Alk going down, ca and mg doing up.

[JohnnyTabasco]

Hey, I'm using the 1,2,3 from AF in my 100 liter tank.
I can't get it stable and I'm also thinking that the dosages are high?

Right now I'm doing 45ml of the alk and it still dosen't seem to be enough to keep it at 8.2.

Meanwhile the the Ca and Mg is climbing and are now at 460 and 1500.
So I lowered those two to 35ml/day.

Any suggestions? Should I just keep raising the alk dosage and try to find individual dosages for all the components?
It's supposed to be a balanced system.

(The system is 4 years old and is a mixed reef. The sps is growing quite well)

 

[cjd]

how far spaced out are you dosing each unit? Its recommended at least an hour between each dose to not precipitate . Im not familiar with the aqua forest line of products but with any other additives you test , adjust , retest and adjust unit you find the balance. I have had tanks that required the same alk and cal supplements and I have had tanks that consumed more alk than cal and vice versa . Adjust dosing accordingly . Watch that Mag . You may only have to dose that every other day or if your like me and many of my other tanks, once every 2 weeks or so .

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How much dKH in dKH per day does that correspond to?

 

[Scorpius]

My 65 gal only uses 45-65ml of brs 2 part. Your consumption sounds normal.

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

How much dKH in dKH per day does that correspond to?

I would say 1,25 dkh

 

[JohnnyTabasco]

how far spaced out are you dosing each unit? Its recommended at least an hour between each dose to not precipitate . Im not familiar with the aqua forest line of products but with any other additives you test , adjust , retest and adjust unit you find the balance. I have had tanks that required the same alk and cal supplements and I have had tanks that consumed more alk than cal and vice versa . Adjust dosing accordingly . Watch that Mag . You may only have to dose that every other day or if your like me and many of my other tanks, once every 2 weeks or so .

Thanks. The dosages are 2 hours apart, 6 times a day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I would say 1,25 dkh

That’s not high enough to think there’s any issue. [emoji3]

 

[RocketBunny]

Hey, I'm using the 1,2,3 from AF in my 100 liter tank.
I can't get it stable and I'm also thinking that the dosages are high?

Right now I'm doing 45ml of the alk and it still dosen't seem to be enough to keep it at 8.2.

Meanwhile the the Ca and Mg is climbing and are now at 460 and 1500.
So I lowered those two to 35ml/day.

Any suggestions? Should I just keep raising the alk dosage and try to find individual dosages for all the components?
It's supposed to be a balanced system.

(The system is 4 years old and is a mixed reef. The sps is growing quite well)

I have noticed the same thing too, higher alk levels tend to keep the mag, calc, and pH levels balanced... Get your alk up to 11...

I don't know the real cause, but I think that alkalinity causes the rate at which corals and animals use up the elements, lower makes them use less, and your levels start rising... higher alkalinity allows them to combine more elements and use them, therefore, your levels start creeping down... and you turn on your dosing machine...

I guess you have to figure out the ratio of ppm of elements used every day when you have this or that level of alkalinity. then you will dial in your doser with the same ratio, so for every ppm of elements getting used, another ppm will be added.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have noticed the same thing too, higher alk levels tend to keep the mag, calc, and pH levels balanced... Get your alk up to 11...

I don't know the real cause, but I think that alkalinity causes the rate at which corals and animals use up the elements, lower makes them use less, and your levels start rising... higher alkalinity allows them to combine more elements and use them, therefore, your levels start creeping down... and you turn on your dosing machine...

I guess you have to figure out the ratio of ppm of elements used every day when you have this or that level of alkalinity. then you will dial in your doser with the same ratio, so for every ppm of elements getting used, another ppm will be added.

Higher alk provides more pH buffering, but it does not directly stabilize calcium and magnesium in any substantial way.

Higher alk does increase demand for all of alk, calcium, and magnesium, as you note.

 

[RocketBunny]

Higher alk provides more pH buffering, but it does not directly stabilize calcium and magnesium in any substantial way.

Higher alk does increase demand for all of alk, calcium, and magnesium, as you note.

Thanks for confirming my theory

Just in my reef tank, I always kept alk at 9 and had constant ups and downs with ph,mag,and calc... but once i increased my alk to 11... it all stopped...

I also do manual dosing, I don't have the budget for a good doser.