I did a water change yesterday because my alkalinity was low. I’ve tested today and it is still the same and I’m confused on why it hasn’t increased. I’m using the Red Sea foundation test kit and I used Red Sea coral pro salt.
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I did 6 gallons I have a 50 gallon tankHow big of a water change did you do?
How low is your alk?
What corals are you keeping?
Your alk is not low. It’s natural sea water levels.I did 6 gallons I have a 50 gallon tank
my alk is 7.8
I have a mushroom, toadstool, cabbage, hammer head, trumpet, zoanthids, alveopora, GSP, finger leather, frogspawn
Can you recommend anything I should dose. Sorry I’m quite new to itYour alk is not low. It’s natural sea water levels.
Your salt mixes to about 8dkh which is spot on to me.
Changing only 12% of your water won’t give you that alk boost you are hoping for. Time to start looking into 2 part or kalkwasser supplements if you wish to maintain higher levels.
The corals you are keeping don’t consume a large amount of alkalinity, so start slow with your dosing.
I’m very fond of 2 parts. Put simply, there’s 2 solutions: one calcium and one alkalinity.Can you recommend anything I should dose. Sorry I’m quite new to it
How do I know how much to dose?I’m very fond of 2 parts. Put simply, there’s 2 solutions: one calcium and one alkalinity.
You dose the same amounts (in mL) every day. Works best with an auto doser.
I like the dosers where you input how many mL you want dosed per day, and it will split that dosage into smaller amounts throughout the day.
I do recommend keeping alk from about 7-9 dkh. Some people go as high as 12dkh, but I personally see more negative effects to corals at that level.
Start at 1-2mL per day and test weekly. If it’s too low, raise by 1-5mL, if it’s just right: don’t change dose, then test the next week etc.How do I know how much to dose?
The back of the bottle usually has the instructions. I'm assuming you're new to reef keeping?How do I know how much to dose?
Yes my tanks been running for 9 months now but I’ve just started getting more lpsThe back of the bottle usually has the instructions. I'm assuming you're new to reef keeping?
If I start dosing, when I do water changes will that make my alkalinity raise or will it not bother itYour alk is not low. It’s natural sea water levels.
Your salt mixes to about 8dkh which is spot on to me.
Changing only 12% of your water won’t give you that alk boost you are hoping for. Time to start looking into 2 part or kalkwasser supplements if you wish to maintain higher levels.
The corals you are keeping don’t consume a large amount of alkalinity, so start slow with your dosing.
You will find that doing water changes will have very little effect to your alkalinity. The percentage of 10-15% a week has negligible effect your alkalinity levels.If I start dosing, when I do water changes will that make my alkalinity raise or will it not bother it
when i start dosing and get my goal of alk do i then stop dosing? or?You will find that doing water changes will have very little effect to your alkalinity. The percentage of 10-15% a week has negligible effect your alkalinity levels.
I personally would keep a goal alk from anywhere between 7-9 dkh and not worry about matching your salt mix to you tank when doing your weekly water changes.
Nope. You continue dosing the same amount per day.when i start dosing and get my goal of alk do i then stop dosing? or?
sjould i aim for the same alk and calc as my saltNope. You continue dosing the same amount per day.
Let’s say you require 5mL per day to maintain 9dkh. You will dose 5mL every single day but you will notice the dkh will slowly drop lower and lower throughout the weeks even though you are doing the same amount, so then (for example) you will need to dose 6mL to maintain the same level of 9dkh.
All that’s changing is that the corals are consuming more alkalinity. So now you need to dose more to maintain your level. It’s a good thing.
I personally would. I think 8 dkh is a good goal to keep.sjould i aim for the same alk and calc as my salt
i want to dose seachem reef complete and reef carbonate. i'm still a bit confused how my alk wont keep going up if i keep dosingYou don’t need to dose much initially. Try 1mL per day with an auto doser. Make sure you are dosing equal amounts but adjust dosages based on alkalinity, not calcium.
You don’t want to dose both products at the same time. I think 30 minutes apart works well. This is where the auto doser comes in.
Some people may say that your tank’s alk can be sustained for now via water changes. I do agree that it’s not mission critical yet. Your demand won’t start taking off until you add more corals and coralline algae starts to take off.