I do have a lot of coralline and a TON of tube worms. So I imagine that is where my all is going.

 

[SpyC]

The best advice would be to get a 2 part. ESV will make it simple and you will learn how much you tank uses daily. It is a liquid 2 part.
Get a good alk and calcium test kit. I like Salifert tests.
Check alk, log it, then check alk in 24hrs. This is how much your system uses daily.
Follow the dosing instructions.
Simple to do and you will then get an idea of what your system is doing.
A4R is a simple 1 part but I would start with 2 part until you understand what your system is doing.
This is the best approach for new reefers, imo.
If you need help pm me.
Its really very simple if you start with a plan.

It is best to test over a longer period of time, like a week, and average it out. The starting and one more sample is not a large enough sample size and creates some risk due to possibly a bad/inaccurate test.

 

[X-37B]

It is best to test over a longer period of time, like a week, and average it out. The starting and one more sample is not a large enough sample size and creates some risk due to possibly a bad/inaccurate test.

I would test daily if new. This will help you inderstand dosing from day one. It also helps you get your testing under control.
There is no other way to tell daily useage.

 

[Sophie"s mom]

It is best to test over a longer period of time, like a week, and average it out. The starting and one more sample is not a large enough sample size and creates some risk due to possibly a bad/inaccurate test.

Makes absolute sense! Thank you

 

[SpyC]

I would test daily if new. This will help you inderstand dosing from day one. It also helps you get your testing under control.
There is no other way to tell daily useage.

Adding that one should test multiple days would be a useful edit tonyour post. The way it reads now is you only need to test once after the base test.

 

[X-37B]

Makes absolute sense! Thank you

If you have never ran a 2 part then thats bad advice, imo.
Once you understand your ueage you can extend the tests to 2, 3, 4 days a weak and so on.
The other issue is you will get several ways to go about 2 part testing and useage and confusion sets in.
Good luck and remember to just keep it simple.

 

[X-37B]

Adding that one should test multiple days would be a useful edit tonyour post. The way it reads now is you only need to test once after the base test.

Thats not what it says but ok.
It said to test daily. Happy reefing, lol.

 

[SpyC]

If you have never ran a 2 part then thats bad advice, imo.
Once you understand your ueage you can extend the tests to 2, 3, 4 days a weak and so on.
The other issue is you will get several ways to go about 2 part testing and useage and confusion sets in.
Good luck and remember to just keep it simple.

How do you say it is bad advice after stating they should test daily?

 

[Sophie"s mom]

If you have never ran a 2 part then thats bad advice, imo.
Once you understand your ueage you can extend the tests to 2, 3, 4 days a weak and so on.
The other issue is you will get several ways to go about 2 part testing and useage and confusion sets in.
Good luck and remember to just keep it simple.

So my test kits are Hanna for all, and Salifert for calcium. And yes it gets confusing. Are you saying AFR one part would be a better choice once I know how much my tank is using?