Time to dose

[Kial]

I checked my water parameters this morning before my water change.
Calcium-375
Mag-1400
Alk -6.5

Considerably lower than last time I checked. Tested again few hours after my water change and the only change was alk raised to 7.5.

I’ve never dosed before so have no idea what I’m doing

I’ll check in a few more days to see if it drops again.

 

[Ocelaris]

How big is the tank and what are the inhabitants? Doesn't hurt to pick up some 2 part. It will eventually drop, and so I'd plan on doing some supplements.

 

[40B Knasty]

what salt are you using?

 

[Kial]

It's a 400l tank. I've just bought some products from ultimate aquacare (au) which supplements calcium, alk and magnesium.
I'll be manually dosing to start until I understand what I'm doing. Ultimate aqua has a dosing app which tells me how many litres needed to get desired levels. Should I slowly increase It daily until I get correct levels? Also once I've got to those levels do I then dose when it drops or do I dose to keep I from dropping? Sorry if that's a noob question aha

 

[Kial]

what salt are you using?

Blue treasure salt

 

[40B Knasty]

What is your water change schedule?
From what I seen about the salt from someone doing a Triton Test and other forums. The alk, mag, and cal were high on it.

 

[Kial]

I do about 10% weekly. Occasionally 20% if I feel I need to. My levels have always been pretty good with this salt but just today it all dropped. I have
2 torches
goniopora,
large wall hammer
trachy
favia
Duncan
Zoas.
So not heaps of corals

 

[40B Knasty]

Test your salt mixing to make sure you didn't get a bad batch. If that is not the case. You might be right about dosing time.

 

[Kial]

I'll check when I make water for next week. I've had this batch of salt for a month or so now though.

 

[40B Knasty]

Your alk at 6.5 I would be concerned about. Best to get that above 8. Below 6 can get into the danger zone of a tank crash. If you decide to raise the alk with buffer. Do it very slow. That stuff will cloud up your tank and mess with your pH.

 

[Kial]

I’ve got it back up to 7.5 with the water change, I’ll test again In a couple of days to see where’s it’s at. By that time I will have the stuff to raise it up, what’s the recommendation on how much it can be raised daily?

 

[Luno]

Alk generally depends on other parameters. Many successfully keep alk at high 6's and many also successful keep alk at 12. It really depends on your other parameters and tank inhabitants. More so it's about stability, keeping a level close to whatever alk range you choose and what works for you. I prefer mid 7's and I have ULNS anything higher than 8 my tank goes bad.

There's many ways to do it whether it be with kalk, or 2 part. I make my own alk, calc and mag following randies recipe if you haven't seen it worth a read and seen as randy is on here even better to help with it.

Easiest way for me to find what needs to be added at the start is to check the alk first thing in the morning and then check late at night which will give me a pretty good idea of what my tank uses in a day. Knowing that you can supplement the required amount preferable over various doses to keep stability. This is where dosers come in handy as you can't be around your tank all day to dose regularly. The doser can be set up to dose equal parts at various intervals throughout the day to keep a very stable level. The same as an ato constantly topping up your tank and keeping salinity stable.

 

[redfishbluefish]

I'd suggest checking this out:

How Much Two Part Do I Need