Keeping things balance

[Mr tap water]

Hi Randy
I would like to know what do you think is best,
To have your Mag, Cal, Kh, in balance
Or to choose your own preferences to meet your needs and out of balance.

 

[bhavy]

Hello
I am having a problem getting my DKH above 8 and keeping it there. If I dos 2 part (BRS) like 4oz of ALK and 4 oz of calcium by hand on my day off a few hours apart I can get my DKH up to 9 and calcium within 420-440. But the next evening I'm down to 8 again ! I have like 3 corals no Coraline in my 200 gal display. I currently don't have a doser. It's my next purchase. I dos the ALK in the sump and calcium 15 min later in the display! Where is it going who is consuming these chemicals. (Oh ,my mag is 1350) forgot to mention that. I see no 'snow storm' as I dos.
Is it possible it's precipitating out but not in a snow storm ?
Or do I just need a Doser and dose 10oz of each throughout the day because what I'm describing above is Normal?
Thanks for the help!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi Randy
I would like to know what do you think is best,
To have your Mag, Cal, Kh, in balance
Or to choose your own preferences to meet your needs and out of balance.

I don't think balance really has import with these. I'd pick what you want for each independently.

For example, just because you may want high magnesium for some reason (or have it whether you want it or not) doesn't mean alkalinity should also be high.

 

[Mr tap water]

Thanks for your input.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Happy Reefing.

 

[bhavy]

Can anyone tell me if you will always see calcium or ALK precipitation? I am pulling my hair out wondering where my chemicals are going!! I dose 2 part ,ALK in sump and calcium in display 15 min after.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Can anyone tell me if you will always see calcium or ALK precipitation? I am pulling my hair out wondering where my chemicals are going!! I dose 2 part ,ALK in sump and calcium in display 15 min after.

Let's back up.

How much alkalinity are you dosing each day (in dKH or meq/L per day)?

What is in the tank? Hard corals? Coralline algae?

A soft coral tank can use 2 dKH per day, and hard corals tanks can certainly use more.

 

[bhavy]

Thanks for responding first off...

200 gal tank
3 Hard coral frags
3 soft corals
8 fish
No coralline algae
No bad algae

7.8 DKH
Calcium was 440
I was dosing 3 oz of 2 part twice a day in sump
I test about a hour later DKH would go up to maybe 8.3-8.5
Next day back down to high 7's
I would use a 16 oz water bottle with a pin hole in the bottom so it would drop each component in a high flow spot. (I'm saving for a Doser)
Then it occurred to me when my Gfo reactor sleeve turned white that maybe it's precipitating in the sump!
Last night I poured 3oz of ALK in display . Above a pump slowly it clouds and dissipated . In a non high flow area it snows. The calcium never snows high flow or not in the display.
Mag=1300
Am I on to something with it possibly precipitating in sump? When it precipitates does it eventually mix in and effect the tank or is it worthless when it precipitates?
When I discovered the above last night I was going to resort to dosing in the display for a week and retesting .
Your thoughts are appreciated .
-Frustrated in Cleveland

 

[Triggerjay]

I just noticed the snow effect with my ALK as well. I had let my doser kiss no of sit on cruise control and two days ago noticed my clam wasn't happy as a clam (closed during the day). I ran the typical battery of tests,.. Ca was a little low at 380, but my ALK was at 6.5. My doser WAS set at 6 doses of 5ml during the overnight hours. I have been adding an additional 10ml daily (during daytime hours, to the sump) by hand to get my ALK back up. Ca was easy, and I have it back up to 420, but when I dose the ALK by hand, I see the snow. My doser WAS also dosing 5ml CA 6 times a day during daylight hours. For about the last six months I can blow "snow" out of my rocks in the display. I assumed it was bacteria until I saw what I have hand dosing ALK.. I think that's what is in my rocks. I use ESV, but I feel the brand is not of importance. Another change I made over the last two days is I added kalk at 15ml/hr round the clock. By the reef Chem calculator, my ALK should now be settled around 8 dkh. My testing reads 6.5DKH. It appears that the ALK is precipitating out of solution. Just a few moments ago I bumped my doser up to 7ml X 6 doses daily on Ca and ALK. Mag is at 1500. I run a skimmer (wet) and a sulfur reactor at around 30ml/min. I am currently not dosing anything else. Clam is still upset with me, SPS still look good.

 

[bhavy]

Triggerjay,
This is the exact prob I am haveing
I also was blowing stuff out of my rocks that I thought was bacterial as well but as of late think is precipitated ALK!
It just doesn't make sense the amount I have put in that tank and my DKH still about 8!
Waiting to hear back before I go forward.

 

[bhavy]

It is important to note that I added 2 part (calcium) by itself a while back . How much I don't remember but between 20-30 oz over a weeks time to raise calcium levels forgetting that I needed to do them evenly. But have done at least 3 30 gal water changes since

 

[bhavy]

Got home today added 3 oz twice 2 hrs apart in display only to precipitate. !! DKH 6.7!!!
Other than massive water changes I don't know what to do

 

[bhavy]

Hand mixed baking soda with ro added 8oz did not precipitate. Then added 8oz calcium did not precipitate . Both in display. Going to retest in a hour.

 

[Flippers4pups]

I dose DIY sodium carbonate. Baked baking soda made into a gallon solution. 2 1/4 cups of baked baking soda into a gallon container , add RO/DI water and mixed till clear.

I then use this calculator to dose: http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

I dose by hand into high flow and always see a brief cloud of precipitation when I dose slowly. Never "snow".

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I just noticed the snow effect with my ALK as well. .

It is normal and expected for all two parts made from sodium carbonate to show cloudiness when first added. That is magnesium hydroxide that precipitates from the locally high pH at the point of entry, but it redissolves as it mixes in. If flow is very low, it might go on to also precipitate into calcium carbonate, which won't redissolve, so that is why it is always recommended to dose to a high flow area.

What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.htm

from it:

Figure 3. The transient cloud of magnesium hydroxide that forms when high pH additives are added. In this case, the alkalinity portion of B-ionic was added to a fairly still portion of one of my reef aquaria.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for responding first off...

200 gal tank
3 Hard coral frags
3 soft corals
8 fish
No coralline algae
No bad algae

7.8 DKH
Calcium was 440
I was dosing 3 oz of 2 part twice a day in sump
I test about a hour later DKH would go up to maybe 8.3-8.5
Next day back down to high 7's
I would use a 16 oz water bottle with a pin hole in the bottom so it would drop each component in a high flow spot. (I'm saving for a Doser)
Then it occurred to me when my Gfo reactor sleeve turned white that maybe it's precipitating in the sump!
Last night I poured 3oz of ALK in display . Above a pump slowly it clouds and dissipated . In a non high flow area it snows. The calcium never snows high flow or not in the display.
Mag=1300
Am I on to something with it possibly precipitating in sump? When it precipitates does it eventually mix in and effect the tank or is it worthless when it precipitates?
When I discovered the above last night I was going to resort to dosing in the display for a week and retesting .
Your thoughts are appreciated .
-Frustrated in Cleveland

It is not at all unusual or unexpected for a tank like yours to consume 0.5 dKH per day. I don't see any indication of a special problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

For folks having concerns about precipitation calcium carbonate, here are the things to help it:

1, Dose sodium bicarbonate instead of sodium carbonate.
2. Make sure magnesium is adequate to high.
3. Dose to a high flow area away from warm objects. The higher the flow the better for this purpose.
4. Don't overly strip the water of organics (e.g., excessive GAC).
5. Let the overall tank pH go down a bit.
6. Don't try to keep alkalinity or calcium too high. The lower the better from this perspective.

 

[Empress]

For folks having concerns about precipitation calcium carbonate, here are the things to help it:

1, Dose sodium bicarbonate instead of sodium carbonate.
2. Make sure magnesium is adequate to high.
3. Dose to a high flow area away from warm objects. The higher the flow the better for this purpose.
4. Don't overly strip the water of organics (e.g., excessive GAC).
5. Let the overall tank pH go down a bit.
6. Don't try to keep alkalinity or calcium too high. The lower the better from this perspective.

What would be a good "low number" for alk and calcium?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What would be a good "low number" for alk and calcium?

Alkalinity of 7 dKH and calcium of 400-420 ppm.

 

[Empress]

Alkalinity of 7 dKH and calcium of 400-420 ppm.

That's about where mine is right now! My pH is at 8.1. But it drops down to 7.8 at night. Is this ok or is it too low? I dose the 2 part alk/calcium in the sump and kalk in the ato. Lots of "dust" on the glass everyday.