Alk, Cal and Mag dosing

[eqbal9947]

Hey guys,
im looking for a consistent brand to dose.
I tried all for reef but it was never consistent with raising or lowering Alk uniformly with mag and cal.
Im now using Fauna marin and the Mag and Alk clog up my dosing lines frequently and my Alk is not consistent at all Ive been upping my dosage and my DKH has been going down, even with the dosing pumps working correctly.

I hate changing stuff up but im thinking of going to ESV.

Any thoughts?>

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

I've just switched to Randy's DIY recipes.
Fairly straightforward even to an Englishman(as a nation we will categorically never understand the size of a "cup" despite many logical explanations :face-with-tears-of-joy: )
The saving on mixing your own is the big appeal plus you know exactly what your dosing.
I was finding the extensive list of "trace elements" in many off the shelf 2 parts didn't fit in with my goals, id rather dose those myself based on ICP.
So it really depends on your individual goals

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey guys,
im looking for a consistent brand to dose.
I tried all for reef but it was never consistent with raising or lowering Alk uniformly with mag and cal.
Im now using Fauna marin and the Mag and Alk clog up my dosing lines frequently and my Alk is not consistent at all Ive been upping my dosage and my DKH has been going down, even with the dosing pumps working correctly.

I hate changing stuff up but im thinking of going to ESV.

Any thoughts?>

There are lots of ways to deal with such issues, but what exactly was going wrong with AFR dosing? There may be simple ways to solve the issues you mention, and in the short term, AFR should maintain things reasonably easily.

 

[Doctorgori]

I tried all for reef but it was never consistent with raising or lowering Alk uniformly with mag and cal.

FWIW not sure if you are aware that there is some testing latency with AFR …
My tanks swing a lil but easily stay within .5 dkH swing over a weeks time

 

[rsach]

I have observed Calcium levels creeping up with AFR, ALK and Mg is under control. Planning to start using Randy's DIY recipe 1 so I have better control over these parameters.

 

[Cali Reef Life]

bulk reef supply and balling are two great brands.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have observed Calcium levels creeping up with AFR, ALK and Mg is under control. Planning to start using Randy's DIY recipe 1 so I have better control over these parameters.

Yes, that is expected. It has the same alk/calcium balance as kalkwasser, which is a tad overbalanced to too much calcium.

 

[rsach]

Yes, that is expected. It has the same alk/calcium balance as kalkwasser, which is a tad overbalanced to too much calcium.

Thanks for the feedback. Btw will it be ok to use your Recipe 1 for Alkalinity along with ESV B-Ionic Calcium buffer? Or should I stick with your recipe for all three (Alk, Ca, Mg) elements.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the feedback. Btw will it be ok to use your Recipe 1 for Alkalinity along with ESV B-Ionic Calcium buffer? Or should I stick with your recipe for all three (Alk, Ca, Mg) elements.

That’s ok to finish off bottles.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Yes it's a commercial and it's long but full of great information.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

While I do not watch random videos, I will note for those who do that I disagree with Tropic Marin on the best way to determine the desirable dose of AFR. I do not think calcium testing is precise enough to determine how much of a balanced alk and calcium additive should be dosed.

 

[rsach]

That’s ok to finish off bottles.

Thanks Randy! Your contributions to the reefing community are invaluable.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy! Your contributions to the reefing community are invaluable.

Thanks and you’re welcome.

Happy Reefing!

 

[rsach]

I stopped using AFR two months ago as the CA and Mg were getting at 649 and 1440 respectively. I am currently using Randy's recipe 1 for Alkalinity and was waiting for CA and Mg to come down before dosing for them. The CA level is still around 600 and Mg is at 1382. Is it normal for these to take such a long time to come down? Would not dosing these affect the coral growth?

 

[PharmrJohn]

Yeah, only thing I've ever done is dosing individually based on Salifert tests. Pretty basic and it worked. I'll explore some of the new testing options. The digital Hannas fascinate me. Yes, the last time I had a tank was well over a decade ago, but the old methods are tried and true.

 

[rishma]

I stopped using AFR two months ago as the CA and Mg were getting at 649 and 1440 respectively. I am currently using Randy's recipe 1 for Alkalinity and was waiting for CA and Mg to come down before dosing for them. The CA level is still around 600 and Mg is at 1382. Is it normal for these to take such a long time to come down? Would not dosing these affect the coral growth?

You will consume about 18ppm calcium and 1-2ppm magnesium for every 2.8dkh alkalinity consumed. So yes, it can take a while. Also, I find calcium kits don’t have the precision/accuracy to track small changes so I don’t usually test. Maybe 1 or 2 times a year. Magnesium kits are much worse so I don’t test at all. I rely on a very occasional ICP for both because:

1) the math above works well. I trust my alkalinity tests and feel confident inferring calcium and magnesium consumption from alkalinity

2) the reef is healthy over a wide range of calcium and magnesium values

 

[rsach]

You will consume about 18ppm calcium and 1-2ppm magnesium for every 2.8dkh alkalinity consumed. So yes, it can take a while. Also, I find calcium kits don’t have the precision/accuracy to track small changes so I don’t usually test. Maybe 1 or 2 times a year. Magnesium kits are much worse so I don’t test at all. I rely on a very occasional ICP for both because:

1) the math above works well. I trust my alkalinity tests and feel confident inferring calcium and magnesium consumption from alkalinity

2) the reef is healthy over a wide range of calcium and magnesium values

Hopefully it will start dropping, I don't see much growth so was wondering if it has anything to do with me not dosing.

 

[rishma]

Hopefully it will start dropping, I don't see much growth so was wondering if it has anything to do with me not dosing.

Just to give you an idea of inaccuracy of test kits, there is no way magnesium dropped by 60ppm while calcium dropped by 50. Without dosing, a drop of 50 ppm calcium would correspond to a 2-3ppm drop of magnesium.

I don’t know which numbers are inaccurate. Could be the initial values or current values, the magnesium values or calcium values, or all of the above.

I’d be more inclined to believe calcium test but you can check by comparing to your alkalinity consumption over that same period. Every 2.8 dKH consumed will correspond to around 18 ppm calcium consumed.

 

[rsach]

Just to give you an idea of inaccuracy of test kits, there is no way magnesium dropped by 60ppm while calcium dropped by 50. Without dosing, a drop of 50 ppm calcium would correspond to a 2-3ppm drop of magnesium.

I don’t know which numbers are inaccurate. Could be the initial values or current values, the magnesium values or calcium values, or all of the above.

I’d be more inclined to believe calcium test but you can check by comparing to your alkalinity consumption over that same period. Every 2.8 dKH consumed will correspond to around 18 ppm calcium consumed.

Thanks for sharing the consumption rate. I am currently using trident, I recently received a factory serviced one, the numbers on the previous were similar. I will check the levels using Salifert and report back.