Should I stop dosing?

[mansorinc]

Hey guys been reading a lot on this forum and I'm thankful for all the knowledge I have accumulated.

I have a 135 gallon mixed reef with 40 gallon sump with a refugium. I dose 2 part esv b-ions.

I have been testing with Hanna checkers and they seem to not have been accurate, everything seemed great until I bought the Salifert master kit.

My tank is not crashing or anything bad, I just want to lower my Alk.

I have tested for the past two nights and these are the results I've got


10/22 11:36Pm
alk 9.8
Calcium 420
Magnesium 1275

10/23/19
9:45
alk 9.6
Calcium 420
Mag 1290

My nitrates and phosphates are somewhat high. I've been vodka dosing to lower my phosphates.
Started at
Nitrates 50ppm
Phosphates .5
Now I'm at nitrates 25ppm
Phosphates about .25
They are slowing going down since I've been vodka dosing

I would like my Alk to be at about 8dkh.
Should I stop dosing until I get to my desired dkh or am I fine where I'm at and should continue dosing?

Thank you!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sde1500]

If the tank is fine I wouldn't meddle with it. But yes if you want it lower you stop dosing alk until it is where you want it, then start dosing again.

 

[mcgyvr]

Should I stop dosing until I get to my desired dkh or am I fine where I’m at and should continue dosing?

Nothing wrong with your current alkalinity IMO and it should allow faster potential growth vs it being lower.. and as your nutrient levels are high tip burn,etc.. shouldn't be an issue.

From the 2 measurements you have posted your alk is already going down some if those can be trusted to show a trend....

 

[bertoni]

I agree that alkalinity at 9.6 dKH is fine, but you can stop dosing and let it drop to 7-8 dKH if you wish. Some tanks do better at the lower alkalinity levels in that range. I think stopping the alkalinity dosing is fine.

 

[Daddi0]

I would think that your alk in your reef should match what your freshly made saltwater measures. Use the dosing to maintain that level. Reefs luv stability.
Cheers! Mark

 

[mansorinc]

Thanks guy I appreciate the replies.

I dosed 200ml of esv mag because I'd like my mag to be a little higher.

My Alk dropped 1 dkh mag and calcium stayed the same

10/24 doses 200ml mag to raise it
10:35pm
Alk 8.6
Calcium 420
Mag 1290



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mcgyvr]

Are you saying you only dosed mag and stopped dosing alk and cal yesterday and you dropped 1dkh in 24 hours?

Typically most would recommend not having alk swing that much in a 24 hour period (often fine but can be enough to cause stress) and as such reducing the dosage would have been a better idea to avoid larger/rapid swings like that..

 

[bertoni]

That's a fairly large dose, but when such drops are due to consumption, problems seem to be very rare.

 

[mansorinc]

I can't get my mag level to go up, so I dosed 200ml last night, and nothing changed in mag or calcium just my Alk as shown in my previous reply.

Today I decided to test again before dosing mag.

10/25 5:20
Test before dose
Alk 8.2
Calcium 420
Mag 1290

Then I decided to try to dose 120ml of mag

10/25 11:29pm doses 120ml of mag at 5:30pm
Alk 8.2
Calcium 420
Mag1290 (the same)!

So I just dosed another 100ml of mag at 11:45pm.

I just tested again and now mag is at 1305.

I will test again tomorrow to see what it does


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[bertoni]

According to the calculator, I get about 1000 ml to raise the tank's magnesium level by 100 ppm, assuming there's 100g of actual water volume. So your numbers seem reasonable at first glance, given the inherent limits of our test kits.