Double-checking my dosing plan

[Biokabe]

Just checking to make sure I'm not committing any major errors here...

I haven't needed to dose in a while. In my old tank, the softies and anemones that had taken over didn't need much beyond regular water changes. In the new tank, it's taken a few months for a new equilibrium to develop and for corals to grow enough to actually need more than regular water changes.

The tank is a 90g with an 18g sump, so ~ 108 gallons total system volume.

Current testing (as of yesterday) gives:
Alk: 7.5 (steadily falling about 0.05-0.1 per day when measured at the same time)
Calc: 390 (falling about 10 ppm per week)
Mg: 1305 (steady)
Nitrate: 0.0 PPM (has fallen from 20 ppm to 0 over the course of two months - I haven't been actively trying to lower this)
Phosphate: 1.00 PPM (steady)

The tank is currently lightly stocked, but I've got some acros on the way and plan to eventually stock the tank fairly heavily.

I'd like to get Alk back up around 8.0-8.3, calcium up around 420, nitrate up between 5-10 and phosphates down to around 0.2 ppm. Accordingly, my plan is to dose:

Phosphate RX: 15 drops a day for the next 6 days, re-test on Saturday
NeoNitro: 6.5 ml/day, again testing again on Saturday.
All for Reef: 20 ml/day until I reach 8.0 alk, then find the maintenance dose after that.

Is this too aggressive? Not aggressive enough?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’d go slower with the AFR.

In 3 days you will overshoot and then have to figure out the dose to stabilize all over again.

There is definitely no rush to go from 7.5 to 8 dKH, and if you approach it slowly, it will be easier to slowly decrease the dose as you approach your target.

I’d personally try 5 -10 mL per day and after a few days, adjust as needed.

 

[Biokabe]

Thanks, exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I used the calculator on TM's website to come up with my dose, so they must be assuming a heavier Alk demand compared to what I have.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thanks, exactly the kind of feedback I was looking for. I used the calculator on TM's website to come up with my dose, so they must be assuming a heavier Alk demand compared to what I have.

Yes, a calculator that is based on tank size is really just a random guess.

 

[rishma]

Yes, a calculator that is based on tank size is really just a random guess.

Not exactly a random guess. That TM AFR calculator just spits out a starting dose of 0.1 meq/L.

Not very useful, I agree.

 

[skey44]

fWIW I used the TM calculator and I had to slowly increase the dose from their initial recommendation on AFR. I had been correcting for some time with sodium bicarbonate before the switch and only keep stony corals so for a new tank my alk demand was pretty high. I agree no rush to overshoot the alk and won’t hurt to start with lower starting dose. I started at 17ml per day on my 80 gallon.
On the Neo nitro I think your dose will be fine. I always added either one cap or two caps daily (5 or 10 ml) based on testing numbers until my tank reached equilibrium and no longer needed added phosphate.
I haven’t used phophate rx but I do like running GFO when my phosphate numbers get above 0.2. I go with a low dose and passive use in a mesh bag to eliminate rapid swings of phosphate. I know GFO has fallen out of favor but I have found it to be safe and effective when used sparingly and passively.
Good luck. Sounds like you’re making some good choices to address these things and your plan sounds good to me. I’m just not familiar with the phophate rx.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not exactly a random guess. That TM AFR calculator just spits out a starting dose of 0.1 meq/L.

Not very useful, I agree.

OK, a fixed guess, not a random guess. lol

 

[Biokabe]

Yes, a calculator that is based on tank size is really just a random guess.

Yeah, seems to me they should be factoring in Alk usage at least.

Tank size + observed/desired daily change would seem to be a much more useful calculator. Anyone who's needing to dose should be testing often enough to know what their demand seems to be, so I'm not sure what problem they hope to solve by only offering such a basic calculator.

I haven’t used phophate rx but I do like running GFO when my phosphate numbers get above 0.2. I go with a low dose and passive use in a mesh bag to eliminate rapid swings of phosphate. I know GFO has fallen out of favor but I have found it to be safe and effective when used sparingly and passively.

I was using Rowaphos (which I understand is basically GFO) on the last tank. And it worked, but I was going through it way fast for how much it was taking out. I'd go through about 100ml in a week, and in that week it would lower phosphates by maybe 0.2 (after an initial big drop). I think there's tons of phosphates bound up in my rocks, so I want to get more aggressive at removing phosphates... since there's no more tang to worry about in the tank (at least not yet) I figured I'd take advantage and try a lanthanum-based treatment to bring them down (relatively) quickly.