Do you know EXACTLY what your tank's consumption rates of Calc, Alk, Mag and other elements are? If so what is your method to discover these rates?

ZoWhat

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Do you know EXACTLY what your tank's consumption rates of Calc, Alk, Mag and other elements are? If so what is your method to discover these rates?

In my mind the only method to exactly gauge the consumption of a certain element is to TEST EVERYDAY for that element for TWO WEEKS.... while not dosing anything nor any WCs.... and CHART the DEPLETION every day for two weeks

Then your chart would show you the consumption rate; possibly daily but definitely weekly.

Anyone have other methods?


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olonmv

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I’m trying to figure out my consumption but my strategy is a lil different. Test everyday, still dose but come up with an average. 2 weeks sounds good with no wc and then get your average at the end of it all. Consumption is maintained and you get your daily average.
 

Purkey Pets

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I wouldn't use a two-week period without dosing to determine consumption - Alkalinity will drop, and growth/consumption will slow down.

I'd start with four days and use those consumption numbers to start dosing. Continue testing while dosing, and adjust from there if dosing overshoots/can't keep up.
 

Gtinnel

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I don't know mine exactly but I have a pretty good idea for alkalinity. I just used one of the dosing calculators and input my current alk level as the desired amount and the current amount I lowered until it showed the dosage that I was adding daily. Then the difference between the two is my consumption. Or at least I believe it can be calculated this way.
If I go several days, much less a few weeks without dosing I'm going to have too much of a drop. If my way of calculating it does work then I seem to consume around .7 dkh a day, plus the small amount my AWC adds.

I've never did it for calcium and magnesium though.
 

Smite

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I'm guessing you mean for first dosing? Your plan is probably fine for a new tank with new corals but once things are growing and happy the numbers are constantly increasing. At that point not dosing for "x" amount of days could lead to swings. So once I see my levels are consistent it's just educated guessing and testing from there for me. Then I looks at my doser ml a day or what I'm manually dosing a day of each.

Now I just test for alk and adjust a calcium reactor. My main focus is consistency in alkalinity, as long as calcium and magnesium are within range I don't worry. I haven't found those moving around a little here and there really effect anything.
 

DaneGer21

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Here’s how I do mine…Once I confirm testing over a period of time then I can look at my Apex/BRS 1.1ml doser dosing schedule. For ease let’s say I dose 1min every hour to maintain my alk usage. So for this example, throughout the day I dose 24mins or 26.4ml of alk.
 

X-37B

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I run a carx so I dont really need to know.
I check alk every other day because its easy to do. Its not really needed but will catch any issues before they become problems.
Once alk is set and stable ca never changes. I check ca maybe every 2 months.
I dose trace daily and it keeps my mag levels stable. I check it every 2 months and it does not vary much.
 
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ZoWhat

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I'm guessing you mean for first dosing? Your plan is probably fine for a new tank with new corals but once things are growing and happy the numbers are constantly increasing.
I'm asking if you really dont know what the consumption rates are... it only makes sense to me to STOP all dosing and WCs and test test test and chart chart chart over a period of time to see at what rates my corals are consuming things.

Heck, my corals could barely be consuming Calc but consuming Mag at a high rate.


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Spieg

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I just test 2 days in a row. Test one day and dose back to desired level then test again in 24 hours and determine how much it takes to get back to desired level. I'd worry that uptake rate might become skewed as levels drop after an extended period.
 

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I spent a few months testing every night. And after I dosed at night I would test in the morning. I tried a few times to test Night and morning when I dosed at night and seemingly nothing gets depleted. So I know what my dosing does pretty accurately. Was a lot of work but I’m really comfortable now dosing. I test alk daily now and cal and mag 2x per week since my tank is still maturing. But I have put in enough tome that when I’m exhausted with 3 kids I can dose and take a few days off testing and know what’s gonna happen. For me it was just a lot of time but it’s paying off.
 

NowGlazeIT

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In my mind the only method to exactly gauge the consumption of a certain element is to TEST EVERYDAY for that element for TWO WEEKS.... while not dosing anything nor any WCs.... and CHART the DEPLETION every day for two weeks
That’s how I do it but not for weeks dude, do I look like I’m made of reagents here??
……………………………………………………..

In all seriousness tho I do test for a couple weeks everyday ;Blackeyebut by the end, I’ve dialed in my dosing regimen to my consumption rate.
 

NowGlazeIT

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I wouldn't use a two-week period without dosing to determine consumption - Alkalinity will drop, and growth/consumption will slow down.
This sounds like someone going through a tank upgrade.
But then again as coral grow out, we should all watch out for that
 

NowGlazeIT

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I run a carx so I dont really need to know.
I check alk every other day because its easy to do. Its not really needed but will catch any issues before they become problems.
Once alk is set and stable ca never changes. I check ca maybe every 2 months.
I dose trace daily and it keeps my mag levels stable. I check it every 2 months and it does not vary much.
What company did you go with for the trace elements?
 

Dan Ponchak

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Ive experimented with levels covering approximately the middle 60% range of acceptable parameters. I observe my tanks inhabitants and make note of each specie‘s appearance and health. I make note of it. That allows me to establish what levels make most (or most important to me) inhabitants the happiest. My tank is currently happiest at 8.6, 430, and 1420 (No water changes, 2 part, Red Sea abcd)For me to maintain my sweet spot of 8.6 for alk I currently dose 80 ml daily. So from my perspective my tanks Alk consumption is 80/day. Hope that helps. 4137EEF3-7CD4-4113-8B42-32A65695C4AD.jpeg
 

NowGlazeIT

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Ive experimented with levels covering approximately the middle 60% range of acceptable parameters. I observe my tanks inhabitants and make note of each specie‘s appearance and health. I make note of it. That allows me to establish what levels make most (or most important to me) inhabitants the happiest. My tank is currently happiest at 8.6, 430, and 1420 (No water changes, 2 part, Red Sea abcd)For me to maintain my sweet spot of 8.6 for alk I currently dose 80 ml daily. So from my perspective my tanks Alk consumption is 80/day. Hope that helps. 4137EEF3-7CD4-4113-8B42-32A65695C4AD.jpeg
Beautiful tank thank you for sharing
 

Screwgunner

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My alkalinity as of now is 4 ml a day calcium is around 22 ppm a week . Magnesium i add alittle once a month . Alkalinity, calcium are checked with hanna test kits. I also check phosphates with hanna but it is so low I do not test that often. As far as trace I follow the directions s on the bottle. In a year I will send in a water sample to see where I am at. I use a seachem test for Magnesium. This is for a 120 gallon system. With a large ATS , protein skimmer, reactor with carbon. And a spunge for filter. 3 colony of zoas 9 frags of zoas a candy cane ,birdsnest ,one mushroom, one green tree leather. Two montiporas. It is right at 6 months old . Coraline algae is all over bottom and sides and back of glass two little spots on the rock so far.
 

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What company did you go with for the trace elements?
I use DSR trace. I dose 5ml a day and it keeps mag at 1400 and K at 410 in my 120's system.
I have not had to adjust it in over a year.
2ml a day in my 45 *** system keeps the levels the same.
I now run coral bones in my carx and may have to adjust it down as it normally was 1350 with manmade media and has gone up over the last 4 months.
The pic has all the trace elements it supplies.
20210804_191928.jpg
 

MnFish1

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Do you know EXACTLY what your tank's consumption rates of Calc, Alk, Mag and other elements are? If so what is your method to discover these rates?

In my mind the only method to exactly gauge the consumption of a certain element is to TEST EVERYDAY for that element for TWO WEEKS.... while not dosing anything nor any WCs.... and CHART the DEPLETION every day for two weeks

Then your chart would show you the consumption rate; possibly daily but definitely weekly.

Anyone have other methods?


.
Checking every day seems like it could bring in more error since every test is going to have a 'margin of error'. I guess you could average out all the daily 'depletions' but - I would just measure once every 4 days maybe twice and use the difference between day 1 and day 4

One problem - depending on how quickly your tank uses up additives, as a 2 week period goes along, the coral growth may slow - which will change the depletion rate.

I believe the 'Best' way to do it - is to just start dosing based on a couple day test - then test and adjust the dosing to keep the parameters where you want them. You don't need the 'consumption rate' per se - as much a you need to keep the parameters stable - which you can do by testing and adjusting your dosing based on the test.
 

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