Nervous DIYer...

[casshoward]

After the disappointment of my LR testing (+) for NO2, thus a delay in my aquascaping party, I decided to become a brave DIYer (do-it-yourselfer).

You may recall my high Ca and low Alk thread a while ago, attributed to Oceanic Sea Salt. I got cold feet about becoming a DIYer and waited to read more.

My display parameters this AM are:

SpGr-1.026, Temp- 78 degrees, pH-8.6, *Alk- 1.71*, *KH- 4.8 dKH*, *Calcium- >500 ppm* (est. 540), NO3- 0, NO2- 0, NH4- <0.25, PO4- 0. (Zone 4 of chart)

(Display= 170gal bow with 5 fish, 3 softies and mushrooms, a few zoos and polyps, 3 peppermint shrimp, 1 cleaner shrimp, few crabs and snails)

Per the instructions (thanks Jay), here is my plan:
Dissolve 1 1/8 cup of baking SODA in 1 gal of RO water. Add 68 ml per day (based on the charts rec of 0.4 ml/gal per day). Measure Alk daily and calcuim less frequently (? weekly). (The calculator site says add a total of 10.96 tsps of baking soda gradually. The liquid measure seems easier to dose.)

Does this sound correct? Should I add the baking soda mixture to the sump? Any thing else before I commit to being a DIYer?

Thanks,
Cass

 

[willember]

were you using this calculator to determin what to put in?

http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/chemcalc.html

 

[neuroslicer]

I don't know where you got that value of 0.4ml/per gallon per day, but given that your recipe for alkalinity contains about 5 grams of sodium bicarbonate in 68 mls of solution, 68 mls in a 170 gallon tank isn't enough. (1 1/8 cups is about 300 grams).

So I went to the calcium/alkalinity/magnesium calculator at the link above, and I calculated that for a 170 gallon tank, you would need 777 ml of Alkalinity Recipe #2 (raw baking soda) to raise your alkalinity from 4.8 to 8.0. I'm glad you're not using recipe #1, which is much too basic for your tank.

I would add this volume over a 3 day period, 250 ml per day (I don't like to raise alkalinity by more than 1 dkh per day). Once you get your alkalinity to 8.0, let it go for 3 days and then measure again, along with calcium, and see how much calcium and alkalinity your tank consumes over a 3 day period. Do you have a doser to drip the alkalinity in? Just pouring it straight in will cause a precipitate to form and settle to the bottom of your tank, but dropping it in slowly will prevent that.
Jay
Glad your frogspawn is happy!
By the way, what's the NO3 level in your tank now?

 

[casshoward]

My NO3 is 0 (undetectable).

I used the calculator link (Reef chemicals calculator http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html) inbedded in the MS Word doc from our last meeting (DIY recipes #1 and #2 by the R H Farley guy). The recommened daily dosing of 0.4 ml/day is also from the same document (Table 1).

I do not have a 'doser' but I guess I will become a human doser using my 60 cc syringe! Any current or former nurses out there want to give a drip rate to 250cc! ( I guess I should prop a stool in front of the tank, huh? Well, considering I spent 6 hours in front of my tank trying to fish out Bogger the Mantis, I should be used to it!) How slowly do I need to add the baking soda mixture?

Cass

 

[casshoward]

First dose given!

First dose given!

I gave my tank the first 250cc without a problem nor precipitation! Cross everything you have 2 of and wish me luck. I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks again for the advice!

 

[Reefdiver77]

Hi Cass, from a current RN, your drip rate would depend on the size of the drop. Regular drop is 15 drops per cc and microdrop is 60 drops per cc. Of course, this is based on dosing with an iv drip, I have IV tubing rigged to a coke bottle with a thumb control. This is a regular drip and I regulate it accordingly. Works good for me. Yes, the Oceanic salt will cause your calcium to rise and your alk to drop. I have used it over a year and a half now with no problems and rarely check my parameters, since everything is doing great. I just use tap water with a conditioner. I know I have been very lucky!!