dosing question

[PGUY1]

For you guys dosing 2 part with a total water volume around 100 gallons...How many ml are you dosing per day? And how heavy are you stocked with corals and clams? Thanks. Phil.

 

[rezaktp]

I am not stocked very heavily but seem to be dosing about 3 times the starting point. I struggled woith this for about a year, so I gave up on the guidelines, and dose whatever it takes to keep my parameters in check. Alk 7-8, Cal 440, PH 8.2, cal 1350!
I use alk recipe 2, cal recipe 1 and Kalk for top off.

 

[bertoni]

Every tank is different. Which two-part are you using?

 

[PGUY1]

BRS recipe 1

 

[HighlandReefer]

One way to detemine your dosing requirements would be to determine how much alk you are using per week. Then divide this amount by 7 and dose that daily. As your tank grow out, you will need to boost this amount.

The reef calculator will help in determing how much alk to add to your size tank.

Reef chemicals calculator
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[PGUY1]

I've been dosing a while. I was just curious about how much some others are dosing. It seems like it has crept up to where I'm dosing a lot now.

 

[HighlandReefer]

It's not unusally for some tank to use up 2-3 dKH per day.

 

[PGUY1]

I am up to close to 200ml/day and my calcium is stable at close to 400 and my alk is stable at 9dkh. However I am getting a lot of CaCO3 precipitating on my pump shafts to the point of them not restarting with out constantly cleaning my pumps and Koralias. It was also precipitating heavily on my GFO before I pulled it this week. I called BRS about maybe changing to recipe 2 and they told me I was dosing way too much to the point of it being counterproductive. That a tank my size shouldn't be using more than 100ml/day. Even though I have several large SPS and clams. What? Really?

 

[PGUY1]

Any thoughts?

 

[HighlandReefer]

If your alk test is reading lower incorrectly and your alk level is actully above 11 dKH, this will lead to a lot of precipitation & it will take a lot more to maintain alk above 11 dKH.

If your alk level is correct, perhaps switching to baking soda will decrease precipitation due to local high pH in the area it is added. Adding your recipe for alk, sodium carbonate, will precipitate out calcium carbonate if you add too much at once (should be dripped) or there is not enough flow in the area it is added.

 

[PGUY1]

I'm using an Elos alk test that is only a couple of months old; do they read low? My dosing is broken up every hour all day into the sump. The alk stays pretty stable, it's the calcium level that fluctuates the most. I'm currently dosing 195ml of each, does that sound excessive? I am wondering if switching to recipe 2 would help. My ph stays around 8.3 as best as I can tell with a test kit.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Elos is most likely reading low by around 10% in marine water. This would mean your alk is really at around 10 dKH. If it is off a bit, this could be your problem. You could drop your alk down to around 7-8 dKH to see if the amount of alk you add decreases.

 

[PGUY1]

What do you think about the recipe 2 idea? And from the directions it looks like it is mixed weaker. Thanks Cliff.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Recipe 2 is just regular baking soda, which is the best to use as long as you don't need a pH boost. It will save you money.

You are less likely to get calcium carbonate precipitation using baking soda when you maintain an alk level below 11 dKH. The concern I have is that alk kits are not very accurate in general. Your alk level may be above 11 dKH and therefore I would reduce your level to around 8 dKH to rule this possibility out. Even if you use baking soda for alk maintenance, you will get abiotic precipitation above 11 dKH.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Do you know how much alk you use a day in terms of dKH? I can relate to this easier than trying to calculate it out given the information you have provided (200ml/day). I guess I'm lazy today. :lol:

 

[PGUY1]

Using the BRS calculator with a 100 gallon water volume, 200ml would equate to a 2dkh/day rate of usage because they call for 200 ml to go from 7 to 9dkh with recipe 1.

 

[HighlandReefer]

That's not that much alk consumption especially with sps coral and clams.

 

[PGUY1]

That's what I originally thought until I talked to BRS yesterday. I have never had a ph problem (as far as I can tell from a test kit), so i might substitute the baking soda for the soda ash and try that approach.

 

[HighlandReefer]

Sounds like a good plan.