dosing 2 part bionic

[jedheuer]

Hi all,

I am dosing 7.5 ml each of Bionic 2 part alk and Ca supplement daily on my 40g. After 2 weeks of doing this my alk has gone up to 4.5 mql from 3.5. My calcium is cruising at 450 .

So I have 2 questions: Isnt the 2 part supposed to raise alk and ca in tandem to avoid swings in either ca or alk? if it is I am surprised that my alk shot up that much while the ca remained steady. Seconly how do I remedy this? Ideally I would like to maintain alk at 3.5 and ca at 450 with out wings of either one.

Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Isnt the 2 part supposed to raise alk and ca in tandem to avoid swings in either ca or alk? if it is I am surprised that my alk shot up that much while the ca remained steady.

yes, and what you saw is normal. A two part adds about 20 ppm of calcium for each 1 meq/L (2.8 dKH) of alkalinity. Tha tis the same ratio that corals use. But if you overdose or underdose you see the effects on alkalinity much faster than calcium, since there is a big reservoir of calcium in seawater, and not so much alkalinity.

To remedy it, back off on the size of the two part additions each day to get the alkalinity you want, and, if necessary, boost calcium only in a single dose with calcium chloride or just the calcium part of the two part.

 

[jedheuer]

That was my hunch so I backed off on the 2 part and am adding a bit of ca chloride in solo to balance it out. I will add less 2 part once I get balanced again. Thanks for clearing this up for me.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sounds good.

Good luck and happy reefing.

 

[jlaurence32]

I have to put in twice as much calc than alk to get my levels right. That coralline really sucks up the calc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Well, long term that can only happen if you are using a low calcium mix (like Instant Ocean) that needs to be corrected for, or if you are otherwise adding alkalinity via top off water or buffers. Otherwise, B-ionic adds the same ratio that corals and coralline algae take up both calcium and alkalinity.