Hi all, thanks in advance for any help you can provide
I have a 150 gallon tank that has been set up about 3 years and overall has done well. About 6 months ago I started more aggressively feeding and stimulating my corals with Red sea reef energy A and B, reef chili, Fuel, etc and have noticed a marked improvement in growth and color in almost all my corals. I use BRS calcium chloride and soda ash 2 part solutions. Prior to this change in my routine, I was using about 80-120 ml per day of each solution but over the past several months have noticed a marked increase in my consumption of both solutions to where I am using between 400-500 mL per day of each.
I certainly expected an increase but not to this extent. I'm noticing it becoming more and more difficult to get my calcium up to my preferred range of 430-450 and my alk to 9 dKh. During this time, I have definitely noticed more calcified crap in my sump and on my pumps. The sponge dividing the chambers in my sump is like a brick and I'm having to give pumps vinegar baths every couple of months as well as removing all the stuff from my sump to scrap everything out. My carbon reactor clogs up within a couple weeks and the carbon granules turns whitish/grey.
My dosers are programmed to alternate dosing every half an hour using apex program and BRS dosing pumps. The fluid drips in the rapidly moving water coming from my skimmer. My magnesium has been relatively stable throughout all this without dosing (1300ish) and pH is between 8 and 8.2
Clearly, I think there is precipitation going on but my question is whether this is normal in a rapidly growing/thriving tank or whether I am doing something wrong? Is there anything I can do to prevent it or slow it down? It is becoming a maintenance headache. Am I doing something wrong?
I have a 150 gallon tank that has been set up about 3 years and overall has done well. About 6 months ago I started more aggressively feeding and stimulating my corals with Red sea reef energy A and B, reef chili, Fuel, etc and have noticed a marked improvement in growth and color in almost all my corals. I use BRS calcium chloride and soda ash 2 part solutions. Prior to this change in my routine, I was using about 80-120 ml per day of each solution but over the past several months have noticed a marked increase in my consumption of both solutions to where I am using between 400-500 mL per day of each.
I certainly expected an increase but not to this extent. I'm noticing it becoming more and more difficult to get my calcium up to my preferred range of 430-450 and my alk to 9 dKh. During this time, I have definitely noticed more calcified crap in my sump and on my pumps. The sponge dividing the chambers in my sump is like a brick and I'm having to give pumps vinegar baths every couple of months as well as removing all the stuff from my sump to scrap everything out. My carbon reactor clogs up within a couple weeks and the carbon granules turns whitish/grey.
My dosers are programmed to alternate dosing every half an hour using apex program and BRS dosing pumps. The fluid drips in the rapidly moving water coming from my skimmer. My magnesium has been relatively stable throughout all this without dosing (1300ish) and pH is between 8 and 8.2
Clearly, I think there is precipitation going on but my question is whether this is normal in a rapidly growing/thriving tank or whether I am doing something wrong? Is there anything I can do to prevent it or slow it down? It is becoming a maintenance headache. Am I doing something wrong?
