picklejuice
New member
Which do I dose first... Alk or Cal?
Which do I dose first... Alk or Cal?
- Thread starter picklejuice
- Start date
Don't supplement at the same time in the same place if you are using calcium chloride and carbonate/bicarbonate. Localized precipitation of calcium carbonate will occur ,esetnially using up the supplents an goi on to clog things like pumps. One at a time in a high flow area with a break of about an hour works.
Jim.mer
New member
doesn't matter, but in high flow areas and one thing I do is do it at night before you go to bed. I still manually dose just cause i'm home every night I kinda think doing it in the morning might affect your PH. You know I've learned so much about this great hobby in 10 plus years, I'm startin to forget some of it LOL
acrohead500ppm
New member
+1
if your magnesiumis low, it pretty much makes adding the other two components pointless, esp when trying to raise vs maintain.
Reefer Ron
New member
Oh, not in the baffles! Maybe my problem. I can't get my Alk & CA to stay where I want it. I dose every morning (Kent 2 part). Mg is close to par. PH is low 8.0 night & 8.15 day. I used to chase Ph with buffer but stopped. I dose every morning Part A & B, 30ml. Do I need to add more to gert it up? Corals look good. Rooms & Annemonee not so much.
Reefer Ron
New member
Oh, not in the baffles! Maybe my problem. I can't get my Alk & CA to stay where I want it. I dose every morning (Kent 2 part). Mg is close to par. PH is low 8.0 night & 8.15 day. I used to chase Ph with buffer but stopped. I dose every morning Part A & B, 30ml. Do I need to add more to gert it up? Corals look good. Rooms & Annemonee not so much.
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acrohead500ppm
New member
should i ask what test kits you are using to test for said levels?
Reefer Ron
New member
using red sea test kit. I have a 125 + 40 sump/refuge. Guess I need to get a dosing pump. Any suggestions on a dosser to use with the apex? Thanks for the feed back
bellis31
New member
This is how I do it too!!
AdamNC
New member
^^^ This is even what is said in the testing pamphlet from Red Sea. So usually I test Mag and dose as needed, then test Alk and dose as needed and then test Ca and dose as needed.
gtareef
New member
I agree with everyone about mag. If your mag is not steady ex 1350 then it is harder to maintain the other two parts.
If you dose alk in the baffles then alk will solidified and traps between the baffles and doesn't mix well. Use a flashlight to check for white alk between the baffles. If you don't see anything than your tank has consumed both parts.
I wouldn't worry too much about the ph. As long as it doesn't fall below 7.6 and above 8.5 then you should be ok.
Low magnesium can cause alkalinity and calcium problems, but tanks that actually have that issue seem to be extremely rare. Magnesium at 1100 ppm worked perfectly well for me for years. The old IO came at that level, and I didn't start raising the magnesium in water for changes for quite a while.
gtareef
New member
Every tank is different and low or high pH for long periods are not good for any systems.
My apex showed low around 7.7 during night time and high around 8.0 during day time. That is because I have calcium reactor. To address the low pH I added kalk reactor.
I guess Im not too concerned about low pH because my corals are doing fine. You know your tank best, so if PE and colours are great then don't worry too much. Sorry, a bit off topic here
My apex showed low around 7.7 during night time and high around 8.0 during day time. That is because I have calcium reactor. To address the low pH I added kalk reactor.
I guess Im not too concerned about low pH because my corals are doing fine. You know your tank best, so if PE and colours are great then don't worry too much. Sorry, a bit off topic here
