Parameters

iap · Aug 4, 2011

What is everyone keeping their alk and calcium at? And what method are you using to be successful?

I manually dose my tank whenever I remember to test my water. I try to keep my alk at 9 and calcium at around 450 with 2part. I do top of with kalk but that isn't keeping up with demand. Almost always when I test, I'm at around 5-6dkh...so I dose to bring it back up to 9. This past week I've been lazy and forgot to dose and my alk was at 5.4 all week..and my sps are looking better than ever and I can awe growth. So my question is, can successfully keep an sps tank at around 5-6dkh, so long as it's stable?

I don't carbon dose, although I did dose vodka at one point but am too lazy for it. I haven't done a water change in a few months..probably around 6 months. Am I bound to crash if I run my alk that low? I plan on taking my bubble magus doser out the box this weekend and auto dose my tank. But I'm hoping I can dose less so I don't blow thru huge amounts of two part constantly.

ronnie · Aug 4, 2011

You are going to see detriment to SPS if you are swinging your alk that much, that frequently.

Stick to a .5 swing and you'll be ok. Break out that doser!

Lytehouse · Aug 4, 2011

Agreed, a doser will help keep your parameters more stable
You will still have to keep up with water tests to see the pumps are dialed into the needs of your tank, esp as you add corals or they grow

iap · Aug 4, 2011

Yea I'm going to set up the doser..but I want to know what levels you guys are keeping your tanks at.

evolved · Aug 4, 2011

Considering NSW measures (on average) 420ppm of Ca and 7dKH, the recommended guidelines are to [FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=-1]maintain Ca between 380-450ppm and Alk between 7-11dKH.

Now where in that range you should target can be debatable, but almost everyone will agree on this: Pick a number somewhere within those ranges and maintain it there.

Alk at 5-6 long term won't work, period.
[/SIZE][/FONT]

soccerbag · Aug 4, 2011

I totally agree with all the above posters. I have never seen a successful SPS tank thrive long term with sporatic dosing. A slight alk swing can cause growth to stall for months (or years). You mentioned that you will be getting a dosing system and that (IMO) is one of the most important things for a SPS dominated system. Manual dosing can work well but it's something you need to stay on top of daily (which is very difficult at times). You will find that everyone's alk and Ca levels will vary. My levels are below (and they have been the exact same for years). I try to not let my Ca or alk swing at all. My Litermeter III helps me do that.

Ca - 450ppm
Alk - 8dKH (I did run it higher at 10dKH for a couple of years with great success as well)
PO4 - 0
NO3 - .5
Mag - 1380
Salinity - 1.025

Stability is the key! : ) And when your SPS colonies start to grow, you WILL go through more and more 2-part. There's no way around it. Just one of the many costs associated with a tank. It never gets cheaper! lol

evolved · Aug 4, 2011

The only way to make the cost of the 2-part cheaper is to buy the bulk chemicals from BRS and mix it yourself. Sure, you've gotta put in a little bit more labor, but there's a big cost savings. In fact, I'd say it's dirt cheap relatively to the cost of most everything in the hobby...