Brain freeze, to raise or to maintain?

[BoSalman]

Hello,

I'm having a hard time to decide on the subject issue. I currently use Tropic Marin Pro-Reef salt, and my tank parameters are somewhat stable since i currently have 3 corals and a BTA, an some small fish, so my bio-load isn't heavy at all.

Testing the saltmix i'm currently using, i found out that my Alk/Ca/Mg are on all the lower range since this mix is intended for those who use Ca reactors (from TM website).

I've just installed and test dosed a BM T-01 dosing unit and i'm running calculations to see where i'm at and what will be the best route to go. and this is where my brain just froze!

Water Parameters will be tested 24 hours after a 10-15% water change, and then again 24 hours after that to know the depletion rate and to get more accurate readings for my salt mix and my tank's current demand. usually my Alk is around 6-6.9 (RedSea), Ca 410-360 (Low), Mg 1220. so here's what i have to decide upon:

Plan A:
- Do a water change.
- Test for Alk/Ca/Mg to obtain saltmix's normal rates.
- Figure depletion rates for those in my tank.
- Dose to hold/maintain those levels of my saltmix without raising them to avoid a WC causing huge fluctuations.

OR

Plan B:
- Raise Mg to 1250-1300 and stabilize it.
- Raise my Alk to 8-9 slowly and maintain it at that level.
- Let Ca follow the Alk and maintain it around 450.
- Test to figure my weekly demand, adjust dosing to maintain those levels.

but how would i minimize the water changes fluctuations afterwards? dose in my mixing container?

Noting that i only have access to stocks of this salt, and Brithwell Aquatics Neomarine (which comes close to TM's parameters in Alk around 7).

I do also run Rowa Carbon in a reactor every now and then, does that have any effect on dosing while reactor is online?

Which route would you go? let's discuss please!

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

There's nothing wrong with the element levels you have. They're a bit low, but they close to natural seawater and plenty of people run tanks in those levels these days. But, if you want to dose, there's nothing really wrong with that either.

I would start by manually dosing magnesium until you get to a suitably high level (1,300 ppm - 1,350 ppm). I would then program my doser to deliver just a few mL per day of calcium and carbonate alkalinity. Test every day to make sure the values are trending. What you should notice is that the calcium and alkalinity will start trending up slowly. You might notice that they slow down or stall at certain levels. At that point, you might need to increase the daily dose by a few ml. Just keep the doser running and monitoring your levels. Once you get where you want, back off the daily dose a bit to keep your levels where you want them.

You could dose up to a certain level, let the values fall, and see how much your tank consumes, but I personally always found this method to be too much work. Plus, you usually have to adjust your dose after you do this math anyway. There's always some adjustment even after you calculate how much you're supposed to need.

It's worth noting that if you want to keep your elements higher than Ca = 400ppm, Alk = 7 dKh and Mg = 1,280 ppm, you should switch salt mixes. These are about the numbers that Tropic Marin has, and if you want to maintain yours higher, every time you do a water change you'll need to supplement your new water. It would be much easier to change salt mixes to one that has your target levels already.

 

[BoSalman]

There's nothing wrong with the element levels you have. They're a bit low, but they close to natural seawater and plenty of people run tanks in those levels these days. But, if you want to dose, there's nothing really wrong with that either.

I would start by manually dosing magnesium until you get to a suitably high level (1,300 ppm - 1,350 ppm). I would then program my doser to deliver just a few mL per day of calcium and carbonate alkalinity. Test every day to make sure the values are trending. What you should notice is that the calcium and alkalinity will start trending up slowly. You might notice that they slow down or stall at certain levels. At that point, you might need to increase the daily dose by a few ml. Just keep the doser running and monitoring your levels. Once you get where you want, back off the daily dose a bit to keep your levels where you want them.

You could dose up to a certain level, let the values fall, and see how much your tank consumes, but I personally always found this method to be too much work. Plus, you usually have to adjust your dose after you do this math anyway. There's always some adjustment even after you calculate how much you're supposed to need.

It's worth noting that if you want to keep your elements higher than Ca = 400ppm, Alk = 7 dKh and Mg = 1,280 ppm, you should switch salt mixes. These are about the numbers that Tropic Marin has, and if you want to maintain yours higher, every time you do a water change you'll need to supplement your new water. It would be much easier to change salt mixes to one that has your target levels already.

Thanks for your reply and input. The problem is that we only have 3-4 brands available here to purchase. TM Pro-Reef, BA NeoMarine, Marinium (i think from singapore), and sometimes we get kent marine!

That's why i'm debating wither i wanted to get into raising TM's alkalinity up to 8-9 and holding it stable around that level, but it would for sure require more work from my side with regards to water changes and such.

I'm leaning towards my Plan A, which basically follows your recommendation, but won't harm to hear other opinions as well..

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

Thanks for your reply and input. The problem is that we only have 3-4 brands available here to purchase. TM Pro-Reef, BA NeoMarine, Marinium (i think from singapore), and sometimes we get kent marine!

That's why i'm debating wither i wanted to get into raising TM's alkalinity up to 8-9 and holding it stable around that level, but it would for sure require more work from my side with regards to water changes and such.

I'm leaning towards my Plan A, which basically follows your recommendation, but won't harm to hear other opinions as well..

Understood. Availability of salt mixes is definitely a factor. There's certainly nothing wrong with supplementing Mg, Ca and alkalinity right out of the box. You may want to consider trying to find dry magnesium salts (sulfate and chloride), as well as calcium chloride and sodium carbonate/bicarbonate. If you're going to be supplementing your newly-mixed salt water, dry powdered salts will be the most cost-effective.

Supplementing newly mixed saltwater isn't that much of a hassle once you get the numbers down. A salt like Tropic Marin will likely be pretty consistent. Once you know how much dry Mg, Ca and carbonate you need, you could probably just add the dry powders to the newly mixed saltwater every time you make a batch.

 

[BoSalman]

Understood. Availability of salt mixes is definitely a factor. There's certainly nothing wrong with supplementing Mg, Ca and alkalinity right out of the box. You may want to consider trying to find dry magnesium salts (sulfate and chloride), as well as calcium chloride and sodium carbonate/bicarbonate. If you're going to be supplementing your newly-mixed salt water, dry powdered salts will be the most cost-effective.

Supplementing newly mixed saltwater isn't that much of a hassle once you get the numbers down. A salt like Tropic Marin will likely be pretty consistent. Once you know how much dry Mg, Ca and carbonate you need, you could probably just add the dry powders to the newly mixed saltwater every time you make a batch.

Sounds like a plan! I'm testing daily now to get a feeling of how my system is acting. I will carry a water change on Friday and take it from there to set targets close to those of TM saltmix..

Thanks again