Dosing recommendations??

[Angelo Fatica]

Hey all, I recently decided that I wanted to take dosing more seriously as I filled my tank with corals! My readings are as follows for some of the more important reef parameters,

Nitrates: <1 ppm

Dkh: 5.6 , DANGER!!

Calcium: 390

Magnesium: 1260

These are all before a water change which I will be doing tomorrow afternoon, I will take new tests after to see what the new results are so that i can see what my saltwater is adding to the aquarium. Then i will be able to find what supplements I should dose my system to keep it healthy and growing! Regardless of numbers and before I see what I need, do you guys recommend any chemicals or additives that you use to maintain your reefs? Was looking at two part alk and calcium dose from brs. I have the nano reef two part by Kent marine. Which has calcium, magnesium, pH and dkh buffers to keep the tank in the correct ranges. I just dont know how reliable they are. Any help appreciated!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Getting to a 2 part dosing regiment is good place to start. Getting your current pramameters up to levels needed is first.

Stay away from "buffers", they will only make it harder to adjust your pramameters down the road.

To get your alkalinity up, use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, not baking powder!) raise it no more than 1 dkh a day till you get it where you want it. Less stressful on coral.

You can make it into a gallon of solution using Randy's recipe:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

The calcium can be done using his recipe as well or use the BRS recommend calcium recipe. Mag as well.

I use this calculator to adjust my DKH, calcium and mag:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Once you get your levels where they need to be, then you can start 2 part dosing.

Hope this helps.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What salt mix do you use? Your alkalinity is really low. If the alkalinity of your salt mix is on the lower side, a water change isn't going to do much for your alkalinity.

 

[Dennis McGrath]

I would double check that alkalinity level just to be on the safe side, maybe take a water sample to a LFS for testing there to confirm. That number is very low.

 

[Angelo Fatica]

What salt mix do you use? Your alkalinity is really low. If the alkalinity of your salt mix is on the lower side, a water change isn't going to do much for your alkalinity.

I use my lfs saltwater, I cant remember what salt they use. They even told me my ph was low as well which I think is somehow related to dkh? They told me a water change should at least bring my ph up a bit. I'll see of the water change does anything and I'll see what additives I can use from there.

 

[Angelo Fatica]

I would double check that alkalinity level just to be on the safe side, maybe take a water sample to a LFS for testing there to confirm. That number is very low.

Yes I know it's super low I'll test it again tonight. I use distilled water and I dont know if this contributes much to it. I think I read somewhere that dkh is related to ph? I know my ph is low and my lfs said a water change should at least bring my ph back up.

 

[Angelo Fatica]

Getting to a 2 part dosing regiment is good place to start. Getting your current pramameters up to levels needed is first.

Stay away from "buffers", they will only make it harder to adjust your pramameters down the road.

To get your alkalinity up, use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda, not baking powder!) raise it no more than 1 dkh a day till you get it where you want it. Less stressful on coral.

You can make it into a gallon of solution using Randy's recipe:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

The calcium can be done using his recipe as well or use the BRS recommend calcium recipe. Mag as well.

I use this calculator to adjust my DKH, calcium and mag:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Once you get your levels where they need to be, then you can start 2 part dosing.

Hope this helps.

Thank you for the recipe links!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Thank you for the recipe links!

Your welcome.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I use my lfs saltwater, I cant remember what salt they use. They even told me my ph was low as well which I think is somehow related to dkh? They told me a water change should at least bring my ph up a bit. I'll see of the water change does anything and I'll see what additives I can use from there.

pH is somewhat related to alkalinity in that they usually trend together. The higher your alkalinity, the higher your pH range, the lower your alkalinity, the lower your pH range. But, alkalinity is not really what determines pH: at a given alkalinity, pH is entierly dependant upon how much CO2 is in the air in your home. If your home is anything like the average home, it has a lot. Most reefers have trouble keeping pH up, and unfortunately you probably will too.

Try testing the LFS water before you do a water change. It's possible the water has very low alkalinity, which is why your alkalinity has dropped so much.

Your alkalinity is fairly low, so I expect pH will come up as your alkalinity does. But, don't expect a huge pH bump from water changes. You also cannot control pH with any liquid additive, so do not allow your LFS to sell you anything that purports to do this.

 

[madweazl]

How often do you perform water changes? How much water do you change? How big is the tank? If you aren't changing much water, the alkalinity that may be introduced to the tank via the water change wont be enough to increase levels much. I don't remember any salts having less than about 7.5 dKh but if you're using natural sea water, it will be lower. Dont sweat the low dKh much, mine has been down there before while on travel and everything pulled through fine (raised it back up over the course of a week or two).

 

[Angelo Fatica]

pH is somewhat related to alkalinity in that they usually trend together. The higher your alkalinity, the higher your pH range, the lower your alkalinity, the lower your pH range. But, alkalinity is not really what determines pH: at a given alkalinity, pH is entierly dependant upon how much CO2 is in the air in your home. If your home is anything like the average home, it has a lot. Most reefers have trouble keeping pH up, and unfortunately you probably will too.

Try testing the LFS water before you do a water change. It's possible the water has very low alkalinity, which is why your alkalinity has dropped so much.

Your alkalinity is fairly low, so I expect pH will come up as your alkalinity does. But, don't expect a huge pH bump from water changes. You also cannot control pH with any liquid additive, so do not allow your LFS to sell you anything that purports to do this.

I know theres no additive to bring up ph haha. I will try to test the water tomorrow

 

[Angelo Fatica]

How often do you perform water changes? How much water do you change? How big is the tank? If you aren't changing much water, the alkalinity that may be introduced to the tank via the water change wont be enough to increase levels much. I don't remember any salts having less than about 7.5 dKh but if you're using natural sea water, it will be lower. Dont sweat the low dKh much, mine has been down there before while on travel and everything pulled through fine (raised it back up over the course of a week or two).

20 gallon tank, I do 5 gallons every 3 or 4 weeks due to my nitrates being so low. I'm gonna test the fresh saltwater I use to see what the levels are at there.

 

[Angelo Fatica]

By the way, can someone just outline the basics of dosing these chemicals for me? I figured I should measure my parameters after a water change and right before my next to see the final minus initial to get a feel of what's being pulled in a week. Does this mean I should dose once a week? I read a lot on this but I'm still fuzzy on it.

 

[madweazl]

My recommendation would be perform water changes until your tank's levels match that of what your fresh mixed water is testing at; The caveat being if you dont like the measurements of the fresh mixed water, find a way to adjust. Generally, the only issue with the fresh mixed saltwater is the alkalinity (typically high) and muriatic acid can be used to bring that back down to the desired level. Once you test the new water, you'll have a better idea of how to proceed and we can provide further recommendations.

What I shoot for:

dKh - 7-7.5 (I keep SPS and this has worked best for me)
Calcium - 400-450 (I've actually had 370-500 and never noticed a difference but my salt mix usually ends up around 420)
Magnesium - 1250-1500 (some go well beyond that but Instant Ocean usually mixes up around 1320 and I've never had a reason to change it)

 

[Angelo Fatica]

My recommendation would be perform water changes until your tank's levels match that of what your fresh mixed water is testing at; The caveat being if you dont like the measurements of the fresh mixed water, find a way to adjust. Generally, the only issue with the fresh mixed saltwater is the alkalinity (typically high) and muriatic acid can be used to bring that back down to the desired level. Once you test the new water, you'll have a better idea of how to proceed and we can provide further recommendations.

What I shoot for:

dKh - 7-7.5 (I keep SPS and this has worked best for me)
Calcium - 400-450 (I've actually had 370-500 and never noticed a difference but my salt mix usually ends up around 420)
Magnesium - 1250-1500 (some go well beyond that but Instant Ocean usually mixes up around 1320 and I've never had a reason to change it)

So you use instant ocean salt? Thanks for the reply! I'll try to use the next couple of weeks to see how close I can get it. I think I'm just gonna try out seachem fusion 2 part as others seem to use it with pretty good success. It would be easier to learn how to properly dose this way!

 

[madweazl]

So you use instant ocean salt? Thanks for the reply! I'll try to use the next couple of weeks to see how close I can get it. I think I'm just gonna try out seachem fusion 2 part as others seem to use it with pretty good success. It would be easier to learn how to properly dose this way!

Yea, I figure getting as close to natural sea water levels can be cant be wrong. I do lower the alkalinity substantially though (to match that of the oceans).

 

[Angelo Fatica]

Yea, I figure getting as close to natural sea water levels can be cant be wrong. I do lower the alkalinity substantially though (to match that of the oceans).

I just tested mine twice and it was averaged about 5.35 so I'm gonna see what new water does along with the calcium and magnesium.

 

[madweazl]

I just tested mine twice and it was averaged about 5.35 so I'm gonna see what new water does along with the calcium and magnesium.

Do they mix water? If so, did you check the salinity?

 

[Angelo Fatica]

Do they mix water? If so, did you check the salinity?

No these tests were straight from my tank, which makes me a bit nervous. I'm gonna see tomorrow what the parameters of the new saltwater are to see if I'm filling my tank with bad levels to begin with

 

[madweazl]

Ah, ok. Be sure to ask them what they're using next time you're there.