Question on dosing and raising levels

[d_adler]

So I just started triton last week and so far I like the results I see in my acros. Polyp extension is great and colors are slowly getting more vibrant (may be due to a correction in alk after a spike)

My question seems simple but I would like it to be clarified anyways..... After starting my dose at 20ml per day of the base elements and gradually raising to stabilize my alk has dropped from 8 to 7.3.

Do I dose more of base element 1 and get alk to 8 once again and be done??

Or

Do I dose extra of all 3 base elements until alk is at 8 once again then bring them back to a maintenance dose??



I would appreciate if @gpwdr could provide his 2 cents. Your tank is partially the reason I converted to triton (no water changes was a close second)

 

[lexinverts]

So I just started triton last week and so far I like the results I see in my acros. Polyp extension is great and colors are slowly getting more vibrant (may be due to a correction in alk after a spike)

My question seems simple but I would like it to be clarified anyways..... After starting my dose at 20ml per day of the base elements and gradually raising to stabilize my alk has dropped from 8 to 7.3.

Do I dose more of base element 1 and get alk to 8 once again and be done??

Or

Do I dose extra of all 3 base elements until alk is at 8 once again then bring them back to a maintenance dose??



I would appreciate if @gpwdr could provide his 2 cents. Your tank is partially the reason I converted to triton (no water changes was a close second)

You should increase your daily dose of all 4 solutions (or 3 if you mix 3A and 3B) of Elementz until your alk gets back up to 8. If your alk is 7.3, your other elements are most likely too low as well. The solutions are balanced so that if you have an alk of 8, your Ca, Mg, and trace elements should be at optimal levels as well.

 

[d_adler]

You should increase your daily dose of all 4 solutions (or 3 if you mix 3A and 3B) of Elementz until your alk gets back up to 8. If your alk is 7.3, your other elements are most likely too low as well. The solutions are balanced so that if you have an alk of 8, your Ca, Mg, and trace elements should be at optimal levels as well.

thats what i figured but i wanted to be sure. should i be testing for anything other than alkalinity?

 

[lexinverts]

thats what i figured but i wanted to be sure. should i be testing for anything other than alkalinity?

Well, I do test for Calcium and Mg every once in a while (as well as check them when I get Triton results) but they generally fall in line if my alkalinity is at 8. When I started Triton, I tested Ca, Mg, and Alk quite a bit. Now that I have my system dialed in, I check Alk a few times per week, I check salinity, phosphate, and nitrate once per week, and then send in Triton test every 6 weeks or so.

 

[twilliard]

In the beginnings of triton you will want to make corrections in ALK and CAL
Once you reach your goals then dose all elementz equal.
From there monitor your ALK for changes and correct dosing amounts equally
Here is how i dose with a 3 to 1 dilution.



This allows me to add more rodi for evap

 

[lexinverts]

In the beginnings of triton you will want to make corrections in ALK and CAL
Once you reach your goals then dose all elementz equal.
From there monitor your ALK for changes and correct dosing amounts equally
Here is how i dose with a 3 to 1 dilution.

As I understand it, if, BEFORE you start Triton, your alk, Ca, and Mg are not balanced, then you should correct the imbalance before dosing equal amounts of all 4 Triton solutions. This shouldn't take very long, however. Most of the time you'll dose the solutions equally.

Triton also sells pure Ca and Alk products to correct imbalance without also adding extra trace elements to the tank.

 

[d_adler]

In the beginnings of triton you will want to make corrections in ALK and CAL
Once you reach your goals then dose all elementz equal.
From there monitor your ALK for changes and correct dosing amounts equally
Here is how i dose with a 3 to 1 dilution.



This allows me to add more rodi for evap

i dont even know whats going on here. definitely much different than what ive seen

 

[twilliard]

i dont even know whats going on here. definitely much different than what ive seen

I will explain any questions asked

 

[lexinverts]

It just looks to me like a three channel doser and solutions of 1, 2, and 3A+B.

Regarding diluting the solutions 3 to 1, why don't you just use auto-topoff?

 

[d_adler]

I will explain any questions asked

it seems to be gravity fed but what dosing pump is that??

 

[twilliard]

Its the plum xl3
Used in icu units.
Its a drip rate rather than ml dose at one time.
This drips 24 hours a day and set at 1.5ml an hour drip rate

 

[lexinverts]

Its the plum xl3
Used in icu units.
Its a drip rate rather than ml dose at one time.
This drips 24 hours a day and set at 1.5ml an hour drip rate

You're not using very much of the elementz, then. 36 ml per day with a 3:1 dilution isn't very much. What kind of corals are you keeping?

 

[twilliard]

You're not using very much of the elementz, then. 36 ml per day with a 3:1 dilution isn't very much. What kind of corals are you keeping?

You can see here

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/here-it-is-my-now-5-year-old-tank.226103/

 

[gpwdr]

So I just started triton last week and so far I like the results I see in my acros. Polyp extension is great and colors are slowly getting more vibrant (may be due to a correction in alk after a spike)

My question seems simple but I would like it to be clarified anyways..... After starting my dose at 20ml per day of the base elements and gradually raising to stabilize my alk has dropped from 8 to 7.3.

Do I dose more of base element 1 and get alk to 8 once again and be done??

Or

Do I dose extra of all 3 base elements until alk is at 8 once again then bring them back to a maintenance dose??



I would appreciate if @gpwdr could provide his 2 cents. Your tank is partially the reason I converted to triton (no water changes was a close second)

Hi d_adler!

My tank dropped to 7.3 many times, like yours. I used a sodium bicarbonate solution from bulk reef supply to raise the DKH to 8.00. Then I raised the elementz equally to maintain the DKH @ 8.00.

A lot of reefers in EU notice high levels of Ca and or Mg in the beginning. They were going crazy trying to fidget with dosing this and that.

Don't go crazy, just monitor the DKH, the system will balance itself out in time. Don't prune the refugium just let it happen. If there is what looks like fermentation on the surface of the refugium just leave it alone. The algae will self regulate.

Remember when the salinity raises because of all the elementz you're adding, go to the Triton Lab website under Triton Method and use the Method Calculator to remove the appropriate amount of water daily.

Happy Reefing!

 

[d_adler]

Hi d_adler!

My tank dropped to 7.3 many times, like yours. I used a sodium bicarbonate solution from bulk reef supply to raise the DKH to 8.00. Then I raised the elementz equally to maintain the DKH @ 8.00.

A lot of reefers in EU notice high levels of Ca and or Mg in the beginning. They were going crazy trying to fidget with dosing this and that.

Don't go crazy, just monitor the DKH, the system will balance itself out in time. Don't prune the refugium just let it happen. If there is what looks like fermentation on the surface of the refugium just leave it alone. The algae will self regulate.

Remember when the salinity raises because of all the elementz you're adding, go to the Triton Lab website under Triton Method and use the Method Calculator to remove the appropriate amount of water daily.

Happy Reefing!

Thank you for Some quality feed back. Dosed equal amounts of elements to bring the dose up to a accidental 8.3dkh. I brought it back down to a maintenance dose but from now on I will use sodium bicarbonate to raise levels when they creep down. I'm going to have to look into the amount water I need to remove because the only water being removed is from the skimmer at this point