I have a nano cube 28 gallon tank that has a pair of clownfish in it, and a few LPS and bird nest corals. I had been relying on water changes to maintain my calcium and alkalinity, but my consumption is getting to high for me to be able to maintain this. I am thinking I will go with some BRS dosing pumps set on a timer, because I do not have an aquarium controller. I have been in this hobby for years, but I have never had enough corals to worry about dosing before so this will be new for me. My calcium was at 420 PPM today when I tested it and my alkalinity was at a 7 DKH so it is low. Any idea why my alk consumption is so much higher than my calcium? I plan on slowly dosing the alk up so I do not shock my system, but any other advice or dosing set ups would be appreciated. Thanks.
Time to start dosing
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miPapareef
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Usually testing error, not operator error, just the normal variation in the results of our test kits.
I’d dose equal amounts of alk and calcium. If over a longer time period alk and cal drift apart, then you can look into why and take some action to correct.
I’d dose equal amounts of alk and calcium. If over a longer time period alk and cal drift apart, then you can look into why and take some action to correct.
ranchhand02
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Thanks for the reply. I thought the consumption of each should be about the same, but it was not showing that when I tested it. Also how is everyone dosing magnesium? I know it is not consumed nearly as fast, but should I just dose it by hand as needed?
Ron Reefman
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I have a newer set up 50g cube with a 40g sump. But this is a downsizing for me and the 50g cube has almost no room for any new corals. Now most of the corals are zoas and anemones, but there are some sps and lps corals as well. I have never been one to do a lot of water changes because up until now I've had 2 big systems (435g and 200g). And even though doing water changes is easier now, I'm still more inclined to do a weekly manual dose of Ca and alk when I do my water test, than do a water change. It's so easy to pour 35 to 50ml of Ca into the sump. And I add 60 to 90ml of alk directly to the tank by pouring it SLOWLY right in front of the return flow. So my Ca goes from 425 down to 400 and it gets dosed back up to 400. The alk is at 9.0 dKH and goes down to about 7.0 or 7.5 dKH and I dose it back up to 9.0 dKH. I have a couple of more exotic sps frags and they seem to alway be polyped out and happy. And IMHO, doing the weekly manual dosing keeps me more in touch with how the tank is doing.
When I had the big systems with dosing pumps I got complacent and only tested water every 4 to 6 weeks. Things went OK, but I like being more aware and I find the cube to be much more intimate. It was easy to lose track of things in the big systems when they are FULL of livestock.
When I had the big systems with dosing pumps I got complacent and only tested water every 4 to 6 weeks. Things went OK, but I like being more aware and I find the cube to be much more intimate. It was easy to lose track of things in the big systems when they are FULL of livestock.
