New to Dosing

[Marco S]

So, I get the general concepts of testing to see what your daily usage is and maintaining that with 2-Part, (The direction I have decided to go) and I have a Neptune DOS for dosing so I am good with that. The part I am at right now is getting my Alk up to speed since I let it get to 7.3 dKH, but my Calc is OK at 440 so I do not want to add anymore. I want to get my parameters to the following and then I can maintain them with the DOS...

Parameters Wanted:

Alk - 9 (Currently at 7.3)

Calc - 420 (Currently at 440)

Mag - 1350 (Currently at 1200)

Other Parameters: (Just FYI)

Salinity - 1.025

Temp - 77.9 - 78.3

PH - 8.1 - 7.9

Nitrate - 5 - 10 ppm

Phosphate - 0 (Need to find out how to increase this slightly)

Nitrite - 0

I am currently using Seachem Reef Fusion 1 and 2 and it says to dose them on a 1 to 1 ratio, but my Calcium is already higher than I want. Is it OK to just dose Part 2, (Alkalinity) to get my Alk back up to or do I need to dose Calcium too. Also, how do I get my Magnesium up? I have heard that the Reef Fusion Part 1 also increases Magnesium, but what happens if my Calcium gets above 500, (Is that bad?)? Last question, (I promise) is Reef Fusion by Seachem a good product and do others here use it? I just picked it up because it is what my nearest LFS keeps in stock so it will be readily available whenever I need it, but if it isn't a good product I am willing to change since I haven't started to use it yet.

Thanks for all replies in advance! ;Happy

Edit: Forgot to add...How often do you test Calc, Alk and Mag after you get to the point where you figured out what is needed and are dosing to maintain that? I want to eventually get a Neptune Trident, but realistically that is not in the near future so how many times a day, week or month should I be testing these parameters?

 

[Spare time]

You can just dose alk separate without dosing calcium. Sometimes I put too much calcium in and I shoot over 500 but it doesnt really harm anything. Heck i knew a tank that was at 800 or so calcium by accident. You can raise magnesium via any mag supplement (I prefer brs additive for mag and alk because it's cheap but I use red sea calcium+). Which additive you use to dose is completely up to you. There are dozens of brands of them and I usually just go for whichever is the better value or has the easier instructions.

 

[LiveWire]

You can totally dose to just raise the ALK alone and will need a magnesium supplement in order to get your mag up. I would not dose anymore Calcium until you get your Magnesium levels up as your Calcuim levels may raise after you get the mag up depending on how much you have been dosing and such. I have always used BRS and ME Coral products myself and have no experience with the Seachem myself so hopefully someone will chime in on that.

 

[Abbetude]

Is it OK to just dose Part 2, (Alkalinity) to get my Alk back up

One will have to on some occasions adjust one or the other independently to get the balance right.

Here is a great read for you: https://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

And a awesome reef chemistry calculator!

Reef Chemistry Calculator