How much Alkalinity and Calcium 2 Part are you dosing?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

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...

Doesn't seem odd to me.

32 mL is 1.55 dKH per day. You were losing another 0.4 dKH, for a total of about 2 dKH per day. Coralline alone in a soft coral tank can do that.

 

[HollywoodReefer]

I’m new to dosing. I went from a 70 gal to a 150 plus 40 gal sump 6 months ago. I started 2part dosing about a month ago and had to stop the calk because my numbers were high. To get my ph in the 8.0-8.3 range, I dose 23ml 8 times a day, every 3 hr. Thats 184ml per day. Corals seem happy. Calcium is 450 and Magnesium 1350. GFO/carbon reactor and dosing vodka in an attempt to bring the Po4 down. It’s was so high that the Hanna checker blinked .90. It’s now at .7. I’ve been doing 40 gallon water changes every month. Plus I add about 1 gallons of fresh rodi water every day. Not sure if any of that’s normal.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m new to dosing. I went from a 70 gal to a 150 plus 40 gal sump 6 months ago. I started 2part dosing about a month ago and had to stop the calk because my numbers were high. To get my ph in the 8.0-8.3 range, I dose 23ml 8 times a day, every 3 hr. Thats 184ml per day. Corals seem happy. Calcium is 450 and Magnesium 1350. GFO/carbon reactor and dosing vodka in an attempt to bring the Po4 down. It’s was so high that the Hanna checker blinked .90. It’s now at .7. I’ve been doing 40 gallon water changes every month. Plus I add about 1 gallons of fresh rodi water every day. Not sure if any of that’s normal.

What products are you dosing? Not all supplements have equal potency.

 

[coastkid]

I love this forum. I was just thinking in my head “am I dosing too much or not enough?” Well I have a 125 Tall with a 40 gal sump. Total water volume with rock and equipment is 145 estimated. I recently switched to Triton Method. (Not a huge fan of the mixing though) I am dosing 20ml of #1 20ml of #2 and 24ml of 3A and b. So far I am at 8.5dkh 455 ca, and 1385 mg. Problem I am having now is the PH keeps dropping to 7.5 at night. I am running a refugium with Cheto and rocks. Sump is looking good actually. I also use a Co2 scrubber attached to my skimmer. I just put new media in but it got a little skimmate on it from the suction. Either way it has been maintaining 8 to 8.5 night to day but after the switch to triton it just can’t stay up. () I have windows open in the house and fans blowing, it’s freaking cold here! Good flow all over the tank. Only thing I am seeing trouble with is my elegance and monti. The elegance just won’t blossom like it used to, and the montis have gone grey. Decently stocked with yellow and yellow eye tangs, 6 line, two clowns and two cleaner shrimps. Lots of LPS. A few SPS. The coralline algae has gone berzeker all over the back wall and sump walls. Lots of growth. By the numbers No3 10-15 Po4 .00, alk 8.5, cal 450, mg 1380 Ph 8 day 7.5 night. I am shooting for 1 to 1.5 points higher for PH.
And here is the deal, I am NOT a number chaser. This has been going on for a while and things look good so I am rolling with it, but when the PH hit 7.5 I have to question myself.
What am I missing?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I love this forum. I was just thinking in my head “am I dosing too much or not enough?” Well I have a 125 Tall with a 40 gal sump. Total water volume with rock and equipment is 145 estimated. I recently switched to Triton Method. (Not a huge fan of the mixing though) I am dosing 20ml of #1 20ml of #2 and 24ml of 3A and b. So far I am at 8.5dkh 455 ca, and 1385 mg. Problem I am having now is the PH keeps dropping to 7.5 at night. I am running a refugium with Cheto and rocks. Sump is looking good actually. I also use a Co2 scrubber attached to my skimmer. I just put new media in but it got a little skimmate on it from the suction. Either way it has been maintaining 8 to 8.5 night to day but after the switch to triton it just can’t stay up. () I have windows open in the house and fans blowing, it’s freaking cold here! Good flow all over the tank. Only thing I am seeing trouble with is my elegance and monti. The elegance just won’t blossom like it used to, and the montis have gone grey. Decently stocked with yellow and yellow eye tangs, 6 line, two clowns and two cleaner shrimps. Lots of LPS. A few SPS. The coralline algae has gone berzeker all over the back wall and sump walls. Lots of growth. By the numbers No3 10-15 Po4 .00, alk 8.5, cal 450, mg 1380 Ph 8 day 7.5 night. I am shooting for 1 to 1.5 points higher for PH.
And here is the deal, I am NOT a number chaser. This has been going on for a while and things look good so I am rolling with it, but when the PH hit 7.5 I have to question myself.
What am I missing?

The pH measurement may be inaccurate, or your home air is highly elevated in CO2, or aeration is very poor. If windows are open, the pH measurement being off would be the likely explanation.

You can try the aeration test:

pH And The Reef Aquarium
http://www.reefedition.com/ph-and-the-reef-aquarium/

The Aeration Test

Some of the possible causes of low pH listed above require an effort to diagnose. Problems 3 and 4 are quite common, and here is a way to distinguish them. Remove a cup of tank water and measure its pH. Then aerate it for an hour with an airstone using outside air. Its pH should rise if it is unusually low for the measured alkalinity (Figure 2). Then repeat the same experiment on a new cup of water using inside air. If its pH also rises, then the aquarium’s pH will rise simply with more aeration because it is only the aquarium that contains excess carbon dioxide. If the pH does not rise in the cup (or rises very little) when aerating with indoor air, then that air likely contains excess CO2, and more aeration with that same air will not solve the low pH problem (although aeration with fresher air should). Be careful implementing this test if the outside aeration test results in a large temperature change (more than 5°C or 10°F), because such changes alone impact pH measurements.

 

[coastkid]

Agreed. My air is piped in from outdoors. I would think that air is cleaner. Haven’t dropped below 7.8 at night but not getting above 8 during the day. Used to get 8.2 - 8.4. Either way the tank is good and I am just getting into the weeds because it’s fun.

 

[60gallonrimlessYA]

1. 22 ml of calcium and alkalinity via BRS 2 part
2. 50 gallons
3. Sps/lps and a few soft corals.

Is that daily

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is that daily

That member has not been on for a number of years, but yes, tha t would be a daily total. It is adding 0,.6 dKH each day, which is normal to low normal alk consumed per day.

 

[Miami Reef]

How much alkalinity am I adding with 200mL of the sodium hydroxide recipe?

If you can show the math work, I’d really appreciate it so I can learn how to do it for the future too.

My tank is about 260 gallons.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

How much alkalinity am I adding with 200mL of the sodium hydroxide recipe?

If you can show the math work, I’d really appreciate it so I can learn how to do it for the future too.

My tank is about 260 gallons.

Same calculator and use Randy's recipe #1. It matches that recipe in potency.

Reef Chemistry Calculator