That all sounds fine to me. 
Can somebody explain what Alkalinity is?
- Thread starter mnestroy
- Start date
cbeitel
Member
I used a calculator for dosing Baking Soda and it said to raise Alk from 3.0 - 3.5 meg/l required 3.5 tsp in 135g. I have been dosing 1 Tbls/day which is awful close. I would expect to be at 5.0+ by now.
So... Since my Alk hasn't changed, I can assume the bicarbonate is being used up to keep me at the constant 3.0?
Is this normal? I also read that it takes 1.0 meg/l per 20ppm calcium. If so, I should see Calcium levels at 400 in 10 days give or take at my current rate. Do I have this figured correctly?
The reason I question is I have no SPS, 3 smallish LPS, but lots of Padina, some other calcifying macro like halimedia growing in the fuge, and of course coraline. I would think the Calcium/Bicarb take up would be lower in my set up of only 2 months. By the way, I WAS using Oceanic salt, but have heard complaints of unnatural Calcium levels of 500+ which confirms what the LFS said when they did my early tests.
By the way, I hope I haven't hijacked this thread
So... Since my Alk hasn't changed, I can assume the bicarbonate is being used up to keep me at the constant 3.0?
Is this normal? I also read that it takes 1.0 meg/l per 20ppm calcium. If so, I should see Calcium levels at 400 in 10 days give or take at my current rate. Do I have this figured correctly?
The reason I question is I have no SPS, 3 smallish LPS, but lots of Padina, some other calcifying macro like halimedia growing in the fuge, and of course coraline. I would think the Calcium/Bicarb take up would be lower in my set up of only 2 months. By the way, I WAS using Oceanic salt, but have heard complaints of unnatural Calcium levels of 500+ which confirms what the LFS said when they did my early tests.
By the way, I hope I haven't hijacked this thread
Mike O'Brien
New member
Yeah, you need to find out roughly how much your tank uses on a daily basis. It seem's it's just using that ammount up in a normal day. My tank uses about 2/3 of a meq/l a day in 85 gallons.
o... Since my Alk hasn't changed, I can assume the bicarbonate is being used up to keep me at the constant 3.0?
Within the errors and uncertainty of kit testing, yes. bear in mind that the demand actually depends on the alkalinity with higher alkalinity leading to higher demand.
It is normal to loose 0.25 to about 1.5 meq/L of alkalinity per day.
If so, I should see Calcium levels at 400 in 10 days give or take at my current rate. Do I have this figured correctly?
Yes, but there is even more uncertainty in calcium measurement, so don't be surprised if it happens substantially faster or slower.
Within the errors and uncertainty of kit testing, yes. bear in mind that the demand actually depends on the alkalinity with higher alkalinity leading to higher demand.
It is normal to loose 0.25 to about 1.5 meq/L of alkalinity per day.
If so, I should see Calcium levels at 400 in 10 days give or take at my current rate. Do I have this figured correctly?
Yes, but there is even more uncertainty in calcium measurement, so don't be surprised if it happens substantially faster or slower.
:thumbsup:
Sounds good.
Good luck.
Sounds good.
Good luck.
