Poll: Stable #'s and water changes

[DangerDave]

I do auto water changes with a DOS. Changes (if any), are very slow due to this.

 

[Mike Reef Addict]

Every time i do a water change.

 

[tgp4274]

i mix salt to sg of 35ppm
then rest i let fly

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Again I "think" an air stone doesn't exchange while rising in the water !

I didn't think I was replying to an older post , but just to clarify, that isn't true. Air bubbles in the water will exchange gas.

 

[potatocouch]

I used to try to match every single important params to the DT but I can't keep up.

The more I think of doing the dosing in the bucket, the more laborious the task is, the lazier I be.
So I like to think simple, then it encourages me to do the WC.

 

[amnesiac]

I do auto changes with the DOS. The water removed and replaced in a day is so small that I don't really bother with equalizing the params. I just make sure I get 1.026 and check the Mg, Ca and alk and so long as nothing is waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay outta wack I leave it be. I should also mention that I test tank alk daily and adjust the alk dose accordingly with a second DOS.

 

[ELOSAmerica]

If you use the Best salt .. you just need to use it .... mix and go .. with Elos

 

[BigJohnny]

Hey All ..

So curious about something ... in an ongoing effort to keep my #'s rock steady, stable and consistent, along with CONSISTENT bi-weekly 15% water changes on a 125 gal tank (145 gallon all total with sump)....

... when I am doing the water changes naturally the salt mix I use (I use the regular instant ocean) does not have the exact same #'s across the board as I keep my system running at.

So everytime I do a change every other week, my numbers flucuate a bit and I am back to chasing #'s, water for calcium to fall down a bit to get to my desired #, THEN start to dose like I used to and normally do for 2 weeks until my next water change .. then repeat and have #'s all over the place again.

So I am wondering how everyone keeps their #'s stable when you are dosing, and then do a water change and cause your numbers to jump a bit ... do you just dose right away after you do a water change to get the #'s back up to where they were ? What about if you keep your alk at 8.3, you do a water change and it jumps to "9.0" ... obviously you dont keep the dosing pump running for the alk or it will make the #'s all out of whack again ..

You can see what I am getting at and wondering .. how you manage these stable #s with consistent water changes

Pick a salt that is closest to what your shooting for and then make your tank parameters match the salt. Then water changes help stability. Either that or adjust your salt mix to match your tanks parameters before water changes.

 

[Tklb]

If I am going to do a water change, I us Red Sea Blue Bucket, then bring params of my New SW up to where I need them by dosing.

 

[Jakewatt]

I am dropping my Alk, because my Nitrate and P04 are low, so I want the Alk to therefor be around 7.

Great post as i’m Asking myself the same questions. I just started the Fauna Marin balling light, and a 10% change every 2 weeks on my tank is enough to elevate my #’s....

My question here, i’m also struggling to get my No3 & Po4 levels up a bit (for real ), what’s the science behind keeping KH at 7 when that’s the case (low No3 Po4)?

 

[MnFish1]

Hey All ..

So curious about something ... in an ongoing effort to keep my #'s rock steady, stable and consistent, along with CONSISTENT bi-weekly 15% water changes on a 125 gal tank (145 gallon all total with sump)....

... when I am doing the water changes naturally the salt mix I use (I use the regular instant ocean) does not have the exact same #'s across the board as I keep my system running at.

So everytime I do a change every other week, my numbers flucuate a bit and I am back to chasing #'s, water for calcium to fall down a bit to get to my desired #, THEN start to dose like I used to and normally do for 2 weeks until my next water change .. then repeat and have #'s all over the place again.

So I am wondering how everyone keeps their #'s stable when you are dosing, and then do a water change and cause your numbers to jump a bit ... do you just dose right away after you do a water change to get the #'s back up to where they were ? What about if you keep your alk at 8.3, you do a water change and it jumps to "9.0" ... obviously you dont keep the dosing pump running for the alk or it will make the #'s all out of whack again ..

You can see what I am getting at and wondering .. how you manage these stable #s with consistent water changes

Do you really think that changing 15% of your water will change your parameters significantly? Seems it would be easiest to buy a salt closer to your desired parameters.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Great post as i’m Asking myself the same questions. I just started the Fauna Marin balling light, and a 10% change every 2 weeks on my tank is enough to elevate my #’s....

My question here, i’m also struggling to get my No3 & Po4 levels up a bit (for real ), what’s the science behind keeping KH at 7 when that’s the case (low No3 Po4)?

It isn't science, but the experience of many reefers is if N and/or P are too low and alk is high, SPS can get burnt tips. One reasonable hypothesis for that is the coral skeleton grows faster than the tissue can keep up, making it thin at the tips and susceptible to easy damage.

 

[Justin Swinney]

Personally I would find a salt mix that has parameters near what you want, then just target that. For example, Red Sea blue bucket has around 8.5 dKh, 425 ppm Ca and 1,250 ppm Mg. If the water you're taking out of your tank has the exact same carbonate, calcium and magnesium, there's no need to adjust anything.

I bought Red Sea blue bucket never got close to 8.5 dkh. I usually got 6.5-7 and 390-400 cal when mixed at 1.026 so I had to boost with two part. I may have gotten a bad batch. I bought small sizes of tropic Marin pro and Fritz RPM to test the levels tropic Marin was close still ale is around 7. I wanted 8. Going to test my first batch of fritz this evening

 

[Mushroomhead]

I always match the ph, but never checked the alk. Guess I should start.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I bought Red Sea blue bucket never got close to 8.5 dkh. I usually got 6.5-7 and 390-400 cal when mixed at 1.026 so I had to boost with two part. I may have gotten a bad batch. I bought small sizes of tropic Marin pro and Fritz RPM to test the levels tropic Marin was close still ale is around 7. I wanted 8. Going to test my first batch of fritz this evening

The last bucket I got came with ICP test results, and all my results were within 5% - 10% of the analysis values. Did your last bucket of Red Sea come with the analysis? When was the last time you calibrated your salinity measurement tool? It's possible you got a bad batch, but Red Sea is usually pretty consistent. Both testing error and low salinity could explain your results.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I always match the ph, but never checked the alk. Guess I should start.

How would you match pH?

 

[wmwesty]

I wonder about this too. For my new build I chose to try LiveAquaria salt because it mixes closest to where I will want my parameters to be. IO is cheaper, but the Alkalinity is pretty high. Seems like a lot of salts have quite high Alkalinity. I get some are high to replace used buffering capacity with small water changes, but for a tank fill that is just too high for my system.

I mix 24 hours prior then when at correct temp add to sump, 10% will not make drastic changes, so I don’t worry and leave my dosing running as norm, hope this helps, SPS dominated tank running for 3 + years now

 

[laverda]

When I used to do water changes I found mixing IO and Oceanic worked well for me and was inexpensive. Oceanic was very hi in Ca and mag and low in ALK.

 

[specialk]

Great post as i’m Asking myself the same questions. I just started the Fauna Marin balling light, and a 10% change every 2 weeks on my tank is enough to elevate my #’s....

My question here, i’m also struggling to get my No3 & Po4 levels up a bit (for real ), what’s the science behind keeping KH at 7 when that’s the case (low No3 Po4)?

It was always my understanding from things I have read from people who know way more then me ... is that if you have low nutrients, you want your alk to be lower as well. My p04 and nitrate has always been low in my system (heck I even dose p04 sometimes) so I lowered my alk, and things started coloring up nicely and tank looks its best.

 

[specialk]

Do you really think that changing 15% of your water will change your parameters significantly? Seems it would be easiest to buy a salt closer to your desired parameters.

It was. enough to not have things rock steady and stable, consistent like I want.

And as mentioned, could Iget another brand of salt that is closer to my #'s ... sure. At about 50% more of the cost, for drastically less of the product. NO THANKS.

I dont mind spending an extra 15 minutes to test a fresh batch of water, add some stuff, etc. I can use that money on other things. Plus, IO is a great salt.