How much Alkalinity and Calcium 2 Part are you dosing?

[sk8elenex92]

Wow, I think I'm doing something wrong reading these responses

Tank: 265 gallon with primarily SPS corals (40+ corals including several small plate-sized monti's) and a few Euphyllia's.

I'm using BRS two-part
Alkalinity: 691 ml/day to maintain 9-9.5 dKH
Calcium: 331 ml/day to maintain 420 ppm
Magnesium: ~1450

Not sure why I need so much more Alk over Calcium, but it took a while to get things dialed in. I get no precipitation with this and probably lose about 1 gallon/day to evaporation.

dang. That's a lot. Im at 165ml of each on a 120.
You have a FTS?

 

[bhuyett]

Okay, I will play.
1) 129ml of Alk for 7.5dkh/ 108ml of Calcium for 430ppm(BRS 2 Part - I purchase 5 gallon buckets of each)

I know it wasn't asked, but I also dosed 550ml of Magnesium today as well!​

2) 120 Display (48"x24"x24") + 40 Breeder Sump = 115 gallons of water volume
3) Mixed Reef

- 10 LPS (medium colonies mainly Acans)
- 5 Rock Nems +3" across + dozen or so Babies about the size of a #2 Pencil Eraser
- 2 Rainbow Bubble Tip Nems
- 1 neon green tip Toadstool
- 32 Zoa/Paly colonies
- SPS
- 16 Large Acro colonies
- 2 Large Monti Caps (10"-12" across) + 2 smaller caps
- 15 Acro frags/ Chunky ranging from 1"-2" tall and have encrusted​

I'm sure I have probably left something out, but that should captured most of my tank.

 

[IKD]

I'm terrible at taking pictures, so apologies in advance

FTS:

Left Side

Center

Right Side

 

[Kinggeorge818]

I dose BRS products;

1,500 ml kH
1,200 ml calcium

I’ve got a mixed 675 gallon display with mostly sps but it’s a new reef (only 4 months old) I don’t know if I’ll be dosing for much longer...looking into a Destaco Calcium Reactor

 

[Shigshwa]

I run a 40B SPS and clam heavy tank. I dose 85mL of both portions a day, to make up about 3dKH of consumed alkalinity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Wow, I think I'm doing something wrong reading these responses

Tank: 265 gallon with primarily SPS corals (40+ corals including several small plate-sized monti's) and a few Euphyllia's.

I'm using BRS two-part
Alkalinity: 691 ml/day to maintain 9-9.5 dKH
Calcium: 331 ml/day to maintain 420 ppm
Magnesium: ~1450

Not sure why I need so much more Alk over Calcium, but it took a while to get things dialed in. I get no precipitation with this and probably lose about 1 gallon/day to evaporation.

What two part recipe exactly? You might be using a sodium bicarbonate recipe for the alk, but a calcium chloride recipe that is based on matching an alk part that is using sodium carbonate. That's no problem, but it will lead to the alk part needing twice as much.

What salt mix are you using? The main way that tanks have an actual imbalanced demand is with a salt mix being used for water changes that does not match the tank in calcium and alkalinity.

 

[dmax525]

Apex is doing an auto water change of 2 gallons a day. 150 gallon system and I’m dosing 20ml of Bionic two part.

 

[madweazl]

74g total volume (75g display w/30g sump)
BRS 2 Part

32.93ml of each per day (approx .6 dKh).

13 various acropora frags (1"-4")
Small (3") JF Jack-O-Lantern
Small (2") monti cap
Small (3") Copps rainbow undata
Purple scroll (5")

 

[Gexx]

~ 8 gal total volume (refugium and DT).
reef fusion 2 part
Dosing 4ml of each per day

Corals:
2x encrusting montipora
1x stylophora
1x birds nest
1x acan lord
1x plating montipora
5x zoa frags
1x fuzzy mushroom
1x ricordea
1x small chalice

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

SCA 50 gallon starfire
I don’t dose anything right now except kalkwasser and magnesium
Alk 8.5
Cal 460
Mag 1350
20 sps Frags
2 large 10 yr old acan colonies
5 small zoa colonies

 

[tgionet]

Currently about 1.5 dkh per day in a 60 gallon volume. Geo 618 @7.0ph, I haven’t measured the effluent rate though. It would’ve been around 45 ml of BRS 2 part daily though.

25? or so acros ranging from tiny frags to small colonies, 3 montis, 2 stylos, one either stylo or pocillopora, Duncan, hammer, frogspawn, lepto, and I think that’s all of the stonies.

 

[Straight.Reefin]

250 gallons of water for me and a packed out sps/lps tank

I am dosing BRS calcium and alkalinity

Calcium is 200 ml a day
Alk is 200 ml a day

 

[IKD]

What two part recipe exactly? You might be using a sodium bicarbonate recipe for the alk, but a calcium chloride recipe that is based on matching an alk part that is using sodium carbonate. That's no problem, but it will lead to the alk part needing twice as much.

What salt mix are you using? The main way that tanks have an actual imbalanced demand is with a salt mix being used for water changes that does not match the tank in calcium and alkalinity.

Hi! I'm sorry I missed this reply earlier. Here are the answers to your questions
1. I'm using the BRS two-part (Sodium Bicarbonate & Calcium Chloride). Should I switch to using Soda Ash instead?
For salt mix, I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi! I'm sorry I missed this reply earlier. Here are the answers to your questions
1. I'm using the BRS two-part (Sodium Bicarbonate & Calcium Chloride). Should I switch to using Soda Ash instead?
For salt mix, I'm using Red Sea Coral Pro Salt.

A two part using sodium bicarbonate is typically more dilute than one using sodium carbonate because the bicarbonate is less soluble. If you want to make a balance (equal parts) two part using sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride, the calcium parts needs to be designed for that purpose (say, 1.25 cups calcium chloride dihydrate in a gallon of water; 1 1/8 cups baking soda per gallon). .

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Two-part dosing on my 90 Gallon isn't exactly symmetrical:
1. Sodium BiCarbonate: 160mL
2. Calcium Chloride: 20mL

Alk stays constant at 8.5, and calcium hangs right around 460 (Mag is around 1550). Is it strange that my calcium consumption rate is so slow?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Two-part dosing on my 90 Gallon isn't exactly symmetrical:
1. Sodium BiCarbonate: 160mL
2. Calcium Chloride: 20mL

Alk stays constant at 8.5, and calcium hangs right around 460 (Mag is around 1550). Is it strange that my calcium consumption rate is so slow?

Chemistry is never strange.

What brand?

If it is actually designed for equal parts dosing (some brands are not ) then it can only be from using something that depletes alkalinity (such as a sulfur denitrator) or using a salt mix with high calcium.

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

1. BRS Sodium BiCarbonate
2. BRS Calcium Chloride

I'm testing with a Hanna Checker for Alkalinity (backed up by a Red Sea kit) and with the Red Sea Alk/Calcium/Mag Testing Kit

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

1. BRS Sodium BiCarbonate
2. BRS Calcium Chloride

I'm testing with a Hanna Checker for Alkalinity (backed up by a Red Sea kit) and with the Red Sea Alk/Calcium/Mag Testing Kit

OK, so assuming you made it to the correct potency, the effect is for one of the reasons I mentioned (or just that you haven't been watching it long enough to really see the calcium decline accurately).

Real demand is typically very close to balanced, except for changes caused by salt mix not matching the tank.

This has more:


When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

 

[Blue Tang Clan]

Thanks Randy, I'll gently up the Calcium to see if the readings actually change much or if over time things equalize.

 

[nornicle]

I have a 29 gallon with goniopora/ 5 acans/ montis (about five of them encrusting and plating) and a few stylopora and birds eat frags rest are softies. 2 chalice frags.

I’ve been slowly increasing my dosing and at the last count I did:
32ml of Randy’s solution 1 calcium and alkalinity and 6 ml of magnesium. Per day dosed 4 minutes apart into high flow.

I went from 7.7dkh to 7.3dkh in 24 hours...

I’m upping to 48ml of part 1 and 2 a day.... that sounds like a lot based on my reading of this thread... am I getting something wrong?

I use Hanna checkers for alk.