Mistake dosing, or is Red Sea Foundations hot?

[TheDashCave]

Hey guys, finally starting my journey into dosing. First time doser (manually first to get the hang of it).

Results posted below.

I had been collecting data the entire month of may. Any spike you see is because of a 5% water change with Red Sea Coral Pro salt.

I recently purchased the foundation elements sample pack. Followed the directions to bump up to 8.2 (I was at 7.98) on the alk and 425 on calcium (roughly), I was at 395. I. I based it off 50 gallons. Since the tank is 65 gallons total water volume I figured displacement and sand I should be at roughly 50 gallons.

It says on the bottles and directions that 1ml per 25 gallons will raise the calcium by 2ppm so I dosed 15ml for calcium figuring that would raise it to 425 (difference of 30ppm) and it did. So mission accomplished.

The alk however was different. I tested this twice as well because the directions say 1ml will bump it by 0.1 dkh. I dosed 2ml figuring i would see a rise in .2 which would put me at 8.2dkh. Instead it took me to 9.1!

This might be a dumb mistake by me. I'm still very new to this. It was my first dose ever.

Any thoughts on the results, or my issue would be awesome, as well as any other pointers.

 

[cmcoker]

Did you dose in tank or sump? And how long after dosing did you test?
How are you testing alkalinity?

 

[TheDashCave]

Dosing into the return pump chamber. Tested exactly 24hrs after the dose (11pm). However, the day after lights were off as I was acclimating new fish into the system.

 

[cmcoker]

What happened here?
I assume first spike was WC, then slow drop, slightly higher then what looks like a .5ish drop? Was that an errant reading, or?
And did it bump back up after a water water change or next test just showed an increase?

I'm wondering about testing errors.. did you repeat the 9.1 test or that was a single reading?

What kit are you using?

 

[TheDashCave]

The sharp increase at the end was 24hrs post dose (2ml foundation B tested twice).

I guess the question is did I dose correctly and if so why the jump?

Again this is a noob question but could the fact that the lights weren’t on that day have played a role in the lack of absorption of foundation elements?

I will test again tonight and dose. Then follow up with another test tomorrow night.

 

[cmcoker]

Yeah, I meant the increase from 7.4 to 8.1ish, was that water change or ?

Lights off could definitely cause a decrease in uptake, but it shouldn't increase the alkalinity by itself.

Definitely test, what alk are you shooting for?

 

[TheDashCave]

The 7.4 to 8.1 was a water change.

The dip following that when it went from 8.1 to 7.9 is the night I dosed the 2ml of foundation B figuring it would bring the levels back up to 8.1 instead it read 9.1.

About to test. Will report back tomorrow.

 

[TheDashCave]

Tested again last night.

The results make me believe that the test that showed ALK jumping to 9.1 was accurate.

Last night I was back at 7.98 from 9.1

Calcium was down to 410 from 425

So I dosed half of the doses that I had put in to cause the levels to rise.

However the dose of calcium seemed to have raised it to exactly where I wanted it.
The dose of alk made it jump way more.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Did you buy Red Sea Foundation liquid, or did you make your own from their solids?

 

[TheDashCave]

It’s the pre mixed liquid. Three 250ml bottles. Foundation A, B, C.

So last nights dosing was 1ml of Alk, after waiting 20mins 10ml of Calcium.

Will test and log at 11pm again tonight.

I’ve also been testing MG every other day and it seems to stay constant. How often would you all suggest testing for MG in these beginning stages? I’m trying to catch when it dips. In relation to dosing/consumption of ca/alk. Wasting my time?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s the pre mixed liquid. Three 250ml bottles. Foundation A, B, C.

So last nights dosing was 1ml of Alk, after waiting 20mins 10ml of Calcium.

Will test and log at 11pm again tonight.

I’ve also been testing MG every other day and it seems to stay constant. How often would you all suggest testing for MG in these beginning stages? I’m trying to catch when it dips. In relation to dosing/consumption of ca/alk. Wasting my time?

You'll never detect a magnesium change in a day, or even a week in most cases. Too slow to drop. Once a week or two is plenty, and if I was dosing a balanced additive system, I'd test much less than once a month.

It is best, IMO, to base all calcium and magnesium dosing on the alk dose, which is based on alk measurement. Then just occasionally tweak the calcium or magnesium dose as needed.