Dosing Questions

[Mrramsey]

Hey guys - I'm not necessarily new but new to supplementing. So my tank has been running for 20+ months now. It is doing pretty good. I have a variety of corals: mushrooms, cabbage leather, other leathers, toadstool, monti's a couple lps, xenia, a psp colony, a gsp colony, a few zoos. The tank is lightly stocked with 2 occ clowns, 1 yellow tang, and one blue damsel that was actually a hitchhiker. I have a few anemones GBT and RBT as well as a carpet. I have a typical CUC of snails and a few hermits as well as 1 emerald crab and a red banded reef shrimp.

I got away from testing often (maybe every few months) because things have looked pretty darn good. I do a 10% PWC every 30 days due to the light load. I have seen over the past year the zoas I have had tend to just fade away and now my GSP seems to be following suit.

I tested the parameters this morning and here is what I have.

SG - 1.025
pH - 8.0
ALK - 6.4 dkh
CA - 425 ppm
MG - 1400 ppm
Nitrate < 2ppm (I am due for a wc now)

Alk has always been somewhat low in my tank and I am sure it somewhat plays into my fading zoa and gsp populations. MG and calcium have always been maintained with WC's using Reef Crystals.

I think my Alk should be more like 7.4 to 8.4. Just not sure how or with what method I should try and raise it?? Is this a BRS 2 part fix or just Kalkwasser or??

I strive to keep things as simplistic as possible but alas, I knew I would need to expand things at some point.

Here is a pic from this morning -

 

[55mixreef8236]

I dose the Alk part of a 2 part and that maintains a 9-10 dkh. I used to have the same problem with my Zoes. My last zoe colony that was fading away sprung back to life when i started running GFO and is growing like a weed now. My GSP doubled its growth rate also.

 

[downbeach]

The simplest way to increase your Alk would be to use some A&H baking soda. Take 1 1/8 cups of baking soda, mix it into one gallon of RO/DI water(this will take some effort, heating will help), use this calculator, fill in the blanks for your system and select Randy's recipe #2 from the drop down menu to get your dose.

 

[Mrramsey]

The simplest way to increase your Alk would be to use some A&H baking soda. Take 1 1/8 cups of baking soda, mix it into one gallon of RO/DI water(this will take some effort, heating will help), use this calculator, fill in the blanks for your system and select Randy's recipe #2 from the drop down menu to get your dose.

Ok So looking at Randy's recipies #1 seems to be the one for me since my pH is usually 7.8-8.0.

Recipe #1 is for use in reef aquaria whose pH is normal to low. In practice, more reef aquarists end up choosing this recipe than Recipe #2. It will tend to raise pH due to its alkalinity part's elevated pH, as do most of the commercial two-part additives. The increase in pH depends on the aquarium's alkalinity and, of course, on how much is added. Adding on the order of 0.5 meq/L of alkalinity increases the pH by about 0.3 pH units immediately upon its addition (and even higher, locally, before it has a chance to mix throughout the aquarium).

If you are using limewater (kalkwasser) and the aquarium is at pH 8.4 or above, this recipe is not the best choice. Otherwise, it is likely to be a good option. It is twice as concentrated as Recipe #2, because the baking process makes the baking soda more soluble.

Recipe #2 is for use in reef aquaria whose pH is on the high side (above 8.3 or so). It will have a very small pH lowering effect when initially added. The pH drop achieved will depend on the aquarium's alkalinity and, of course, on how much is added. Adding on the order of 0.5 meq/L of alkalinity drops the pH by about 0.04 pH units immediately upon its addition.

If you are using limewater (kalkwasser) and the aquarium is at pH 8.4 or above, this recipe may be the best choice. It is half as concentrated as Recipe #1 because the raw baking soda is less soluble because it's unbaked.

 

[Reef Frog]

Personally I would not raise your ALK more than about 1 dKH. 7.5 dkH is pretty close to ocean water. Some do higher alk to boost Stony coral growth but in many cases levels above 9 dKh can affect coloration negatively. Your tank looks great and I can't see a case for radical change.

The soda ash recipie is easy, cheap & effective. It's affect on pH is rather short lived. That's why some people like to dose it by an automatic drip unit throughout the day.

 

[Mrramsey]

Personally I would not raise your ALK more than about 1 dKH. 7.5 dkH is pretty close to ocean water. Some do higher alk to boost Stony coral growth but in many cases levels above 9 dKh can affect coloration negatively. Your tank looks great and I can't see a case for radical change.

The soda ash recipie is easy, cheap & effective. It's affect on pH is rather short lived. That's why some people like to dose it by an automatic drip unit throughout the day.

Thanks, that's exactly what I would like to do. Just a very slow release into my overflow through ought the day. Alk is really the only parameter that is out of the normal ranges on my system. I think that is contributing to the few failing colonies I have. I think I will go out and get some baking soda and give it a try for a few weeks and see how it goes.

 

[timnem70]

Personally I would not raise your ALK more than about 1 dKH. 7.5 dkH is pretty close to ocean water. Some do higher alk to boost Stony coral growth but in many cases levels above 9 dKh can affect coloration negatively. Your tank looks great and I can't see a case for radical change.

The soda ash recipie is easy, cheap & effective. It's affect on pH is rather short lived. That's why some people like to dose it by an automatic drip unit throughout the day.

+1 that tank looks great and I don't see a preponderance of SPS so higher Alk, if it's not used, is useless.