I need to raise my alk .8 to get it to 8.0 and I need to raise my mag 200 to get to 1450. Can I dose both at the same time or how long in between each? I plan to dose the alk over 2 days and the mag over 3.
Dosing Help
- Thread starter Ian Baxter
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OP
OP
Thank you! My PO4 is at .472 and NO3 at 32.7. Haven't been able to do a WC due to back injury. Can I use NOPOX to reduce them? I got my skimmer back on line last night as it has been off for a week. I also have a refugium, but the light wasn't working until close to a week ago. This is an upgrade tank and I've run into some issues. It's a 200g display.
19Mateo83
Valuable Member
The biggest question here is how are your corals looking? I’m a fan of a tank that runs with higher nutrients as long as corals are healthy and parameters stay STABLE. Not saying your system will take to higher nutrients like mine has, if anything add some Chemipure elite to help with phos and let the nitrates roll.
Po4-.44
No3- 44.2
OP
OP
My LPS and SPS are not doing well at all. Chalices have flesh dying and torches bailing. My zoa's are hanging in there and the mushrooms actually look great. My montiporas are losing color very badly.The biggest question here is how are your corals looking? I’m a fan of a tank that runs with higher nutrients as long as corals are healthy and parameters stay STABLE. Not saying your system will take to higher nutrients like mine has, if anything add some Chemipure elite to help with phos and let the nitrates roll.
Po4-.44
No3- 44.2
OP
OP
My PO4 was at .589 and I was finally able to do a 40g WC this morning. tested tonight at .472The biggest question here is how are your corals looking? I’m a fan of a tank that runs with higher nutrients as long as corals are healthy and parameters stay STABLE. Not saying your system will take to higher nutrients like mine has, if anything add some Chemipure elite to help with phos and let the nitrates roll.
Po4-.44
No3- 44.2
OP
OP
It's very difficult as I can't lift the 5g jugs. I'm in the process of getting my AWC on line for this tank. Hopefully have it going this weekend. Plan to do 2g a day
OP
OP
Perfect. Thanks!
OP
OP
Yeah it’s brutal. I have one in the garage for my water station. Need to build a ramp to get it in the house.BTW, as someone with pinched nerves in my neck I feel your pain…. The wheeled bases for brute trash cans and an extra pump keep me from lifting water jugs these days
slingfox
2500 Club Member
Get a Sicce Ultra Zero pump and hook it up to a Python hose. No need to move buckets around. I use a 20 ft hose to move water from the garage to my display tanks and top up water reservoir.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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Let’s slow down with how to do something until we are sure you need to do something.
Magnesium testing is so inaccurate I do not recommend it, and definitely do not recommend such a huge boost without a lot of convincing data that it is needed.
Salinity also has a big effect on magnesium, and if you discover that salinity is actually low, but already gave a big boost to magnesium, you will be in a situation that can only be solved by
Large water changes.
What is salinity and how did you measure it?
How did you measure magnesium?
What does your new salt water read for magnesium?
Magnesium testing is so inaccurate I do not recommend it, and definitely do not recommend such a huge boost without a lot of convincing data that it is needed.
Salinity also has a big effect on magnesium, and if you discover that salinity is actually low, but already gave a big boost to magnesium, you will be in a situation that can only be solved by
Large water changes.
What is salinity and how did you measure it?
How did you measure magnesium?
What does your new salt water read for magnesium?
OP
OP
Salinity is 1.026 with a refractometer. I test mag with Hanna checker. I didn't test the new salt, but I did the water change yesterday morning and tested everything last night. I've been getting consistent reading with the Hanna checker, but I know mag is a difficult one to test for. I stopped testing it for a while and then noticed my torches were losing flesh. When I bumped it back up, they were doing much better. I don't think I want to dose NOPOX. But, I do want to get PO4 down somehow.
Randy Holmes-Farley
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"and I need to raise my mag 200 to get to 1450."
Can you give more info on the magneisum? You say above that things looked better when you raised it, but also that you need to boost it 200 ppm more.
How low was it supposedly?
Bear in mind that no coral needs 1450 ppm. That's extremely high relative to the ocean. Some folks may target it, but the ocean is, on average, 1280 ppm.
OP
OP
Didn’t realize that the ocean was at that level. Mine was at 1150 and I kept hearing that torches do better around 1450. They were losing flesh, so I thought it was that. My nutrients at the time was NO3 - 15, and po4 - .04. Alk- 8 and cal - 450. Once I raised it, the flesh seemed to stabilize and stop receding. My other LPS were nice and puffy too.
That was in my old tank before I upgraded to this one about a month ago.
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