Dosing: Larger amount + less frequently, or smaller amount + more frequently?

[pianosdr]

Hello,

TLDR - Do you prefer daily dosing KH (or others) in larger amounts at less frequent intervals? Or do you prefer dosing smaller amounts throughout the day at more frequent intervals?

I have a 91g that I just set up a couple of months ago. Only have around 9 corals in it currently, and the cycle is complete. All parameters except Mg and KH are maintaining levels where I want them.

Mg is higher than I’d like (1480) but not too concerned. KH, however, consistently drops down into the low 8’s, and the peaks and valleys of my daily pH cycle as a consequence is gradually getting lower and lower each day. The tank currently swings between around 8.17 at high point and 8.07 at night.

I started dosing 8.6 ml of Red Sea Alk (as recommended by their calculator) daily spread out over 4 doses throughout the day. Due to the gradually lowering pH, I’ve recently upped the total dosage amount to 9.6 ml. However, I’m still seeing a slight decline day-over-day. I’m wondering if perhaps I should be dosing a larger amount and/or spread out over more than 4 intervals throughout the day?

thank you!

 

[chris k.]

I prefer to spread out alk in smaller doses because when dosing red sea it also raises ph. However cal and mag i will dose in larger quantities less frequently. Especially mag i don't dose mag very often.

 

[pianosdr]

I prefer to spread out alk in smaller doses because when dosing red sea it also raises ph. However cal and mag i will dose in larger quantities less frequently. Especially mag i don't dose mag very often.

dosing KH generally would raise pH. That’s not RS-specific. Raising pH is actually what I’m after. My pH keeps dropping. This morning I woke up and it was 8.01 :/ that’s the lowest it’s ever been.

 

[Tonycass12]

I use red sea A & B. Roughly 17ml of alk spread out over 24hrs 1 dose per hr thanks to my reef dose and 4ml calcium at 8pm just before my lights go out. Things stay fairly stable that way for me. Test once every week or two and make slight adjustments to dosing amounts as needed.

 

[rtparty]

Smaller, more frequent is always the better option. More stability this way

 

[Biglew11]

I like to spread my doses throughout the day. Smaller more frequently = more stable.

You can try spreading your doses throughout the night time hours when ph is lowest.

However your 8.07 to 8.17 really isn't that bad.

 

[pianosdr]

I more than doubled my daily Alk dose to 17.6 ml spread out evenly over a 24-h period now, but I’m still seeing pH drop consistently. Now the nighttime lows are approaching 8.04 and midday highs are around 8.15.

not quite sure what I can be doing differently here other than to just keep increasing the daily Alk dose? I haven’t been increasing calcium dosing to match it (cal has been steady at 450 so I don’t want to mess with it).

 

[jrmailo]

If you would like to see a higher increase in pH via alk dosing, I would recommend you to look into dosing baked baking soda (soda ashe) or kalkwasser.

If you are aiming to increase the tank's pH alone, I would look toward other methods such as CO2 scrubber.

 

[saltyhog]

I much prefer multiple small doses. I know it's probably over kill but I have my dosers set up on Apex to dose alkalinity at the top of the hour and calcium at the bottom of the hour(24 doses of each every day). I still have a pH variation with lighting. That's not only unavoidable but probably natural.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Now the nighttime lows are approaching 8.04 and midday highs are around 8.15.

This pH is pretty close to ideal...