Two-Part Question

[JSB]

Anyone dosing 2-part in disproportionate amounts? The two part instructions that I have seen say dose Calc and Alk in equal parts. If I do, I wind up with high alk or low calc. Show I calculate, adjust and dose independently? or stick with the 1:1 ratio?

 

[Dowtish]

you don't want to dose at the exact same time, you will want to space it out around 6 hours in between. They can cancel each other out.

 

[JSB]

Thanks. that part I understand. I dose alk at the top of the hour, and calcium at the bottom, using dosing pumps. The issue is, with my current 1:1 ratio, calcium has dropped to 310, but alk is 11. i don't want alk to go any higher, but I have got to increase calcium.

 

[Dowtish]

So obviously your demand on calcium is more than your alk. I would let the alk fall back down to 8-9 naturally.(just stop dosing for a few days) And up the dosage a bit on the calcium.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

What is your magnesium level? If it's low, it becomes harder to raise the calcium level. You should back off on alk dosing to let it coast down to 8 to 9 dkh if you are running bio pellets. A high alkalinity will cause your SPS's to suffer from tip burns if you are carbon dosing.

Have you read this article yet?

 

[JSB]

What is your magnesium level? If it's low, it becomes harder to raise the calcium level. You should back off on alk dosing to let it coast down to 8 to 9 dkh if you are running bio pellets. A high alkalinity will cause your SPS's to suffer from tip burns if you are carbon dosing.

Have you read this article yet?

Starting that article now. Mag is around 1550. I have made adjustments for Mag and Alk to drift back to 1350 and 8-9, respectively. I am making manual/gradual additions to Calc to get it back to 420 where I can go back to automated dosing. The 2-part instructions said 1:1 alk:calc and 20oz Mag per gal of alk/calc. Trying to get calcium up, pushed the others much higher than I wanted.

Thanks for your help.

 

[JSB]

Have you read this article yet?

That was perfect. Thanks very much. I am all about some Zone 3 correction.

 

[Tomoko Schum]

You're welcome.

 

[jason.tammy]

Tomoko, your fish will be here Wensday evening.I dose my alk by dose pump amd add my calc.and Mag through my top off water.

 

[firefightered]

Tomoko, I have read the article that you posted. I believe My tank is zone 4. My Alk stays from 5-7 dkh while my cal. stays 400-430. I would dose 20ml alk (baking soda) every day till it gets to about 8-9 dkh. There is no change in the cal during the alk dosing. If I am unable to dose for just 1 day my alk takes a dive back to 6-7 in just 1 day. Do you have any suggestions? My mag. stays at 1400-1450 without adding anything.
Thanks,
Ed

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Hi Ed,

It's quite natural that your alkalinity goes up and down faster than your calcium level. This article explains what is going on and the mechanism of it very well. Dr. Randy Holmes-Farley explains that we generally need to dose balanced calc and alk additives than just alk additive in a case like that.

I use a calcium reactor and lime-spiked top-off water instead of the two-part system. I used to see the same thing - very stable calcium and relatively fast alkalinity variation. The alkalinity shift is very gradual in my tank nowadays. When I notice it, I tweek my calcium reactor and the amount of lime that I add to my top off water. That typically correct the situation. Depending on the level of the alkalinity I may add a bit of sodium bicarbonate to boost the alkalinity, but I usually just adjust my reactor and lime amount since they are both balanced supplements.

Hope this helps.

Tomoko

 

[beaslbob]

From what I understand you first get calcium/alk/magnesium in line then start the equal calcium/alk dosing based upon the simple alk test.

And check every 2-3 months or so.

Seems to work fine to me at least when I had salt tanks.

my .02

 

[JSB]

From what I understand you first get calcium/alk/magnesium in line then start the equal calcium/alk dosing based upon the simple alk test.

And check every 2-3 months or so.

Seems to work fine to me at least when I had salt tanks.

my .02

Well, that was the path I was going down, and have now started down again. However, somewhere along the first path, I ran off in the ditch.

 

[firefightered]

I got all my perimeters where they should be and then tried to dose equal parts of cal/alk. When I did this my cal. would get too high and I would have to quit. At that point my Alk would drop fast over the next 2-3 days (alk would drop from 9 to 5-6 dkh in 2-3 days)and I would have to dose Alk only cause my cal. would still be on the high side. That is the battle I have been fighting with my tank. Any suggestions?

 

[Tomoko Schum]

Seems to work fine to me at least when I had salt tanks.

So beelzebub, when are you going to start it again? I saw that you were relegated to the back porch again.

Ed -

I am no help when it comes to 2-part system since I use the other methods. I suppose that you have diluted your chemicals correctly. How about posting a message on Chemistry forum here or on the other board where Dr. Randy or bertoni hangs out at.

 

[Dave3112]

I got all my perimeters where they should be and then tried to dose equal parts of cal/alk. When I did this my cal. would get too high and I would have to quit. At that point my Alk would drop fast over the next 2-3 days (alk would drop from 9 to 5-6 dkh in 2-3 days)and I would have to dose Alk only cause my cal. would still be on the high side. That is the battle I have been fighting with my tank. Any suggestions?

Do you dose anything other than 2 part? Like Kalk or Mg? What kind of Alk do you use? Soda ash or bicarbonate? I had this problem not too long ago and the only way I could keep my Alk stable was to switch from soda ash to bicarbonate. Also I was running high mg levels (1550) and that threw my ca off. At the same time I was dosing Kalk ( not on top off but only about 1 gallon of lime water every other day). My Alk would swing 2-3 DKh a day. Since I have stopped dosing anything other than 2 part my parameters are spot on. I still use slightly more Alk than Ca though. I know this was confusing but I hope you can make some sense out of it.

 

[JSB]

Also I was running high mg levels (1550) and that threw my ca off.

Did that force your CA low? If so, that is likely my issue.

 

[Dave3112]

Mg and ca are relative to each other. I actually found that to achieve high mg my ca had to be high too. I think it caused the corals and coralline to use up the ca faster. I don't have any scientific proof or knowledge of this but it's what was happening in my tank. What kind of salt mix do you use? Some have high ca when first mixed so it may be another chemical/salt in the salt mix that helps to "hold" the ca high. I noticed that a few years ago with reef crystals. I use a 50/50 mix of reef crystals and corallife salt now.