Dosing 100ml/day of alk and no calcium at all. Is this normal?

[cimulation]

I have 220g of total water in my system and it's a little over a year old. I have about 15 sps frags and coralline completely covers the rocks. My 3 main readings are Ca:459ppm - Alk:7.7dKH - Mag:1425pm. I only dose 100ml alkalinity at this point because my calcium never changes. Is this normal that I'm dosing this much alk and calcium is unchanged? Should I dose more alk to increase it? What is ideal if I plan to maintain it SPS dominant?

 

[DC Reefer]

Alk will move much faster than CA. If you are doing water changes I would expect your CA in the fresh SW is a little higher than 459 and the water changes are taking care of the CA consumption. As your tank matures and corals grow you will likely end up dosing CA (or your CA test is wrong )

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

100 ml of "alkalinity" can mean anything. What product?

How long have you been dosing that amount and no calcium?

If it is my DIY recipe (as BRS sells), then you are only adding 0.65 dKH per day, and the expected matching calcium demand is about 4.4 ppm per day. It may take a while to detect that change, especially if doing water changes with a high calcium mix.

Declining nitrate will also consume alk and not calcium.

 

[cimulation]

100 ml of "alkalinity" can mean anything. What product?

How long have you been dosing that amount and no calcium?

If it is my DIY recipe (as BRS sells), then you are only adding 0.65 dKH per day, and the expected matching calcium demand is about 4.4 ppm per day. It may take a while to detect that change, especially if doing water changes with a high calcium mix.

Declining nitrate will also consume alk and not calcium.

Yes, it's the BRS soda ash. Mix one pouch per gallon of water. I've been dosing strictly alk for at least 8mos now without calcium declining much at all. 20% water changes once a month with reef crystals. I don't have an algae problem at all. Not sure if I'm on the right track.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, it's the BRS soda ash. Mix one pouch per gallon of water. I've been dosing strictly alk for at least 8mos now without calcium declining much at all. 20% water changes once a month with reef crystals. I don't have an algae problem at all. Not sure if I'm on the right track.

The water changes may be offsetting the small calcium demand.

 

[cimulation]

The water changes may be offsetting the small calcium demand.

So keep increasing alk to get it up to 8.5ish?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So keep increasing alk to get it up to 8.5ish?

Alkalinity from 7 to 11 dKH is fine.

 

[arking_mark]

You may want to think about:

Don't chase #s, chase stability. When altering the parameters of a reef tank, always do it in an appropriate way.

A good way to target stability is targeting your artifical salt water (ASW) #s. That way water changes don't impact your #s.

If you want higher parameters use high-parameter salt. If you want more natural levels there are salts for that to.

For other useful precepts...

The 12 Commandments of Reef Keeping

Nothing good happens fast in a reef tank Triple-check before you believe any observations or make any changes to your tank Only make one change at a time in your reef tank Use the right tool for the right job Only dose what you can test for Don't chase #s, chase stability. When altering the...

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