Hello,
I have a several year old tank that has always been pretty stable w/ a mixed reef mostly softies and LPS's, and one SPS. All seems healthy currently, but a few months ago I switched to a new Apex from my RK and I've added a new BRS dosing pump for CA. I also switched from @Randy Holmes-Farley 2 part recipe #2 to recipe #1 b/c my PH seemed to run around 8.2 or 8.3 so I figured if the other recipe is more concentrated then I would have to dose less and it would be easier. I also never really manager MG and I decided to get that in line as well and I created an issue. My test kit was old and no matter what I did it said the MG was low so I kept using Randy's calculator to add more MG. Eventually I said this is odd and I ordered a new red sea test kit and an ICP mail in kit. To make a long story short all of my standard parameters are perfect except the following:
Current parameters:
MG - 1600 (this has actually came down from 1800 a couple months ago confirmed by the ICP test)
CA - 270 (Over the last month or so the CA has drifted down even if I dose extra, but I assume that is b/c the ALK is a little high)
ALK - 11.2 (its held here fro the last month plus)
PH - ranges from 8.48 at night to 8.61 during the day and has been creeping up over the last month (really since I switched to recipe #2)
Salinity - 1.026
Here is my dosing program for ALK on my Apex:
Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/004:30/055:30 Then ON
If pH > 8.59 Then OFF
My PH has often lately been hitting the 8.59 limit and irritating me. Then it doesn't dose which seems fine b/c my ALK is stable but high. I would like to get the ALK down a little maybe between 9 and 10 and get the PH at a point where its not constantly bumping into my limit. I would love the MG to come down too but I have probably done 5 water changes since the ICP test and its still at 1600 so I'm not sure what to do about that. The tank overall looks fine everything is healthy I just fell like I'm walking a fine line and I would like to get things a little more in the center of their ranges slowly.
Let me know if you need anything or I left anything out.
Thanks for your pointers.
I have a several year old tank that has always been pretty stable w/ a mixed reef mostly softies and LPS's, and one SPS. All seems healthy currently, but a few months ago I switched to a new Apex from my RK and I've added a new BRS dosing pump for CA. I also switched from @Randy Holmes-Farley 2 part recipe #2 to recipe #1 b/c my PH seemed to run around 8.2 or 8.3 so I figured if the other recipe is more concentrated then I would have to dose less and it would be easier. I also never really manager MG and I decided to get that in line as well and I created an issue. My test kit was old and no matter what I did it said the MG was low so I kept using Randy's calculator to add more MG. Eventually I said this is odd and I ordered a new red sea test kit and an ICP mail in kit. To make a long story short all of my standard parameters are perfect except the following:
Current parameters:
MG - 1600 (this has actually came down from 1800 a couple months ago confirmed by the ICP test)
CA - 270 (Over the last month or so the CA has drifted down even if I dose extra, but I assume that is b/c the ALK is a little high)
ALK - 11.2 (its held here fro the last month plus)
PH - ranges from 8.48 at night to 8.61 during the day and has been creeping up over the last month (really since I switched to recipe #2)
Salinity - 1.026
Here is my dosing program for ALK on my Apex:
Fallback OFF
OSC 000:00/004:30/055:30 Then ON
If pH > 8.59 Then OFF
My PH has often lately been hitting the 8.59 limit and irritating me. Then it doesn't dose which seems fine b/c my ALK is stable but high. I would like to get the ALK down a little maybe between 9 and 10 and get the PH at a point where its not constantly bumping into my limit. I would love the MG to come down too but I have probably done 5 water changes since the ICP test and its still at 1600 so I'm not sure what to do about that. The tank overall looks fine everything is healthy I just fell like I'm walking a fine line and I would like to get things a little more in the center of their ranges slowly.
Let me know if you need anything or I left anything out.
Thanks for your pointers.