Out of Whack

[Marcus Ford]

I seem to have made a rookie mistake and got my tank out of ionic balance.
I have been measuring all three major elements daily in order to determine my tanks consumption and responding accordingly - or so I thought
I have been dosing 3 part and have struggled to keep my alk level at around 7.7 despite dosing nearly 200ml per day alk and only 30ml cal per day. I have also lately struggled to keep my Mag up which may I think have helped in destabilising things.
I have been shooting for Calcium level around 410 and Mag 1230. And Alk 7.7


I have today stopped dosing Alk and added 15ml of Salifert calcium supplement in an attempt to rectify things. This is Salifert recommended weekly dose for my 80 gal system.

I’m now not sure if this was the best thing to do but all I know is I am adding vast amounts of sodium bircarbonate and very little calcium. I use Bio Aquatek salts btw.

So what now, wait a few days and measure again and then start dosing only equal parts f Cal and Alk or maybe do a huge water change, I’m not sure.

Having waited overnight I have just tested the water and Cal 400 and Alt 6.1! Mag 1200 So, do I start putting sodium bicarbonate in again or just wait.

Any ideas very much appreciated.

Btw The corals seem ok and rapid growth in some areas and a few sps doing nothing much.

Ta


M




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Can you post a link to the exact products you are dosing? They may just not be designed for equal parts dosing. If not, calcium products are often far more concentrated than alk supplements. especially those made from sodium bicarbonate.

 

[Marcus Ford]

Can you post a link to the exact products you are dosing? They may just not be designed for equal parts dosing. If not, calcium products are often far more concentrated than alk supplements. especially those made from sodium bicarbonate.

Hi Randy,

Many thanks for your response, here is a link to the product from Bio Aquatek.

Sodium Bicarbonate EP/USP Pharmaceutical 500g


Key Properties:

• Odourless, white crystalline solid or powder
• Slightly alkaline in solution
• Sparingly soluble in water
• Decomposes to sodium carbonate and carbon dioxide on heating
• Has relatively low toxicity
• Non-flammable
• The powder dust is not explosive

Specification:

• Description: White odourless powder
• Synonyms: Sodium Hydrogen Carbonate
• Purity: 99+%
• CAS NO: 144-55-8
• FORMULA: NaHCO3
• MW: 84.0
• EINECS NO: 205-633-8
• Sodium Bicarbonate Assay (%) 99.0 – 100.5
• Carbonate (%) 0.23 max
• pH of a freshly prepared 5% solution 8.6 max.
• Loss on Drying (%) 0.25 max
• Chloride (mg/kg) 150 max
• Sulphate (mg/kg) 150 max
• Calcium (mg/kg) 100 max
• Ammonium (mg/kg) 20 max
• Iron (mg/kg) 20 max
• Heavy Metals (as Lead) (mg/kg) 5 max
• Lead (mg/kg) 2 max
• Arsenic (mg/kg) 2 max
• Insoluble Substances 1g dissolves completely in 20ml of water to give a clear solution.

Calcium Salts

Specification:

• Formula: CaCl2.2H2O
• Appearance: White flakes
• Odour: None
• Bulk density: 800-900 kg/m³
• CaCl2 concentration: > 77 %
• pH (in 5% CaCl2 solution at 20°C): 9-11
• Mg and alkali salts: < 4 %
• Insoluble in water: < 0.2 %
• Alkalinity as Ca(OH)2: < 0.15 %
• F: < 40 mg/kg
• Heavy metals (as Pb): < 20 mg/kg
• Fe: < 10 mg/kg
• Pb: < 2 mg/kg
• As: < 1 mg/kg
• Hg: < 1 mg/kg

Sieve Analysis:

• 6.3mm: Approx 100% Passing
• 4mm: Approx 90% Passing
• 2mm: Approx 30% Passing
• 1mm: Approx 10% Passing

This is the Calcium product I added to rectify things!
http://www.swelluk.com/salifert-coral-calcium/

I'm very concerned as I have yet not responded to the dropping Alk level which was down to 6.1 this morning

Again thanks for your help with this Randy

 

[Marcus Ford]

Here are the links

http://www.bioaquatek.com/en/50-balling-salts

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

That calcium product is very concentrated and a sodium bicarbonate solution simply cannot be made as concentrated (due to solubility limits) to give equal parts dosing. So expect to have to use far, far more of any sodium bicarbonate alk solution as you use of that calcium product.

 

[Marcus Ford]

That calcium product is very concentrated and a sodium bicarbonate solution simply cannot be made as concentrated (due to solubility limits) to give equal parts dosing. So expect to have to use far, far more of any sodium bicarbonate alk solution as you use of that calcium product.

Aha, that would explain it all, so the high level of Alk dosing in relation to the Calcium dosing would be expected with this product. I'll continue to use it then and gradually raise my alk level to where I want it - you chemist are a clever bunch! Thanks very much appreciated Randy

Marcus

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Aha, that would explain it all, so the high level of Alk dosing in relation to the Calcium dosing would be expected with this product. I'll continue to use it then and gradually raise my alk level to where I want it - you chemist are a clever bunch! Thanks very much appreciated Randy

Marcus

lol

Happy Reefing.