consumption of ca/mg/dkh

[ksicard]

I have a 75g tank w/ 5-8g of water in sump and 110lbs of LR. I have a medium to high amount of corals in terms of stocking. My question is why do I have to dose 3ml of CA/10ml Mg/14ml DKH daily? I know I have to dose daily but I always thought that mg gets used up slowly and Ca and DKH get pulled out very fast. It doesn't make sense that I have to dose only 3ml of Ca while Mg is dosed 10ml daily. Am I just over thinking the matter or is something off with those dosing amounts? My params are very steady but it just seems weird that my Mg requires 3x the amount of Ca dosed daily. 1450ppm Mg, 450ppm Ca, 9.1DKH are my params.

 

[MammothReefer]

I dose alk/calc in even numbers. I don't worry about trying to super saturate it. Mid 300s for calcium is fine, and 1300s for mag is good. Weird things happen when you get out of balance.

 

[ksicard]

The tank isn't unbalanced and I'm not having any issues with my coral, I'm just wondering why I have to dose so little Ca and so much Mg compared to the usual trend of dosing little Mg and more Ca/DKH. I'm just curious why my Ca drops very slowly and my Mg drops very fast (if not dosed daily). My DKH is on target but I'm just trying to see if there's an issue with my Ca/Mg. I'll probably not change anything but I just wanted to run it by other reefers that might know something I don't just to double check.

 

[jerpa]

I would guess the magnesium consumption you are seeing is actually test kit noise. What 2 part system are you using? 10ml of the DIY mixes based off Randys recipes would only be raising the magnesium by ~2 ppm per day. This is impossible to accurately test for. I would begin checking magnesium once every week or two to try to get a better trend line for your magnesium consumption.

 

[Surgical]

Your calcium solution is also most likely more concentrated than your magnesium solution. Just because its more mLs doesnt mean its more. Thats like comparing 10ml of saltwater to 10ml of saltwater. If they are at different salinities, than youre not really measuring that effectively if you didnt know the concentration, right?

Also i would want to get mag stable first.

 

[ksicard]

They are the liquid dosing products from continuum and based off the math provided by the company and the instructions on the bottles they all treat the same amount of gallons. My params are steady and not fluctuating and I like elevating my Mg and keeping it at 1450 and am not having any sps issues in terms of coloration and growth. I use the red sea test kits for mg/ca/alk and have been getting the same readings for 3 months (of course I have had to up the dosage amount over time to maintain the same levels after adding corals and growth of old corals).

But hey why fix what's not broken, I'll probably just continue to carry on and if I run into any problems then try and troubleshoot. Thanks for the opinions.

 

[MammothReefer]

I donnu man you appear to be in zone 4

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

 

[jerpa]

That graph has lead to plenty of confusion. It is a graphic to display an idea, not a graph to extrapolate data from. If you are unable to raise your alk because your calcium level is high then you would have a "zone 4" problem. You would also likely be having precipitation problems. An inability to raise calcium because of an extremely high alkalinity level would be a zone 1 problem and would likely be accompanied by the same precipitation.

Absent these issues there is no balanced relationship for absolute values of calcium and alkalinity.

Im assuming the continuum products are not balanced based on the doses the bottles tell you to use. Dosing unbalanced additives according to test kit measurements, especially calcium and magnesium, can lead to the problems described in the article.

 

[MammothReefer]

Hmm ok, difference in philosophy I suppose. I just found when I tried to keep things at super saturated levels I would run into issues like this but each to their own.

 

[tdb320reef]

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I use a CARX and test at the peak of midday. I look for an alk of 7.5 . As long is it is that number my calc and mg are in balance.