Dosing Part A/B solution

[kikireef]

Currently my calicium is at about 480 and my alk is at 2.6... a little low. I was told to dose just the part B solution to raise alkalinity by my lfs. I did so last night with the directed amount on the bottle and tested this morning and haven't noticed a difference in Alk. Should I give it more time before testing again? Should I dose again today? Will any of this affect my PH if done too soon? The bottle says to only do it 3 times per week.

 

[Logzor]

Most people dose A/B on a daily basis. If you alk is low it should not be a problem to only dose b.

It should not have a great impact on your pH.

Assuming the test was done properly each time it should have showed a difference by the next morning.

Dose more and try to bump it up. You will have to determine how much your tank is consuming so that it is not a constant guessing game!

 

[kikireef]

Ok thanks. I don't think my tank is consuming that much since it has very few corals...about 6 frags and 6 large corals for a 125 gallon tank....its fairly empty. I will try and up the dose next time and see what impact that has. Will it lower my calcium which is a little high at 480?...I'm sort of hoping so...

 

[Logzor]

480 is not problematic. Many people keep their calcium this high.

I would not think that a small rise in your alk would lower you calcium much. It will go down on its own.

If you keep calcium between 420 and 500 do not worry.

 

[kgross]

The simplest solution to your problem would be to use the reef chemistry calculator to figure out how much baking soda to add to your system to bring the alk up. It will actually take quite a bit in a 125 gallon tank.

Kim

 

[kikireef]

I tried that with no sucess. Although my Ph peaked for a little bit so I am trying to stay away from that method if possible

 

[kgross]

So when you added baking soda, your alk did not increase?

What SG are you keeping your tank at, and how are you measuring it?

 

[kikireef]

1.026 and measuring with a refractometer.