Mixed reef numbers??

[Sobo's Reef]

I’m getting ready to start dosing my tank with part 1+2... what’s the recommended level for a mixed reef? I have a little bit of everything but mostly zoas and SPS. Thanks!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd aim for 7-11 dKH and 400-500 ppm calcium, as long as you have above 0.01 ppm phosphate and 2 ppm nitrate. If the nutrient levels are below that (either one), I'd drop the alk back to 7-8.5 dKH.

This has more:

Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/o...-reef-aquarium-by-randy-holmes-farley.173563/

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I finally have a day off from work tomorrow so I was gonna test everything and see what it looks like. Pretty sure my phosphates are always around 0.01-0.02 but my nitrates are usually up near the 10ppm mark. Too much for nitrates?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I finally have a day off from work tomorrow so I was gonna test everything and see what it looks like. Pretty sure my phosphates are always around 0.01-0.02 but my nitrates are usually up near the 10ppm mark. Too much for nitrates?

That value is OK.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Awesome. I will post my readings tomorrow and go from there.

Is figuring out how much to dose still the same? Test everyday to see how much Alk and Calc the tank is using and dose accordingly?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Awesome. I will post my readings tomorrow and go from there.

Is figuring out how much to dose still the same? Test everyday to see how much Alk and Calc the tank is using and dose accordingly?

Which brand two part?

I wouldn't test and dose every day in a new tank. I'd let it run a few days to see the trend more clearly. I'd determine the alk part by testing, and dose the calcium par the same (assuming it is a recipe designed for ~1:1 dosing) until, over time, you determine if a slightly different calcium amount is more desirable.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I’ve only ever used The ESV brand so I was gonna stick to that.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’ve only ever used The ESV brand so I was gonna stick to that.

ESV B-ionic is an excellent choice.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

First time using the Hanna Checker for Calcium and I got 592ppm.. seems really high. As for Alkalinity I got 6.3dKh. I haven’t tested anything else yet, just curious to see what those 2 were reading.

 

[User1]

Having just gone through this at least from a new tank perspective, well actually newly cycled 210 gallon (March 1 completed) and migrated 7 year old 40 breeder into it, testing daily was not necessary. At least in my case the tank was not mature enough and mostly empty outside what was moved from the 40 into the new one. I thought I might see something and only now do I "think" there is something to maybe keep it balanced. It did at least show me that my initial numbers are on the low side. Manual dosing a couple days brought them more inline I think.

I started to measure around the 21st of June and you can see how it is on the low side at least with regards to alkalinity. Magnesium seems also on the lower side with calcium again low but not bad from what I've read. I tested the next day and didn't see anything bad. Then started to do every other day and not seeing much change. I added 40 ml of ESV two part a couple days in a row to see if the numbers changed and they did. I can now probably do manual dose once or twice a week and be ok. based on the numbers but cannot go too aggressive because nothing is really consuming and the change isn't really drastic.

I plan to just fill in the rest of July until my regents for Salifert (calc/mag) run out while practicing my testing. The good news is that the numbers are not too far off either way so whatever I'm doing at least it is consistent

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Yeah I’m waiting for my numbers to jump around a lot. Just got a shipment of 18 frags in today on top of the 15+ corals I already have. Tank is only a 57g deep blue with a 30g Skimz sump lol my calc was close to 600 yesterday but today it was closer to 500. Maybe I messed up the first test so I’m not too worried right now. I’m gonna test everyday and see how they’re moving. Should be getting my ESV 2 part in the mail tomorrow.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Just measured my phosphates and nitrates for the first time in awhile.. phosphates are 0.021ppm and my nitrates are 2.5ppm so i guess that’s good right?

 

[Sobo's Reef]

When should I start to dose? I’ve been testing for a little over a week and my Alk was at 6.4dKH but is now down to 5.9dKH... my calcium was really high, close to 600ppm but now it’s down to 531ppm.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I generally would not recommend trying to keep a reef at less than 7 dKH. I would dose either just alk, or a two part, to maintain at least 7 dkh.

 

[Sobo's Reef]

I have the 2 part mixed and ready to go. I just don’t know how much Alk to dose. I have an apex DoS and DDR but have not set them up yet

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Use this calculator to determine how much raises the alk by, say 0.4 dKH per day and see if the alk stabilizes at a reasonable level, or back off if it keeps rising beyond your target:

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Okay it says Net Actual Tank Volume... I have a 57 gallon display and a 30 gallon sump which obviously is half full. Should I still type in 87 gallons?

 

[steelwrap]

Itll be less than that if you have rock in your tank, got to adjust for water displacement of the rock

 

[Sobo's Reef]

So a safe bet would probably be like 70-75g total?

 

[Sobo's Reef]

Here’s what it says when I put 75g in...