I am dosing Soda ash (alkalinity), Calcium, and Magnesium in my 100 gallon mixed reef tank. I have been maintaining parameters as such:
Temp: 78
Salinity 1.026
PH: 8.2
Calcium: 440 ppm
Alk: 8.0 dKh
Magnesium: 1350 ppm
I test weekly and make adjustments to the dosing as necessary. I am using Hannah testers for alk, calcium, phosphate, and nitrate as well as red sea tests for backup / sanity check.
I started dosing Nopox to deal with some high nitrate and phosphate issues that I have been battling with for a while. My nitrates got as high as about 20 PPM and phosphate got up to 0.44 ppm. I started off with the recommended dosing amount of 12 ml per day for 100 gallons (for Nitrates above 10 ppm) and I'm now dosing 8 ml per day since my Nitrates are down to 5 ppm and then I will reduce to 3 ml per day once Nitrates are below 1 ppm.
What I didn't expect to happen was that my alk, calcium, and magnesium levels all dropped significantly. In just about 2 weeks, Alk went from 8 to 7, calcium went from 440 to 413, and magnesium went from 1350 to 1260. While the calcium and magnesium levels were still within acceptable parameters, the alk dropping so fast caught me way off guard. I've learned my lesson that I really need to test all params daily when starting any new dosing regimen, but I am a bit puzzled as when I read about dosing Nopox I dont see anyone mention other parameters dropping like this except for PH. I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this. My PH didnt really change much at all.
Temp: 78
Salinity 1.026
PH: 8.2
Calcium: 440 ppm
Alk: 8.0 dKh
Magnesium: 1350 ppm
I test weekly and make adjustments to the dosing as necessary. I am using Hannah testers for alk, calcium, phosphate, and nitrate as well as red sea tests for backup / sanity check.
I started dosing Nopox to deal with some high nitrate and phosphate issues that I have been battling with for a while. My nitrates got as high as about 20 PPM and phosphate got up to 0.44 ppm. I started off with the recommended dosing amount of 12 ml per day for 100 gallons (for Nitrates above 10 ppm) and I'm now dosing 8 ml per day since my Nitrates are down to 5 ppm and then I will reduce to 3 ml per day once Nitrates are below 1 ppm.
What I didn't expect to happen was that my alk, calcium, and magnesium levels all dropped significantly. In just about 2 weeks, Alk went from 8 to 7, calcium went from 440 to 413, and magnesium went from 1350 to 1260. While the calcium and magnesium levels were still within acceptable parameters, the alk dropping so fast caught me way off guard. I've learned my lesson that I really need to test all params daily when starting any new dosing regimen, but I am a bit puzzled as when I read about dosing Nopox I dont see anyone mention other parameters dropping like this except for PH. I'm just curious if anyone else has experienced this. My PH didnt really change much at all.