dosing

[markandkristen]

i had started dripping kalc.

had 2 bottle of seachem maintains calcium.

started dosing the calcium well my levels have always been around 450 calcium and my kh is 120 ppm by hagen test kits.
my phospates are zero.

well im doing 10 gallon water changes every week with my rodi unit. on my 90 i checked my levels tonight and their
480 calc
120 kh
ph 8.1
nitrates 0
i didnt check amonia but its almost always 0

my question is why should i use a two part like bionic if my levels are good. my calcium has always been over 400

i have mostly softies.
i got 4 frags of sps actually 6 now that i think of it. but thinking i should spend my $$ on water changes rather than opting on water changes and adding 2 part stuff. any ideas

 

[stewie24]

Since you don't have alot of sps, you really don't need to worry about having extremely stable calc/alk readings. IF you are getting the readings where you like them (i'd be happy with those readings), i wouldn't bother with the 2 part doses.
Stewie

 

[dchao]

I don't like 2-part either for the same reason. If you need some calcium, just dose calcium chloride solution, if you need to add alkalinity, just use baking soda or marine buffer. Don't forget you are dosing kalkwasser already, which is adding both calcium and increase pH of the water already.

 

[markandkristen]

should i continue to drip kalk if my parimeters are good

 

[bertoni]

That alkalinity is marginal. Personally, I'd raise it to 150 or so. You don't want it below 125.

The 2-part solutions allow you to keep alkalinity and calcium balanced easily, which is handy. Also, they tend to keep the ionic balance in better shape than the separate supplements. Kalk has the same properties.

In your situation, I would raise the alkalinity using baking soda or some alkalinity supplement, and then track alkalinity consumption. As long as you're using only kalk to supplement, the calcium will track the alkalinity fairly well and you won't need to test that parameter more than every other month or so, IME.