Parameter range for newbie

saullman · Jul 17, 2020

I have a smaller tank. 45 gal JBJ AIO. My tank has been setup for over 2 yrs. On average I do a water change about once a month because I do not make my own water and I live an hour away from my closest lfs. I have very few corals in my tank right now because I have managed to kill everything I touch. I currently have a Pandora paly, Duncan, and I just bought a anthellia a few days ago. In efforts to stabilize my tank, I want to start dosing Ca, Mg, Alk. Fellow reefers have told me time and time again NOT to chase numbers. My question is what are acceptable ranges for all 3 for someone that knows nothing about dosing given what I currently have in my tank. My current parameters are as follows:

Salinity= 1.027
Temp= 77.4
Mg= 1340 ppm
Ca= 365 ppm
Alk= 7.9-8.0 dkh

dank reefer · Jul 17, 2020

saullman said:
I have a smaller tank. 45 gal JBJ AIO. My tank has been setup for over 2 yrs. On average I do a water change about once a month because I do not make my own water and I live an hour away from my closest lfs. I have very few corals in my tank right now because I have managed to kill everything I touch. I currently have a Pandora paly, Duncan, and I just bought a anthellia a few days ago. In efforts to stabilize my tank, I want to start dosing Ca, Mg, Alk. Fellow reefers have told me time and time again NOT to chase numbers. My question is what are acceptable ranges for all 3 for someone that knows nothing about dosing given what I currently have in my tank. My current parameters are as follows:

Salinity= 1.027
Temp= 77.4
Mg= 1340 ppm
Ca= 365 ppm
Alk= 7.9-8.0 dkh

Your big 3 look great as they stand with the current stock you have. You might want to bring up Ca a bit, but it looks just fine where you are currently keeping them at. Might want to bring Salinity down just a tad and keep it between 1.025-1.026.

saullman · Jul 17, 2020

Ok. Thank you for your advice. Not too long salinity was at 1.023 so I brought it up. I didn’t know it was going to shoot up to 1.027. I’ll get it back down again.

As far as calcium, I just dosed some calcium chloride today to bring it up a bit. I’m trying to get it over 400 ppm. I will retest again tomorrow. I want to figure out how much I need to dose daily and what I need to dose since I don’t do water changes every week or even every other week.

dank reefer · Jul 17, 2020

First you will need to find out what your consumption is per day. Say you start off at 8 DKH and in 2 days your down to 7.4, your tank is consuming .3 dkh a day. Your main dosing will be Alk, CA, and Mag as those are the big 3 in reef tanks. You will notice that Mag won't be consumed as much as the other 2, but again each tank is different.

When you test your tank, you want to make sure you test it at about the same time.

here is a calculator I used when i was dosing 2 part

Reef Chemistry Calculator

saullman · Jul 18, 2020

Jose Esteves said:
First you will need to find out what your consumption is per day. Say you start off at 8 DKH and in 2 days your down to 7.4, your tank is consuming .3 dkh a day. Your main dosing will be Alk, CA, and Mag as those are the big 3 in reef tanks. You will notice that Mag won't be consumed as much as the other 2, but again each tank is different.

When you test your tank, you want to make sure you test it at about the same time.

here is a calculator I used when i was dosing 2 part

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Got my calcium to 420 ppm. My next step is figuring out my daily dosage. Do I need to figure the daily dosage for all 3. Ca, Mg, & Alk?

Ippyroy · Jul 18, 2020

I would do both Calcium and Alkalinity at the same time.Get Alk up to the level you want first and maintain it for a week. Test Alk everyday at the same time and write down the level. This gets you used to testing, it's like practice. After you have Alk where you want it and maintain it for a few days, the same dose daily, I would deal with calcium. Test daily at the same time after it is up to the level you want. After both are steady, you go to testing Alk weekly or even bi-weekly if wanted. You will be able to test calcium monthly once you get them both steady.

saullman · Jul 18, 2020

Ippyroy said:
I would do both Calcium and Alkalinity at the same time.Get Alk up to the level you want first and maintain it for a week. Test Alk everyday at the same time and write down the level. This gets you used to testing, it's like practice. After you have Alk where you want it and maintain it for a few days, the same dose daily, I would deal with calcium. Test daily at the same time after it is up to the level you want. After both are steady, you go to testing Alk weekly or even bi-weekly if wanted. You will be able to test calcium monthly once you get them both steady.

What's an good acceptable range for alkalinity?

Ippyroy · Jul 18, 2020

That depends on your corals and what you want. I do 8.7 and have zoas, LPS, and a couple of SPS. I use HW Marinemix which mixes to around 8.8 so that is my target range.

saullman · Jul 18, 2020

Ippyroy said:
That depends on your corals and what you want. I do 8.7 and have zoas, LPS, and a couple of SPS. I use HW Marinemix which mixes to around 8.8 so that is my target range.

I only have a few corals. LPS and softies.

Ippyroy · Jul 18, 2020

Somewhere around 8 - 8.5 should be fine then. Do you have coraline algae?

saullman · Jul 19, 2020

Ippyroy said:
Somewhere around 8 - 8.5 should be fine then. Do you have coraline algae?

I "had" Coraline algae. It started growing all over everything. But then I started getting white all over my rocks like it was bleeching. Now the top of my rocks are all white. Doesn't look very good.

Ippyroy · Jul 19, 2020

I would highly recommend getting an RODI unit and making your saltwater for weekly water changes. It would help keep your parameters in check. Do you know your tap water TDS?

saullman · Jul 19, 2020

Ippyroy said:
I would highly recommend getting an RODI unit and making your saltwater for weekly water changes. It would help keep your parameters in check. Do you know your tap water TDS?
[/QUOTE

Ippyroy · Jul 19, 2020

Does your water have chlorine or chloramine? If just chlorine I believe you can get away with just a 4 stage RODI unit. If it has chloramines I would get a 5 stage, they only cost a couple hundred buck on BRS or other places. BRS will most likely have a sale in a month or two on them.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jul 19, 2020

saullman said:
I have a smaller tank. 45 gal JBJ AIO. My tank has been setup for over 2 yrs. On average I do a water change about once a month because I do not make my own water and I live an hour away from my closest lfs. I have very few corals in my tank right now because I have managed to kill everything I touch. I currently have a Pandora paly, Duncan, and I just bought a anthellia a few days ago. In efforts to stabilize my tank, I want to start dosing Ca, Mg, Alk. Fellow reefers have told me time and time again NOT to chase numbers. My question is what are acceptable ranges for all 3 for someone that knows nothing about dosing given what I currently have in my tank. My current parameters are as follows:

Salinity= 1.027
Temp= 77.4
Mg= 1340 ppm
Ca= 365 ppm
Alk= 7.9-8.0 dkh

You may find these helpful. They are getting a bit dated now, but most of the info is still good.

The "How To" Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 1: The Salt Water Itself by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 2: What Chemicals Must be Supplemented by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 3: pH by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

The “How To” Guide to Reef Aquarium Chemistry for Beginners Part 4: What Chemicals May Detrimentally Accumulate by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

saullman · Jul 19, 2020

Ippyroy said:
Does your water have chlorine or chloramine? If just chlorine I believe you can get away with just a 4 stage RODI unit. If it has chloramines I would get a 5 stage, they only cost a couple hundred buck on BRS or other places. BRS will most likely have a sale in a month or two on them.

I’m not sure if my water has chlorine or chloramine??? How would I know?

Ippyroy · Jul 19, 2020

saullman said:
I’m not sure if my water has chlorine or chloramine??? How would I know?

Test for total chlorine. Something like this

vetteguy53081 · Jul 19, 2020

Ippyroy · Jul 19, 2020

I used these.

Insta-Test Free & Total Chlorine & Chloramine Strips (Fresh Water)

Why does BRS recommend this? The easiest way to know if your city uses chlorine or chloramines is by using the LaMotte Test Strips for Free and Total Chlorine. Water Treatment facilities can change their treatment process without notice and usually change the amounts of disinfectants used...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

You can also call the city offices. They have to provide a sheet about what's in your water by law. I found mine online.

saullman · Jul 19, 2020

Ippyroy said:
Does your water have chlorine or chloramine? If just chlorine I believe you can get away with just a 4 stage RODI unit. If it has chloramines I would get a 5 stage, they only cost a couple hundred buck on BRS or other places. BRS will most likely have a sale in a month or two on them.

To be perfectly honest I would love to buy an RODI unit however I can’t afford it and probably won’t be able to afford it anytime soon. A few hundred is alot to me right now. Plus I would need to buy a brute trash can and a bucket of salt. It all adds up real quick and with my wife not working, the budget is very tight. So at this point I am getting my water from WWC in Orlando.