Need a little advice

[jtl]

After a year my tank is finally using up CA and ALK. Today my Alk was down to 7 so a dosed a little to bring it up to 8. CA was 380 when it is usually in the high 400's if not 500. I don't have anything on hand to dose tonight but I am wondering if I should start to dose kalkwasser since I have the lime. Been a long time since I used kalk so I am looking for advice.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You can yes.

How long did it take to drop from 8 to 7 ?

That’s the key to determining the dose.

 

[jtl]

About a week. I said I dosed enough Reef Builder to bring the Alk up to 8 according to the instructions.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

That’s a very small amount of alk usage , but not a bad place to begin.

You’ll want to figure your daily usage and Replace that per day.

Ie , the reef builder amount devided by 7.
Or saturated lime naturally.

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html
(I would just use the alk btw to calculate)

You may be able to just add to the ato as well.
(I just use the clear portion for fear of clogging my cheap pump.)

 

[lapin]

You might also think about changing salt to one that has a bit higher alk and cal, mag when mixed for water changes. (if you do them)