Do I need to Dose? Is there a Dosing Calculator?

[AKL1950]

I’m guessing here, so could use some guidance.

System is 6 months old. WB 220.6 with around 200 gallons total water. Currently I’m only doing 1gallon a day water change. Plan is later to increase that to about 3 gallons per day. Using an Apex doser for that. I’ve got 12 fish in it and currently 15 coral frags. 7 Zoas, one Favia, one Candy cane and 5 Acros. Planning on more Acro over the next few months. Initially the Alkalinity stayed about 9.7 (Reef Crystals), but since I’ve added the frags, it has slowly decreased to around 7.8 (Hanna 8.0, Salifert 7.8 and Trident 7.7). Ive got my Apex dosing set up for Alk, Ca, Mag and Trace Elements. I have not turned any of it on yet, but it appears it’s time to start the Alkalinity dosing. Is there a calculator that can help determine how much to dose. I assume I would like to get it back up to 8.2-8.4. also, would it be better at this time to just increase my daily water change since the high Alkalinity in Reef Crystals should drive it back up. Currently Ca is 530 and Mag is 1565 (Both Salifert).

Jetson

 

[Spare time]

To know if you need to dose, you would simply determine that alk (and calcium and such) is not being replenished to your desired level via your standard water change routine. To figure out how much to dose, measure the daily drop at the same time to get a rough estimate of daily usage. Start dosing according to that and then adjust from there (according to the instructions of the product you are using).

 

[AKL1950]

Okay.

Ca and Mag are not really dropping and Alkalinity is only dropping by 0.3 per week But it’s steadily doing that. My second question on the water change. Would it be better at this time to just increase water change to two gallons per day. That would still have me below 10% a week, but I would be adding more buffer in the system.

 

[AKL1950]

Also have a hammer in there. Forgot about

 

[Lavey29]

0.3 per week is minimal and would be replenished with water changes. When it becomes time to dose alk and calcium move proportionally. Magnesium only drops at 1/10 th the rate of those 2.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here’s a calculator:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[AKL1950]

0.3 per week is minimal and would be replenished with water changes. When it becomes time to dose alk and calcium move proportionally. Magnesium only drops at 1/10 th the rate of those 2.

Yes, I like that. I think I will feel more comfortable right now just increasing my water change amount instead of dosing. I will double the daily water change to 2 gallons a day and see what effect that has. That’s still only 7% a week, but it should raise the numbers a bit.

Thanks

 

[AKL1950]

Here’s a calculator:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Thanks Randy!

Just what I needed.

 

[AKL1950]

So it’s been two weeks now. I increased my water change to two gallons per day (It was one gallon per day) for the last 14 days. Ca and Mag have both increased slightly, but Alkalinity has slowly dropped to around 7.5. test two weeks ago were Hanna 8.0, Salifert 7.8 and Trident 7.7. Current test are Hanna 7.7, Salifert 7.5 and Trident 7.3. PH the entire time has been stable around 7.92.

I have my dosers all set up and ready. Considering starting the Alk at 1 ml a day and see what effect I get from that. Does that sound safe and/or is there something else I should be considering?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So it’s been two weeks now. I increased my water change to two gallons per day (It was one gallon per day) for the last 14 days. Ca and Mag have both increased slightly, but Alkalinity has slowly dropped to around 7.5. test two weeks ago were Hanna 8.0, Salifert 7.8 and Trident 7.7. Current test are Hanna 7.7, Salifert 7.5 and Trident 7.3. PH the entire time has been stable around 7.92.

I have my dosers all set up and ready. Considering starting the Alk at 1 ml a day and see what effect I get from that. Does that sound safe and/or is there something else I should be considering?

What dKH per day is that? The values currently are fine.

 

[Jekyl]

Managing parameters manually rather than burning through salt with water changes is going to be much more cost effective. My 5 year old 90g gets a water change maybe 3 times a year.

 

[xCry0x]

I've used a jebao dosing pump for years without issue and they are about $100 shipped on Amazon.

You could also start with kalk.

But if I was planning corals in a 220g tank I'd be budgeting a doser sooner rather than later.

Keeping up via water changes is great for a nano tank, but a 1g change in a 220 is literally going to do nothing.

 

[AKL1950]

What dKH per day is that? The values currently are fine.

Not very much. Drop would be from 8.0 to 7.5 over a three week period. I started adding corals first of September. I was under the assumption that I should keep alkalinity around 8.0-8.3.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not very much. Drop would be from 8.0 to 7.5 over a three week period. I started adding corals first of September. I was under the assumption that I should keep alkalinity around 8.0-8.3.

IMO, 7-11 dKH is fine.

In your case, adding a bit of baking soda once a week will be fine.

 

[AKL1950]

Follow up note on my low Alkalinity. I think I may have found the issue. I tested my salt water storage reservoir and it tested alkalinity at 8.1. I’m using reef crystal which should put it at around 10.0 - 10.5. I opened a new box of salt, mixed and tested it and it did come out at 10.2. I’m thinking that last box of Reef Crystal I used had a bad mix. I’m thinking the slow drop in my Alk was due to the low Alk in my storage tank and it kept going down in the DT with the daily water changes.

From now on I’ll test my reservoir water when I mix it to be sure it looks correct.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The alk will decline over time in dissolved high alk salt mixes as calcium carbonate precipitates.

 

[AKL1950]

HThe alk will decline over time in dissolved high alk salt mixes as calcium carbonate precipitates.

Understand. However, I just mixed that salt 8 days ago, so I can’t imagine it would go down that far that quickly. I would think a little drop, but not all the way to 8.1 from 10.5. Tank is in an inside closet, so temp is around 75 degrees and is circulated 24/7.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Understand. However, I just mixed that salt 8 days ago, so I can’t imagine it would go down that far that quickly. I would think a little drop, but not all the way to 8.1 from 10.5. Tank is in an inside closet, so temp is around 75 degrees and is circulated 24/7.

Why not? Rd Sea shows a video of their Coral Pro salt mix going white with precipitate in only a few hours.

Do you see any solids on the bottom of the reservoir? Mine collected lots of solids using normal IO.

 

[AKL1950]

Why not? Rd Sea shows a video of their Coral Pro salt mix going white with precipitate in only a few hours

Do you see any solids on the bottom of the reservoir? Mine collected lots of solids using normal IO.

Yes there are solids building up in the bottom. The reservoir has been in use for about 9 months. It’s getting close for me to tear in down and clean it. I didn’t realize it could be that quick. Would it drop even past the neutral point of 7.0? Now I’m curious. I may test it every few days just to see how fast it is dropping.

Guess that’s a part of what this hobby is all about. If you can’t learn new things as you go along, your just not trying.

Thanks Randy

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes there are solids building up in the bottom. The reservoir has been in use for about 9 months. It’s getting close for me to tear in down and clean it. I didn’t realize it could be that quick. Would it drop even past the neutral point of 7.0? Now I’m curious. I may test it every few days just to see how fast it is dropping.

Guess that’s a part of what this hobby is all about. If you can’t learn new things as you go along, your just not trying.

Thanks Randy

If by "neutral point" you mean 7 dKH, yes, it can drop further, but the precipitate slows as it gets lower and lower. The exact lower limit in alk that can support precipitation depends on pH, but at pH 8.2 it can theoretically drop below 6 dKH.