2 Part Dosing Help

[BfishLpond78]

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Here are my current water params after a few weeks of trying to balance everything out

Alk - 8.06 - Hanna Checker
Cal - 430 - Red Sea
Mag - 1480

Before this, my mag was 1600, my Cal was 500 and my Alk was around 7. I've been only dosing the Alk the last two weeks while my Cal and Mag dropped. My calcium drops very slowly where my Alk will drop alot, is this normal?

Ok so my params are almost where I want them...I'd like to see alk around 8.5. Now when I get them to that point. What do I do? Lol

Watch and see how much they fall over a 24 hour period? Then use reef calculator?

My Alk seems to get chewed up quickly. Is it ok to dose more Alk than Cal? I've read your suppose to dose equal parts as they buffer each other out.

Should I be dosing my Alk all at night or go every other hour flip flopping between Cal and Alk?

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

[GHill762]

alk gives coral the ability to use calcium, so alk gets used up faster than calcium (IIRC in a ratio of 2:1), and most commercial 2-parts make up for that by being "ionically balanced", so you're supposed to dose the same amount of both when you dose 2 part (this doesn't apply to diy, or brs mixes). I saw somewhere that mag drops 6ppm for every 1dkh drop in alk..

I'm starting over my dosing schedule as well, got levels where I want them last night, I'll test today and tomorrow and get an average daily drop (no dosing for this 48 hr stretch), then do the math to figure out how much to dose per day. after a week goes by I'll test again and see if I'm on the right track, if everything is a go, I'll keep with that schedule.

hope some of that helps

 

[BfishLpond78]

I am currently using the BRS mix, so if im reading this correctly, I dont have to dose equal amounts?

If I was using something like ESV, i would probably dose the same amount of each?

 

[GHill762]

I am currently using the BRS mix, so if im reading this correctly, I dont have to dose equal amounts?

If I was using something like ESV, i would probably dose the same amount of each?

Not 100% sure. It's going to depend on the effective rate of the supplements.

 

[Hampton]

I have the same question and feel lucky to have found this thread. I am using BRS 2-part dosing on auto dosing system. I started at 8 minutes/day (25 gal display, 30 gal sump). My numbers were too low, so, I went up to 16 minutes per day (as per calculator). My calcium went to 510 and my dKH went to 11. I cut back to 13 minutes per day and now, my calcium is still 510, but my dKH is about 9 (tested with two different systems). So, I am cutting back to 11 minutes per day, but, I don't want my alkalinity to fall. So, I have the same issue as you with the same system.

 

[glb]

Following. I'm learning about this right now.

 

[redfishbluefish]

It sounds like you have both pumps tied into the same controller timer. If that is the case, separate them and stop dosing calc until it drops down to a reasonable number....around 400. Although under ideal conditions both would be dosed in the same amounts, the salts we use also contribute these components in varying amounts. Using Reef Crystals, I dose about 25% less for calc because of the amounts in the salt.

 

[Hampton]

It sounds like you have both pumps tied into the same controller timer. If that is the case, separate them and stop dosing calc until it drops down to a reasonable number....around 400. Although under ideal conditions both would be dosed in the same amounts, the salts we use also contribute these components in varying amounts. Using Reef Crystals, I dose about 25% less for calc because of the amounts in the salt.

Should we dilute the calc solution to keep dosing them together? RODI? That would be my first choice.

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[redfishbluefish]

Should we dilute the calc solution to keep dosing them together? RODI? That would be my first choice.

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Two separate timers / controllers would be my first choice. The amount added is going to be constantly changing. If you do it my dilution, you are stuck at that dilution unless you continue to play with dilutions. With timers / controllers, if one week one of the components is "off", I just adjust the timing on the pumps a tad and I'm good to go.