How much are you dosing?

[Reeferparty]

So over the past week I've been monitoring, testing, tweaking, and increasing my dosing.

I increased my dosing from 98ml to 151ml and changed my schedule from dosing Alk and ca every hour to every 2 hours still in equal parts.

The orange is Alk and blue is ca. Ca is dosed only for an hour and starts/stops 30 before/after alk.

Did a 15 gallon water change last night and tested:
Alk -8.6
Ca -425
Mg -1600 (high from salt mix)

8hrs later this morning my Alk has already dropped to 7.3. Before I make any changes too quickly, I desperately need some help!


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[Thor2j]

So over the past week I've been monitoring, testing, tweaking, and increasing my dosing.

I increased my dosing from 98ml to 151ml and changed my schedule from dosing Alk and ca every hour to every 2 hours still in equal parts.

The orange is Alk and blue is ca. Ca is dosed only for an hour and starts/stops 30 before/after alk.

Did a 15 gallon water change last night and tested:
Alk -8.6
Ca -425
Mg -1600 (high from salt mix)

8hrs later this morning my Alk has already dropped to 7.3. Before I make any changes too quickly, I desperately need some help!


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Somebody on here who was way smarter then me at chemistry pointed out that sometimes if u way over dose it will cause this to happen. May have to use the search function.

I would stop dosing for a day or so. Measure your reading at say 9am, then wait 24 hours and measure again. That will be your true usage. Mainly alk of course.

Also, what salt are u using?

 

[Reeferparty]

Somebody on here who was way smarter then me at chemistry pointed out that sometimes if u way over dose it will cause this to happen. May have to use the search function.

I would stop dosing for a day or so. Measure your reading at say 9am, then wait 24 hours and measure again. That will be your true usage. Mainly alk of course.

Also, what salt are u using?

Yea, I guess it's time to recalculate. I'm using fritz and I love it. Mixes clear in minutes! And only have to dose up Ca slightly to match my ideal parameters


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[Thor2j]

Yea, I guess it's time to recalculate. I'm using fritz and I love it. Mixes clear in minutes! And only have to dose up Ca slightly to match my ideal parameters


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I have a funny feeling if u stop dosing and measure your usage in 24rh period it's gonna be the exact same as it is now with dosing.

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[Reeferparty]

I have a funny feeling if u stop dosing and measure your usage in 24rh period it's gonna be the exact same as it is now with dosing.

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Well I did that for a day and you're correct. My Alk just depletes so fast I put the doser right back on


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[Potatohead]

I'm assuming you have seen this video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSg3KGTuRCo

 

[PAXpress]

I have a very similar tank volume as you and setup my dos and I think I need about 60-65 ml of both to maintain. Hope this helps good luck!

 

[Reeferparty]

So I've noticed some precipitation along the glass down at sand level and in my gfo reactor. Will I have to completely remove the precipitation to prevent it keep from dropping my Alk? Removing from the sand level will be near impossible sighh


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[ComforablyNumb]

Dosing?!? We don need no stinkin' dosing!

 

[PAXpress]

So I've noticed some precipitation along the glass down at sand level and in my gfo reactor. Will I have to completely remove the precipitation to prevent it keep from dropping my Alk? Removing from the sand level will be near impossible sighh


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I've never heard of needing to remove precipitation to prevent more... normally you get precipitation on warmer areas like heaters and pumps.

 

[Potatohead]

If I were you I would try dosing much less, like 30 ml each, and test every day at same time. Your alk may still fall a bit but shouldn't fall as fast as if most of it is precipitating like it seems to be now.

 

[SouthFla]

I WANT to dose more, but my tank doesn't LOL...8ml/day of 2-part Alk and Ca, with 1.5tsp/g Kalk in my ATO keeps my ALK right around 8.1 and Ca at 410. While my colonies aren't huge, they're not small either and I have quite a few SPS and LPS...go figure.

 

[bertoni]

The precipitate on the walls of the tank should be covered with bacteria at some point, and cease to be an issue. I'd worry more about why the precipitation is occurring. You might try using baking soda for a few days. It is lower in pH, and thus tends to cause less precipitation.

 

[Reeferparty]

If I were you I would try dosing much less, like 30 ml each, and test every day at same time. Your alk may still fall a bit but shouldn't fall as fast as if most of it is precipitating like it seems to be now.

For the past week, I've dialed it back to 60.7ml a day to account for roughly 1dkh/day. Alk seems to have dropped at a slower rate. Also, I completely took the doser off for 24hrs and retested. In 24hrs without any dosing, my Alk consumptions is 1.3dkh. Should I give it another 24hrs to confirm that it drops another 1.3dkh before readjusting and putting my doser back online?


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[Martin Kuhn]

How much are you dosing?

I suggest to dose according the 1,3 Dkh.

Waiting another day might bring your tank to an Alk level where it already reduces consumption

Bring your Level back to Optimum Alk level BEFORE you start normal dosing acc the 1.3 dkh

 

[Reeferparty]

Alk level dropped from 7.7 to 6.4 a little too low for my comfort so I manually dosed back up to 7.3. Decided to give it another 24 hour calculation and about 12 hours later this morning it dropped back down to 6.6. Is a .8dkh drop in 12 hours too much? I will not dosed up this morning and give it another 24 hours.


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[Martin Kuhn]

Totally normally
I'know of tanks with up to -3dkH a day


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[Reeferparty]

Totally normally
I'know of tanks with up to -3dkH a day


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The weird thing that is throwing me off is that after taking dosing off for 24 hours the calculated alk consumption is 1.3dkh. Also based the last 12 hours, rough calculated consumption is .8dkh. Which puts me on pace to be at 1.6 in 24 hours (pretty close).

With my total water volume at roughly 85g; reef calculators indicate that I should be dosing 78.9ml(1.3 consumption)-97.1ml(1.6 consumption). At one point last week (scroll up), my daily dosing was at 98ml daily; yet my Alk was dropping as if I wasn't dosing at all. I'm completely puzzled


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[bdsage]

re-calibrate your doser and try straight baking soda...

 

[bertoni]

That sounds like some of the supplement is precipitating, or maybe the pumps are not moving as much supplement as you think. Every once in a while, someone finds something wrong with a pump or its feed line. I'd try dosing by hand a few days.