Uneven 2Part Dosing and Balling Method

[BenBlue]

250g mixed reef, lots of fish. I dose BRS 2 Part, Soda Ash and Calcium Chloride and kind of started the Balling method. So I’m adding Tropic Marin A- and K+ to my alk and cal dosing solution, but I dose nearly twice the Alk solution as calcium. I’ve read tons of posts about this and my higher alk demand has a cause I haven’t identified or fixed so dosing unequal parts is what works to keep my system stable. My question is: How much of the Part C should I be dosing? Balling method says twice what your alk/cal dos is but if that’s based on equal two part doses where does that put me? I also dose kalk wasser at 600ml, soda ash 120ml and cal 45ml.
Parameters Alk 8.4, Cal 420, Mag 1450, No3 25, PO4 0.24

 

[Saltyreef]

@Hans-Werner @Randy Holmes-Farley

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Neither answer will give a perfect outcome. I'd probably just split the difference and dose in between.

Are you doing water changes, and if so, how do the salt mix parameters (alk and calcium) match up against the new salt water?

Is nitrate accumulating (means more alk part needed to stabilize alk)?

Are you certain these volumes are actually what is dosed and its not a dosing pump delivery issue?
Arte you certainly you followed the recipe for dissolution correctly? There are different recipes and mixing one part from one and one part from another will give off ratios.

The doses are not large (even the alk dose is only 0.7 dKH per day).

 

[BenBlue]

Neither answer will give a perfect outcome. I'd probably just split the difference and dose in between.

Are you doing water changes, and if so, how do the salt mix parameters (alk and calcium) match up against the new salt water?

Is nitrate accumulating (means more alk part needed to stabilize alk)?

Are you certain these volumes are actually what is dosed and its not a dosing pump delivery issue?
Arte you certainly you followed the recipe for dissolution correctly? There are different recipes and mixing one part from one and one part from another will give off ratios.

The doses are not large (even the alk dose is only 0.7 dKH per day).

thanks for the reply,

I am doing water changes but trying to reduce them, thus the reason for Balling method with trace elements. I use Reef Crystals which mixes higher in alk and really high on mag.

I'm guessing nitrate accumulation is the reason for the higher alk consumption, I feed heavily and have a high bioload.

I'm certain I'm following the recipe for dissolution correctly, but definitely not certain whether my dosing pumps are accurate (Neptune Dos) nor am I certain whether or not my test kits are accurate given their margin for error. I don't have time to calibrate/check/double check all my gear consistently so I adjust dosing based on testing (Salifert and Hanna for PO4 and Alk) and how healthy my corals look.

If I stick to 10%-20% water changes weekly my tank looks awesome and grows well, but I don't always have time lately and with salt prices going up I'd like to try and manage my reef with dosing and better chemistry.

I doubt I'll find a perfect answer, but splitting the difference and adjusting as necessary seems logical.

Since I try to manage most of my Alk/Cal uptake with Kalk, should I up the A- and K+ amounts I'm mixing in the two part? And since the Alk is dosed at higher rates than the Cal should I double the K+ so the trace elements are being dosed equally, or as close as I can?

TIA!