understanding dosing calc/alk

[motortrendz]

dont dose both at the same time, wait a min or 2 inbetween.. i think they cancel or limmit the effectiveness of each if dosed at the same time..

correct me if im wrong

 

[ReeferMadness99]

Jarrett, this has been the bible of understanding chemical relationships between the 4 major parameters Alk, Ca, Mg, pH. Read it, it will give you a big understanding of whats going on in your system. Some of it may be a bit over what you know if you are just starting out, but I've read it probably 5 or 6 times over the past few years and learned something new each time.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-06/rhf/index.php

 

[Widdy]

Dosing both together will cause precipitation. Dose in high flow with a few minutes between each will be fine.

 

[Jarrett]

yea i gave 5 mins in between each time i added it. and thanks reefer appreciate the link. quick ques off topic guys i am curing base rock in a separate container with a piece of live rock to seed, heater and a power head. i have a couple pinches of mysis shrimp sitting in some panty hoes in the water column, but have not seen any ammonia yet, am i doing something wrong. or does it take a little bit to see some ammonia in my water.

 

[Jarrett]

checked the water this morning my ammonia is now at .25 / .50 is that enough to sustain a cycle or should i be putting more food in the bucket to rot

 

[Jarrett]

good news looks like its working pretty well. my calcium is at 390 now and alk at 8.4 i am going to keep dosing 10 ml untill i get up to my desired range.

 

[ecvernon]

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

this calculator will be very helpful in getting the levels where you want them

After you have your levels exactly where you want them, for example 400 calcium and 9 DKH ALKALINITY you can use this calculator to hlp you to maintain it. When your levels are correct you should go about five or seven days without dosing and keep a log of your alkalinity and calcium levels at the same time everyday. by the end of the period you will know how much calcium and alkalinity your tank consumed within a week. You then may use the calculator to figure out how much you have to dose to get it back up to your target amount. when you have the weekly dose you can divide by the number of days to get your daily dose.
In my tanks i was not able to follow the exact instructions when i was using ESV B IONIC because my tank always consumed one or element than the other

 

[Jarrett]

so eventually your saying i will only have to dose once a week, rather then every day like i am doing now?

 

[prattreef]

no he is saying once you track your consumption over the course of the week you can divide that by seven and figure out your daily dosage.. Right now though, and I didn't realize this before, you are still cycling the system so I wouldn't even worry too much about any of this and just let the system run its course.

 

[cryptics]

I don't think he is cycling the system. He said he was cycling base rock in a separate container. I don't think this is necessary. I usually just keep it in a separate container in salt water for a week or two. Test make sure it isn't giving off ammonia then you are done

 

[Jarrett]

im not cycling this system pratt i am cycling my base rock in a seperate container like cryptic said. and really cryptics. i wanted to do exactly the same thing but everyone was telling me just to cycle it. should i take out my raw shrimp and let it sit and see if i get 0 readings after a couple days then?

 

[Jarrett]

my ammonia is at 1.0 and all other readings at 0, i have a filter pad in my sump i was going to just put that in the bucket let the bacteria consume the rest of the ammonia and then if theirs still no ammonia for a couple of days would it be safe to put the base rock in, rather then going through a whole cycle

 

[prattreef]

I'm really confused lol Do you have a fully cycled functional system with livestock in it? If so, you are cycling base rock just to add more rock? And by base rock you mean dead rock?

 

[Jarrett]

yep thats exactly what i am doing

 

[prattreef]

Iin that case, you really don't need to fully cycle the base rock unless it is going to form a large portion of the rock in your tank.

 

[Jarrett]

its about 50 lbs of base rock, its a good amount i probably have 50 lbs in their now i dont know if i am going to put all 50 lbs in their tho. i took the raw shrimp out so i am going to just wait until the ammonia goes away on its own, i will change the water out this week if no ammonia shows in a week i am just going to add it to the tank.

 

[Jarrett]

alright guys so i have been dosing the 10 ml the past 3 days and the calcium and alk was rising at one point but it seems like its at a stand still now with my calcium at 390 and my alk stuck somewhere between 7.8 and 8.1 , do you guys think i should start dosing the recommended dose of 20 ml now? or still continue to dose the 10 ml

 

[mbg75]

alright guys so i have been dosing the 10 ml the past 3 days and the calcium and alk was rising at one point but it seems like its at a stand still now with my calcium at 390 and my alk stuck somewhere between 7.8 and 8.1 , do you guys think i should start dosing the recommended dose of 20 ml now? or still continue to dose the 10 ml

U can test, dose, then test again 2 hours later to see if it went up.
Also, what is your mag at?

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[Jarrett]

yea but regardless if it went up and was used up before i tested i still need to raise it more, so wouldn't doing the recommended dosage work better in raising it, now that i have adjusted the system with dosing half that. and i am not sure i have no money for a mag kit now anyone on the island have one that can test it for me id appreciate it lol.