Currently batting Dinos, no water change means alk and cal out of whack!

Rogued_Reefer

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Hi everyone!

I have been battling a mild Dino outbreak and part of my plan of action is no water changes. My alk has dropped to 6DKH and my Cal to 360ppm it used to be 8DKH and 420ppm.

This Alk and Cal consumption happened over the span of 20 days so it wasn’t a fast change. My PH was at 8.2 and now it’s 8.0.

I been considering using ESV B-Ionic 2 part to increase the values to 8Dkh and 425ppm.

is that a smart approach? If so how do I calculate how much product would I need to buy?
or
Should I just wait it out and do a water change to replenish the alk and cal?

here is a little more info about the tank.
  • Tank age: 7months
  • Temp: 78-79
  • Salinity: 1.026
  • Phosphates: 0
  • Nitrates: 0
 

Bayareareefer18

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Thank you! I’m new to dosing so I want to get it right from the get go.
Don't need to be afraid of dosing just be in tune with the tank. Test frequently and get a handle on your daily consumption. Test 24 hours apart and measure the difference.
Keep in mind your consumption will change as your tank grows. I was testing daily and when I thought I had a good idea of daily consumption it nearly doubled. Now I am at a stable daily consumption and hand dose daily.
Eventually I will automate but for now hand dosing works just fine
 
OP
OP
Rogued_Reefer

Rogued_Reefer

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Don't need to be afraid of dosing just be in tune with the tank. Test frequently and get a handle on your daily consumption. Test 24 hours apart and measure the difference.
Keep in mind your consumption will change as your tank grows. I was testing daily and when I thought I had a good idea of daily consumption it nearly doubled. Now I am at a stable daily consumption and hand dose daily.
Eventually I will automate but for now hand dosing works just fine
Yeah for sure! I need to get new test kits too before I start dosing because I currently use API and they have proven to be unreliable.
 

Bayareareefer18

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Yeah for sure! I need to get new test kits too before I start dosing because I currently use API and they have proven to be unreliable.
Good test kits are definitely valuable.

If budget allows hannah is a great way to go. I find if it's easier to test you will do it more often
I use hannah for alk and po4 and red sea for ca mag and no3
 

Cory

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I dont do water changes and had dinos. My no3 was 80ppm + and po4 always zero on hanna. When i dosed .70ppm of po4 the dinos completely dissapeared in 4 days. Now cyano is coming lol. Happy for cyano!
 

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