Let's talk about Alkalinity, Calcium and Magnesium in an SPS Tank

i totally forgot to test my mg for a few months. Now its 1200.. i wonder how many ppm can i raise a day? i want to get it back to 1300.. im now planning to add 10ppm worth daily.
 
I've hit a weird place with my tank. I just can't get it to stabilize anymore years of it solid parameters and now I'm just running around chasing my tail. My alk starts showing a pattern of dropping so I raise it up. It spikes briefly then goes back to dropping. Over the past 3-4 months I've gone from 130ml a day to 296ml a day. I just can't figure it out. I've got a thread on the Chem forum but we are sort of spinning our wheels on there two. The tank looks fine atm. Things are OK but the level of effort I've had to put into my tank is insane at this point. This week a lone my tank when from 9.7 dkh to 7.7dkh to 11.4 dkh.

Anyways here is the other thread. if anybody has any thoughts or suggestions I am ALL ears.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2320731
 
Touring said:
The first thing that i was told was to do 1 gallon water changes everyday and I would never have to dose. So far so good...
Click to expand...

I agree but keep in mind that as your corals etc grow they will make increasing demands on the system. At that point you might have to consider supplements and down the line maybe a calcium reactor.
 
evolutionZ said:
i totally forgot to test my mg for a few months. Now its 1200.. i wonder how many ppm can i raise a day? i want to get it back to 1300.. im now planning to add 10ppm worth daily.
Click to expand...

check the dosing calculator in the reef chemistry forum as it depends on the volume of the total system and the product you are using.
 
MammothReefer said:
I've hit a weird place with my tank. I just can't get it to stabilize anymore years of it solid parameters and now I'm just running around chasing my tail. My alk starts showing a pattern of dropping so I raise it up. It spikes briefly then goes back to dropping. Over the past 3-4 months I've gone from 130ml a day to 296ml a day. I just can't figure it out. I've got a thread on the Chem forum but we are sort of spinning our wheels on there two. The tank looks fine atm. Things are OK but the level of effort I've had to put into my tank is insane at this point. This week a lone my tank when from 9.7 dkh to 7.7dkh to 11.4 dkh.

Anyways here is the other thread. if anybody has any thoughts or suggestions I am ALL ears.

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2320731
Click to expand...

Can you post your calcium and mag levels please.
Also what is the majority of your corals--lps or sps

Just dosing for one parameter can cause the problems you are experiencing
 
tiomm said:
Wait a minute... One thing is still unclear to me.
My alk usually swings between 6 and 9 dKH between waterchanges.
Do I have to keep it stable at, say 9 dKH to keep my SPS happy or is this ok?

Same goes for my Ca and Mg, they swing between WCs but never reach "bad" levels.
Click to expand...

How much are your water changes? and how big is your system. What salt mix are you using
Sometimes less amount but more frequent water changes are better for keeping parameters consistent
 
Sure last tests

Calc 350
Alk 8.512
Mag 1350

Logs can be found here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AiJkwwBTLCi7dG12ZFhsTXBGTUFZellSWTZ3QkhiLVE#gid=0

99.99999% SPS.

Most recent pic
original.jpg
 
Just finished reading the whole thing. Great info, learn a lot.
For me after many tries now everything finally color up and is growing with 7.2 dkh from 8.6 . CA 410 from 450 and Mg 1350.
 
Just a little info on this thread I would like to add. I am still trying to find my sweet spot of what to dose to keep alk and cal in line. I went online to a chart that has you enter in the gallons of your tank your current cal. And alk and what you want the end results to be. The chart said to use the entire bottle and then some of the 2 part a b. I'm not sure if I entered the info right cause 1 bottle like 34 oz or so seemed crazy. Instead I used 150 ml of a and 150 of b. my before parameters was 7 dk and 350 cal. I checked it a day after and phew I dodged a bullet my ca is 400 and alk is 9.3. I have about a 200 gallon set up. My mag is in line with 13-1400. I just wanted to post this in case anyone is trying to figure out what to start dosing. Always start low and test and add till you reach your goal. Tonight I'm going to dose some turbo cal as I'm happy with my alk. I do have a question maybe somebody can answer. If I'm using a and b and alk is good can you just use the a to bring up the cal. And not the b.Or is it better to use something like turbo cal.
 
Justin tinnin said:
Just a little info on this thread I would like to add. I am still trying to find my sweet spot of what to dose to keep alk and cal in line. I went online to a chart that has you enter in the gallons of your tank your current cal. And alk and what you want the end results to be. The chart said to use the entire bottle and then some of the 2 part a b. I'm not sure if I entered the info right cause 1 bottle like 34 oz or so seemed crazy. Instead I used 150 ml of a and 150 of b. my before parameters was 7 dk and 350 cal. I checked it a day after and phew I dodged a bullet my ca is 400 and alk is 9.3. I have about a 200 gallon set up. My mag is in line with 13-1400. I just wanted to post this in case anyone is trying to figure out what to start dosing. Always start low and test and add till you reach your goal. Tonight I'm going to dose some turbo cal as I'm happy with my alk. I do have a question maybe somebody can answer. If I'm using a and b and alk is good can you just use the a to bring up the cal. And not the b.Or is it better to use something like turbo cal.
Click to expand...

When one of the parameter's is fine(where you want it) but the other is still low (needs to be raised), you can dose the low one only. The instructions tend to be misleading...you do not need to dose both! Only dose whichever is needed:thumbsup: After each param is where you want , remember to test often(daily) to determine the consumption rate so that you can maintain stable alk and CA...
 
capn_hylinur said:
I agree but keep in mind that as your corals etc grow they will make increasing demands on the system. At that point you might have to consider supplements and down the line maybe a calcium reactor.
Click to expand...

your right!!!! that was when i had my 30G biocube and baby sps. i stoped the water change and went strait to dosing in the 120G. dose about 150 of cal/alk a day
 
Hi guys, do you dose alk all 24 hr including the night or only during the day when the lights are on, what is the best way to try minimize the daily swings ?
 
My pump start dose alk at 6.30 a.m. and stop at 11.30 p.m. spread out 10 even doses. Does it right or i must start dose alk 24hr?
 
I dose from 8am to midnight. At night it does not decline as much as during the day.
I also have a tank in my room and rather not hear the doser running at night.
 
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