Alkalinity question

[biecacka]

David, thank you I got it now. I do want to raise it but I wasn't sure if I can take the amount on the calculator and just dump the whole thing in my tank at one time or HOW to dose it, maybe I wasn't asking clearly, I'm sorry. I just was unsure if the amount on
The calculator was the amount needed total(as one giant dose) or the amount needed for smaller doses to equal that amount over a few day period. Thanks for clearing it up for me. I understand now
Thank you
Corey

 

[Sport507]

I insulted you and I'm very sorry. Just do what David says.

 

[biecacka]

It's cool. I just really didn't understand how much to dose at one time. I was unclear if the BRS was one dose or daily dosage or whatnot. I wanted to make sure before I just dumped a ton of it in my tank and killed everything or anything. Maybe I wasn't clear in my asking
Thank you for your help
Corey

 

[Grant W]

If you can drip the solution slowly it would be better for your corals. Go as slowly as yu can or you willalk burn your corals. Before any of this though if your calcium is high or mag is low at the moment you will have a real tough timegetting the alk to rise. Alk should be around 7-8, ca should be 430 or so and mag around 1300. So test and see where the other numbers are first before starting any major adjustments. Hope this helps.

 

[biecacka]

Calcium is 385 and mag is 1080 all of which are low I know. I'm dosing all to raise them but my concern with my alk so low is some lps are stressed out
Corey

 

[disc1]

So if you put in the total amount you wanted to raise it, then yes you get back how much it takes to do that all in one dose.

If you put in 1dkh you'll get out how much to raise it by 1dkh. If you want to raise by more than 1 dkh, then you will want to know that number so you don't go over that much in one day. If you need more than 1 dkh, then do that much (I came out with 25g baking soda unbaked) per day until you have done as much as you need.

After you get the alk up to where you want, then we can work out a daily dosing rate to keep it up there.

The calculator is a LOT dumber than you think. It's just kicking out the chemistry numbers. If you add X amount of baking soda the new alk will be Y. The calculator doesn't know anything about breaking up doses. Although some of them will give you a warning when you put in numbers that are too big to do all at once. It just gives you a total and expects you to break it up yourself if you need to.

 

[Dr. Reef]

at those parameters u need to raise mag first to 1300-1450 range, it will stable the other parameters. then worry about cal and alk. u can use baking soda for alk and only add 1dkh per day (which is about 7 spoons according to BRS)

 

[biecacka]

Yeah I'm dosing mag and 3.24tsp of baking soda twice a day for a few days. All the while testing to get it back in check.
If I recall correctly I can raise mag 100 a day or so safely as well, correct?
Corey

 

[Sport507]

Yeah I'm dosing mag and 3.24tsp of baking soda twice a day for a few days. All the while testing to get it back in check.
If I recall correctly I can raise mag 100 a day or so safely as well, correct?
Corey

That is correct.

 

[Dr. Reef]

you can safely raise following per day.

mag 100 per day
cal 50 per day
alk 1.5dkh per day

 

[FIREFISHPAT]

I know this meet be more worked .But it is a little safer and you can add later. Do water changes that will help but you do have a big tank. So do 20% every other day. For a week and test and you will be closer without worrying about a big jump. You will still have to add but you will be stable. Stay on top of it and test so you know how much it drops in a day or two. Than you can figure out how much to add. I don't like adding too much so I would add small amount and test the next day. See if it goes up and make adjustment as you go. Go slow no need to panic if you add each day you be making gains.

 

[Sport507]

you can safely raise following per day.

mag 100 per day
cal 50 per day
alk 1.5dkh per day

That is correct typically don't let my tanks get that far of the mark but that's how I do it.

 

[Dr. Reef]

That is correct typically don't let my tanks get that far of the mark but that's how I do it.

Thats a very good point Sport507 brought up. Tank should never be neglected to a point where ur numbers are off by that much.
I keep a log on every tank i keep. in the beginning changes are often so i test all parameters daily. then once things start to fall in place every 3 days. and finally once everything is set in then weekly or some monthly.
Doing this you know what rate ur tank consumes the cal alk and mag and also you get to know when to change phos media carbon and denitrator media if u have any of those(i do).
Once u have knowledge of these numbers u can take a calculated guess and dose or not dose for few days but u wont get so far behind where those above numbers come in play.
hope this helps.

 

[Sport507]

at those parameters u need to raise mag first to 1300-1450 range, it will stable the other parameters. then worry about cal and alk. u can use baking soda for alk and only add 1dkh per day (which is about 7 spoons according to BRS)

This is why bnumair said that to you Corey.

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[biecacka]

I ended up having bad test kit. I thought it was inline until my frogspawn started looking upset with me then I tested it with another kit and there it was.
Corey

 

[biecacka]

So I have one gallon of RoDi water with 1 cup of magflake dissolved in it. How much can I dose daily to stay within the safe limits of raising it
Corey

 

[bertoni]

You can use the standard reef calculator and multiple the numbers by 8:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html