Few questions...

[HomeReef]

75g, 20 g sump, mixed reef

I picked up a doser last week. I tested my water three days in row and the results were about the same or even a tad higher. Does this mean I probably don't need to worry about dosing for now? I am surprised because although I don't have a lot of grow out, I do have quite a bit of frags. Tested the big three. Calcium 472, Alk 8.7, Mag 1350.

I'm aiming to get to 420 Calc, 10 Alk, and 1300 Mag... any suggestions on this?

Separate question, my PH is testing about 7.8, I. Reading that reef tanks should be 8 - 8.4. Would you all increase your PH, and how? Just arm and hammer baking soda? About how much should I add for 90g? How often will O need to do this?

 

[ihavecrabs]

Hey Homereef,

You could definitely dose to close the difference between your alkalinity and mag parameters to get to where you want them. I would recommend picking parameters that are close to what your salt mix mixes to if you plan to do water changes. Or vise versa (pick a salt mix that mixes close to your intended parameters).

Since you are not seeing a massive amount of consumption, I would dose to get all three of your parameters where you want them, then test alkalinity daily and calc/mag weekly. Alkalinity will be the parameters that is most volatile and moves the most quickly. Once you start to see alkalinity drop, dose all three in equal amounts and make any corrections at the one week mark.

Once you get dosing stable, you can test less frequently; however, alkalinity stability is key and I’d recommend to continue testing that parameter daily (I do every 4 hours!)

As for pH, don’t chase it. You could dose your alkalinity after your lights go out to keep ph from hitting its lows, but never dose to get pH to a certain level.. alkalinity parameter is much more critical.

Let me know if you have any questions.

 

[HomeReef]

Great, thank you for the response, much appreciated!

 

[BeejReef]

ihavecrabs nailed it IMHO.
fwiw, baking soda would actually decrease your ph. If you do the baking it in the oven trick and turned it into soda ash, it would then have a mild ph raising effect, but would raise your alkalinity even more dramatically.

Once you've adjusted your alkalinity to your desired level, test ph again.
Raising ph is a well-discussed topic. As crabs noted, dosing is not often the solution.

Your target parameters are reasonable... maybe just a touch ambitious though.
You need your corals to start consuming to bring down your calcium and magnesium to your targets (though their current levels are ok too).

I just wonder if you may run into trouble trying to push up and hold alk to 10 so early on. Elevated alk and calc love to precipitate and fluctuate, and generally screw with your best laid plans. I might be content to sit tight, continue to test, and when the corals show me a consistent demand, begin a dosing regime designed to slowly get me to my target params.

 

[HomeReef]

Thank you, appreciate the insight!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

75g, 20 g sump, mixed reef

I picked up a doser last week. I tested my water three days in row and the results were about the same or even a tad higher. Does this mean I probably don't need to worry about dosing for now? I am surprised because although I don't have a lot of grow out, I do have quite a bit of frags. Tested the big three. Calcium 472, Alk 8.7, Mag 1350.

I'm aiming to get to 420 Calc, 10 Alk, and 1300 Mag... any suggestions on this?

Separate question, my PH is testing about 7.8, I. Reading that reef tanks should be 8 - 8.4. Would you all increase your PH, and how? Just arm and hammer baking soda? About how much should I add for 90g? How often will O need to do this?

Monitor alkalinity. Unless it drops, you do not need any dosing of alk, calcium, or magnesium.

 

[HomeReef]

Thank you!