2-Part dosing problems? We have the answer!

[Joey Vagneur]

Hello Randy,

I am in need of help. I have been battling this issue for a while now. I have a 110 gallons total water volume and I was dosing close to 400 ml per day. I followed your video and stopped dosing for a day, it did nothing to stop the rapid precipitation. I then stopped for 4 days, my levels dropped really low. 5.5 dkh for Alk and 250 for calcium before they stopped. I then over the course of a few days brought up my levels. I then did a 5 day test and adjust to get my trend. I am now dosing 180 ml per day which is lower than before but over even a 1.5 ml/ gallon dose.

What else can I do?

 

[manilaboy1vic]

This is a great thread.. I am for sure doing this experiment once my new reagents come in the mail.

question tho.. suppose you are dosing the correct amount of cal/alk.. wont your pumps, after a while, still get the build up if you slack off and dont clean the pumps??

also, do you recommend dosing all at once or thru out the day with the apex ?

i do have an apex and apex DOS.... i dose throughout a 24hr period instead of all at once.

i have to admit.. i slacked off quite a bit in my reefing but i want to get it back on track..

i recently rebooted my tank.. sandbed delete and im basically just going for a zoa dominated system.. i have some bubble tips and a maxima clam.. and a scolymia..

i was contemplating quitting dosing all together but for the sake of the clam and lps i decided to continue dosing..

my tank is a 68g cadlights.. 25g sump and i only dos 33ml per day of alk/cal.. total water volume im guessing is around 75 or 80.. i have maybe 50lbs of live rock..

so already admitted to slacking off big time.. my pumps did have a build up and would take some finagling to get them going again.. thats why asked about the build up even if dosing correctly... anyway.. all my pumps and backup pumps are mint and free of any calcium buildup.. including my gyre and skimmer.. .. the tank is firing on all cylinders.. skimmate has improved etc..

i recently tested my alk, however the hanna reagent was expired and i tossed it but it came back as 7.6 alk, which im fine with .. soon as i get my new reagent im doing this experiement..

i 100% overdosed in the past, that build up everywhere.. that was a long time ago.. but when i backed off it and got it back to normal i still get that build up after a few months.. is that normal..

also, back when i was testing alot.. i noticed that my calcium was always in the 500s... I use seachem reef fusion..

i just want to get the dosing dialed in and i am going to use this method to do that..

like i said i am going for a zoa dominated tank with my btas.. but i also want to get some kind of encrusting monti for my bare bottom....

 

[manilaboy1vic]

so when i do this experiement I will shut my DOS off at 11:30PM, right after Part 2 and right before Part 1.. I use reef fusion.

The next day will test ALK at midnight...

here is my current schedule:

Heres my PH the past few day, Im thinking if my dosing was jacked my PH wouldnt look like this,, i could be wrong.. i think the big dip in PH is when i did a 5g w/c to change out GFO..

Im fully expecting that when I do this test the calc will say to add the exact amount im dosing now

If i was overdosing, would i see the precip immediately??

I know for a fact i overdosed in the past, like a 1.5 yrs ago, my brs media reactor cartridges were covered in that flaky calcium buildup. i installed new cartridges like a week ago and they are still crystal clear, i really dont want to do this experiment if I dont need to

 

[manilaboy1vic]

here we go, 24hrs with no dosing.. we'll see what happens.. something is def. outta whack.. my calcium is in the 500s.. i dunno if reef fusion has elevated calcium but i need to get to the bottom of this..

i am kinda worried that when i test, the calc will tell me to dose more than i have been per day.. thats my biggest concern..

test right before i turned off the DOS:

cal: 520 (api)
alk: 7.5 (hanna)

cant wait to see what my test results are after 24hrs of no dosing..

 

[CNDReef]

I’ve read seachem 2 part is off. The calcium part is higher than the alk part. If you’re dosing the same amounts it might be raising your calcium a bit more than you want.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

I’ve read seachem 2 part is off. The calcium part is higher than the alk part. If you’re dosing the same amounts it might be raising your calcium a bit more than you want.

interesting.. their site claims its 1:1 .. i may have to switch two part if what your saying is correct.. i really dont wanna do any mixing or anything.. would just like to add it to my dosing container immediately if possible.

either way.. my dosing pump is off.. i dont have high calcium demand..

i have a maxima clam that i got a few years ago.. its grown quite nicely..
1 scoly (few years old)
just added:

sunset monti frag
favites frag

rest of my corals are softies..

ill try the brs experiment and see what happens...

it jsut seems too imbalanced, 7.5 alk and 520 calcium?? thats ridiculous.

 

[CNDReef]

Just stop adding calcium for a few days and test it. When it gets back to normal continue using it

 

[manilaboy1vic]

i just saw the randys article on reef fusion.. hes claiming RF has 15% to 25% more calcium in its two part.. this has always bothered me with RF.. the 500ppm reading of calcium.. if i cant get this sorted out, im going with b-ionic for sure.. even tho i just stocked up on RF..

 

[manilaboy1vic]

Just stop adding calcium for a few days and test it. When it gets back to normal continue using it

i have done that in the past and it still creeps up to 500ppm.. maybe overall im dosing too much .. we will see with the BRS experiment.. once i get it dialed and have a new amount to dos.. if after a week the calcium creeps up.. b-ionic and RF in the garbage.. or maybe just dose unequal parts since they add too much calcium to their product.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

hmmm...

so after 24hrs of no dosing..

alk: 6.4
cal: 520

adding 29ml of alk, no cal.

adding 29ml of alk should get me back to what i normally am at, 7.6 dkh..

so im thinking my orig dose numbers are right... maybe go 2:1 on this going forward or switch to b-ionic?

i was dosing 35ml a day.. ill see how it is tomorrow night at this time..

 

[CNDReef]

It’ll take a while for calcium to drop since there’s way more in the water than alk

 

[manilaboy1vic]

i actually need to bring my ALK up to 8.2 - 8.5 to match my salt mix.

It’ll take a while for calcium to drop since there’s way more in the water than alk

yea, im thinking like a week or so.. im just going to try and maintain alk at 7.6 for now, till it all gets sorted out.. and adjust after im dosing both alk/cal again..

my tank is only 68g DT, likely around 80-85g total.. i think 30-35ml of two part is alot and im blaming the maxima clam for that.. im looking to get rid of it.. buying two part just adds up so fast..

im really curious to see what my dosage will be once that clam is out of the tank.. itd be a dream to dose like say 15ml a day.. we'll see, baby steps.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

this is getting annoying..

alk: 6.3
cak= 540 27 drops on api test kit. wow..

today my calcium is UP and im not even dosing it... what the heck.
and my alk is the lowest its ever been..

 

[randyBRS]

this is getting annoying..

alk: 6.3
cak= 540 27 drops on api test kit. wow..

today my calcium is UP and im not even dosing it... what the heck.
and my alk is the lowest its ever been..

It may be beneficial to double check the results with a different test kit. The Salifert or Red Sea kits are really good and what we use primarily here at BRS.

 

[manilaboy1vic]

It may be beneficial to double check the results with a different test kit. The Salifert or Red Sea kits are really good and what we use primarily here at BRS.

Im gonna give the cal a few more days.. and work on getting my alk up to 8.5 with no cal dosing.. im using the hanna for the alk .. last night i had to dose around 35ml alk to get it back to 7.7, which is what i been dosing for the last year.. im doing this experiment in attempt to get the two parts balanced.. perhaps i been under dosing..

im just kinda confused on what i should do dosing wise once i hit my target cal level.. just match it to what my alk is.. i could try that then test both params a week later..

theres an article on r2r, by the famous Randy water chemistry guy, that states reef fusion (what i use) uses elevated levels of calcium.. if after a week of 1:1 dosing and if the calcium still rises higher, i very well might consider unequal parts just to maintain a good balance.. i dont like seeing my cal in the 500s.. cheers

 

[Saltwtrnewby]

I’m at a loss also. Been dosing 80ml of two parts on my tank, estimated 220 total water volume. Lightly stocked for that size as the tank is relatively new, 5 months. I have 3 medium LPS colonies, 4-6 heads, a two headed torch, a couple small acros, and a monti frag. I don’t see any evidence of precipitation whatsoever. I’ve recalibrated my Apex Dos and it is spot on. I’m wondering if I should do a large water change and try to Figure everything out again back from square one. I’m not sure if the BRS strategy would apply here. I would GREATLY appreciate any and all help!! I am pulling my hair out as all and calcium levels were still dropping slowly at 80 ml/day.

 

[randyBRS]

I’m at a loss also. Been dosing 80ml of two parts on my tank, estimated 220 total water volume. Lightly stocked for that size as the tank is relatively new, 5 months. I have 3 medium LPS colonies, 4-6 heads, a two headed torch, a couple small acros, and a monti frag. I don’t see any evidence of precipitation whatsoever. I’ve recalibrated my Apex Dos and it is spot on. I’m wondering if I should do a large water change and try to Figure everything out again back from square one. I’m not sure if the BRS strategy would apply here. I would GREATLY appreciate any and all help!! I am pulling my hair out as all and calcium levels were still dropping slowly at 80 ml/day.

I wouldn't expect 80ml/day on a tank with that significant volume to be too far off of normal, even with a light coral demand. Levels will naturally deplete in any tank regardless of corals, so in 220gal of water it will be more noticeable than say a 20gal tank. That said, you could restart the dosing by giving it a break for a few weeks and ramping the dosage back up, but I wouldn't be surprised if you find that your right back to where you left off.