Randy's 2 part question

[mindi]

Using recipe 2 and finding it great. Don't have the same raw materials here as in USA but I am using food grade Bicarb and pool grade Calcium Chloride Di-Hydrate.....mixing at rates of 368gm/2800mls of calcium and 438gms/2800mls Alkalinity...(finished volumes)
My Calcium seems to be creeping up above balance with Alkalinity...ie 4.5/450... started off a month ago 4.0/425 and am now at 3.4/455 in 400 litres mixed reef LPS mainly. Everything looks good...dosing 50mls of each daily in 4 x 25 ml shots each 6 hours apart.

Should I tweak the volume of the Ca part down when dosing..?.should I mix it a bit weaker..? (or is this the same thing anyway..)

Or am I looking at the wrong end of the stick and should be pushing Alk up a little. I know my present numbers are not a problem, but the trend needs to be understood IMHO.

 

[bertoni]

Mixing the calcium with a bit more water should solve the problem, unless water changes are causing a problem. It's hard to know exactly what's happening with alkalinity and calcium in our tanks over the long haul because of water changes.

 

[mindi]

Of course... it will be the water changes. I dont change a huge amount but about 25% month of local NSW which tests at about 2.7 meq/l so whenever I do a change, the new water is pulling down the total Alkalinity while the Calcium is showing consistent with the dosing.

So I can either make my Alk a little stronger or my Calcium a little weaker to compensate for the interference caused by the NSW water changes. I will probably just change my 50/50 dosing to 60/50 and see what that does rather than mess with the recipe.

Thanks Jonathan, I should have worked that out.

 

[bertoni]

You're welcome!