2 part dosing amounts

[SeeFu]

Am I supposed to be dosing both CA and ALK in the same volume? I need to dose around 20ml of ALK to maintain 8 dkh, but my CA remains at 420 w/o me dosing any CA.

 

[Plecosam]

How old is your tank?

 

[SeeFu]

system is about 9 months old.

 

[mike550]

What product are you using? For example ESV suggests dosing in equal parts. So once I got my Alk to the desired target, I started dosing both Alk and Ca in equal parts. There‘s a much lengthier discussion and a calculator for the optimal balance between the two. But what I’m seeing is that when my Alk is 8.6 my Ca runs at 450. I don’t think it’s optimal but everyone said to follow the directions.

At the end of the day there is an optimal balance between Alk and Ca. Look for a calculator at hamzasreef.com that will tell you the right Ca for a given Alk level. I suppose you could target that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, not all two parts are properly designed for 1:1 dosing, even some that claim it. Some do not even try (oddly, IMO)

Am I supposed to be dosing both CA and ALK in the same volume? I need to dose around 20ml of ALK to maintain 8 dkh, but my CA remains at 420 w/o me dosing any CA.

It is fine to dose both equally, and calcium will still probably still stay stable. I do not know your tank volume, but say it is 50 gallons water volume. 20 mL of a typical two part is only about 0.6 dKH per day. The balanced amount of calcium demand is only about 4 ppm. With a hobby kit, you won't reliably detect that for a while, and when you do, you will suddenly realize that you need to add about as much to get batch to your target as if you matched 1:1 all along.

That said, if you want to not dose the calcium part for a bit, that's OK. Since your demand is quite low, it is possible water changes with a higher calcium mix might help calcium. But still, using the two part as 1:1 directed won't cause a problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

But what I’m seeing is that when my Alk is 8.6 my Ca runs at 450. I don’t think it’s optimal but everyone said to follow the directions.

Those values are fine, and IMO, there is no importance to the ratio. Target both to desirable ranges. Exact calcium values have little import in the 400-550 ppm range.

 

[SeeFu]

thanks, i guess i'll start dosing 20ml of CA and see what happens over the next week.

 

[SeeFu]

wow strangest thing happened. i started to dose 20ml of CA and the CA levels dropped in my tank. so i upped it to 30ml and then 40ml and the amount of CA measured kept dropping. the hecks going on. lol

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

wow strangest thing happened. i started to dose 20ml of CA and the CA levels dropped in my tank. so i upped it to 30ml and then 40ml and the amount of CA measured kept dropping. the hecks going on. lol

More info needed. I cannot tell what time frame you are talking about, and the absolute calcium values would be useful to know. Are you also dosing alkalinity?