Why do I keep having to do correction doses while using 2 Part?

[fragit]

I dose over a 24 hour period for both parts so at any given time I should be holding a steady reading. It's not a once a day dose.

Some weeks I can hold an all reading without adjusting dose amount. Then the next week I get readings of dropping all big-time over a 4 day period. I'll up my dose amount and then be back to square one.

I want to be 8.6 ish to give me wiggle room for things to happen. When I dropped to 7.4 the BRS calculator said it would be 41ml to correct...why shouldn't I divide that by the days of when the drop happened (4 days, Saturday to Wednesday)? The dos currently runs every 15 minutes so how am I supposed to adjust for every dose period??

How old is your tank? Do you have coralline and corals growing? Do you have a sand bed?

 

[Shaka_Reefer]

You should test daily if possible, twice/day (morning and night) is you can, just to get a more reliable data. I’ve experienced the same thing, and as others said, it’s most likely due to human error, if you know for a fact that your Dos is dosing correctly and if your test kits are not expired. Good luck!

 

[Phyber]

How old is your tank? Do you have coralline and corals growing? Do you have a sand bed?

9 months, yes, yes and yes.

My acros are growing, acans spreading, new growth rings on my clam.

 

[fragit]

9 months, yes, yes and yes.

My acros are growing, acans spreading, new growth rings on my clam.

Have you checked to see if your substrate is solid? I had a similar issue when my tank was younger. I could not figure out where the alk was going. I only figured it out when I was moving some rocks around. The sand under my rocks turned into crumbling cement about 1” thick.

 

[Phyber]

Have you checked to see if your substrate is solid? I had a similar issue when my tank was younger. I could not figure out where the alk was going. I only figured it out when I was moving some rocks around. The sand under my rocks turned into crumbling cement about 1” thick.

I stir the sand every few weeks for cleaning and have a large cuc of nassarius snails and conchs.

 

[madweazl]

I dose over a 24 hour period for both parts so at any given time I should be holding a steady reading. It's not a once a day dose.

Some weeks I can hold an all reading without adjusting dose amount. Then the next week I get readings of dropping all big-time over a 4 day period. I'll up my dose amount and then be back to square one.

I want to be 8.6 ish to give me wiggle room for things to happen. When I dropped to 7.4 the BRS calculator said it would be 41ml to correct...why shouldn't I divide that by the days of when the drop happened (4 days, Saturday to Wednesday)? The dos currently runs every 15 minutes so how am I supposed to adjust for every dose period??

The 41ml is needed to get you back to your target dKh. Additionally, you need to increase your daily dose to maintain said target. Assuming you have a 65g tank, you'd also need to increase your daily dose by 10.4ml per day to account for the .9dKh drop over the four days (using the numbers you entered in the first post).

 

[fragit]

The 41ml is needed to get you back to your target dKh. Additionally, you need to increase your daily dose to maintain said target. Assuming you have a 65g tank, you'd also need to increase your daily dose by 10.4ml per day to account for the .9dKh drop over the four days (using the numbers you entered in the first post).

+1, This is what I’m trying to say.

 

[Phyber]

The 41ml is needed to get you back to your target dKh. Additionally, you need to increase your daily dose to maintain said target. Assuming you have a 65g tank, you'd also need to increase your daily dose by 10.4ml per day to account for the .9dKh drop over the four days (using the numbers you entered in the first post).

I was thinking that was the total number needed for my dose amount, not the incremental.

So if I was at 12ml, I need to be at 22ml currently, that's how it works?

 

[madweazl]

I was thinking that was the total number needed for my dose amount, not the incremental.

So if I was at 12ml, I need to be at 22ml currently, that's how it works?

Correct.

Edit: If my assumptions on tank size being 65g (water volume) are correct.

 

[fragit]

Go real slow is the best thing you can do. Increase by like 0.5mL per dose. Check in 24 hours. Repeat until you reach the desired DHK. Adjust as required up or down. Don’t increase DKH too much over a short period of time.

 

[madweazl]

Go real slow is the best thing you can do. Increase by like 0.5mL per dose. Check in 24 hours. Repeat until you reach the desired DHK. Adjust as required up or down. Don’t increase DKH too much over a short period of time.

Why use an arbitrary number? If they need to dose 22ml per day to maintain a specific level, all that needs to be done is to set that amount.

 

[fragit]

Why use an arbitrary number? If they to dose 22ml per day to maintain a specific level, all that needs to be done is to set that amount.

I personally just like to make slow adjustments with dosing. In my experience there are less drastic swings, and animals respond better. Just my anecdotal experience.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Alk continues to drop despite dosing equipment being verified working correctly. I understand coral uptake spikes will deplete my all level if not fully dosed for, but I'm having to do correction doses on top of daily doses almost weekly.

Just wondering if everyone has to do correction doses a d how often?

which just means you are not dosing enough alk, by definition. You determine the dose by dosing to a stable level. No other method can determine it exactly.