New to Dosing... what did I do wrong?

[jazonPartij]

I've been using BRS two part but recently got a doser. I'm trying to get the amount correct. My Alk and Cal have been going down since I installed the doser earlier this week. I checked my water last night and Cal was at 400 from 460 three days prior. My Alk was at 6.5 from 6 three days prior. Last night I added more time to the dosers and came home from work today with this. What am I doing wrong and what should I do now?

 

[jazonPartij]

Plus I came home to find my powerhead in the sand bed. Starfish must have knocked it off. Could that play a part?

 

[leemosh]

I'm far from an expert, I was just bored at work so I figured I'd say something. Do you space out your dosings so you're not adding the Ca and Alk at the same time? And that you're adding them in several small amounts over a long period instead of in a single, larger dose each day?

And what about your Mag? If your magnesium levels are out of line, it makes it hard to have the Ca and Alk be right.

 

[justingraham]

Ok so what we're u using up a day in dkh and in calcium?
Also ur alk has risen unless u made a mistake.
Also what are u trying to show in the picture?
What's ur values at right now?

 

[jazonPartij]

Alk is at 7 from 6.5 yesterday.

 

[jazonPartij]

I'm not exactly sure of my usage yet but I'm dosing 66ml of Cal and 77ml of Alk. I didn't test my Mag because it was at 1500 three days ago so I was hoping it would drop some. I'll test it niw

 

[jazonPartij]

Mag is at 1300.
Alk at 7
Calc at 400

My corals seem happier than they've ever been. I woke up this morning to great polyp extension but came home to white glass. Not sure what to do to adjust nor how to clean it off my glass

 

[justingraham]

That could be percipitaion
What are the times u are doseing on the alk and then on the calcium? How far are they apart from each other?
Where are u doseing? High flow area?

 

[jazonPartij]

Definitely seems like precipitation. Why it happened and how to stop it would be great. I dose calcium between 4pm and 10pm. I dose Alk from 10:45pm to 8am. I just changed it to 12am to 8am to give it some more space.

I have the dosers right in between my two return nozzles which push it into my powerhead.

 

[kazikage42]

Hi, IMO I think you should try dosing small increments of Cal and alk over the course of 24 hrs. This way your Cal and alk will be more stable during the day and night. Just check your alk everyday or so till u get it where u want. Also I would recommend dosing in equal parts but it's not required.

 

[kazikage42]

Also when dosing just calcium or alkalinity over that many hours will cause issues with alk swings and you want to avoid that as much as possible.

 

[jazonPartij]

Also when dosing just calcium or alkalinity over that many hours will cause issues with alk swings and you want to avoid that as much as possible.

I thought by dosing over a longer period of time the Alk swings would be less. That's why I do it. No?

 

[Brew12]

Not sure what to do to adjust nor how to clean it off my glass

Can't help with the dosing, but the white should clear up on its own, no need to do anything but wait.

 

[kazikage42]

From what your dosing schedule looks, you're dosing only calcium from 4-10 pm and that will cause alk to go down during that time period. Then from 12-8 am, you're only dosing alk which will cause alk to go up again. Therefore having alk swings. Like I mentioned before, dose small equal amounts of both Cal and alk over 24 hrs with about 10-15 mins in between doses. Only dose more of the other if you want your Cal or alk a specific number. Also, increase or decrease doses based on your alkalinity. It will balance itself out over the course of a few days to a week.

 

[kazikage42]

For example, at 12 pm, dose X amount of alkalinity, wait 10-15 mins, then dose X amount of calcium

 

[jazonPartij]

For example, at 12 pm, dose X amount of alkalinity, wait 10-15 mins, then dose X amount of calcium

Do you know how I can program my Apex to do this?

 

[nanoreefer14]

Try raising your magnesium level. Mg plays a huge part in keeping the Ca+ and CO3- at bay. Those two ions want to bond together very easily. Its the Mg's job to temporarily bond to the CO3- ions until the corals strip it off and make the CaCO3 for their internal structures.

 

[nanoreefer14]

That drop in Mg from 1500 to 1300 was most likely the cause in the sudden precipitation. Not sure how the Mg dropped that fast. Did you do a water change?

 

[kazikage42]

True what nanoreefer said about your magnesium but it still in the required range. Sorry, I don't have any experience with the Apex since I'm using a doser that has an internal timer to do my dosing for me. Btw, what doser are you using?

 

[MBX5]

Do you know how I can program my Apex to do this?

I use this for the apex code
http://www.reeftronics.net/adpg/dosingcalc.php/