Dosing Questions

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I just got a test kit to test the water, here are my readings:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
pH - between 8.1 and 8.3 (probably closer to 8.3)
Calcium - < 340 > 320
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25
Magnesium - < 1150
kH - < 120 mg/L CaCo3
Iron - I didnt test for this but could if needed.

So I bought two additives to correct my obviously low Calcium, Magnesium and Kh.

So what Im going to do is put in 10 teaspoons of the calcium which should raise my whole system about 24 ppm for calcium. Thatd put me in the 350 range. I'll then retest my system for mg, ca, kh and ph and see what all the levels are at. Then I'll add more if needed, which is likely the case, but I just wanted to go slow.

Good idea or what do you guys think?

I bought Reef Advantage Calcium and Tailored Aquatics Magnesium.

The calcium says it also increase magnesium levels and wont effect pH.

I have a 200G system and so Im going to dose in

[xtreme]

Alkalinty and kH are the same thing. Try to raise it and your calcium together a bit at a time. All three (mg,ca and kH) need to be balanced to make maintaining the proper levels easier.

[mark]

Alk = KH

There's a relationship between Ca and Mg (1:3) to be aware of.

Bring levels up slow. Might also want to check your new SW before a change, often the mixes need a little supplement.

[Eb0la11]

So was raising my Calcium by 24 ppm first a strong move seeing as how that product says it also raises Mg slightly? How do I adjust Kh? What product?

[xtreme]

Here is a handy calculator to use to figure how much dosing is necessary.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

[Eb0la11]

Ok Im just going to use this thread as a log until I can get my levels in a good range.

So after dosing my tank with 10 teaspoons of reef advantage calcium here are my new readings two days later:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
pH - between 8.1 and 8.3 (probably closer to 8.3) -->8.3
Calcium - < 340 > 320--> <400 > 380
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25
Magnesium - < 1150 --> 1150
kH - < 120 mg/L CaCo3 --> < 110 mg/L CaCo3
Iron - I didnt test for this but could if needed.

So what I added today was 10 capfuls of the magnesium product I bought and will take more readings tomorrow to see how it effected the levels.

[globaldesigns]

Here is a handy calculator to use to figure how much dosing is necessary.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

This is a great calculator, I use it when I need to. I would recommend you entering your parameters and follow the directions for the Dosing you bought.

[xtreme]

It is also a good idea to raise you calcium and kH together ie dose alkalinity in the morning and calcium in the evening daily to keep your levels in check once you reach NSW levels.

[Eb0la11]

What does NSW levels stand for?

Also what is a good product to raise alkalinity? I havent got one yet. Thanks guys, I didnt use that calculator cause the mg product I bought wasnt one of the listed ones on the calculator :/

[hillegom]

NSW= normal salt water
or was that natural salt water?

[xtreme]

NSW= normal salt water
or was that natural salt water?

I call it natural sea water, same idea. Here is a good link that talks about important parameters to watch.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

[e46er]

What does NSW levels stand for?

Also what is a good product to raise alkalinity? I havent got one yet. Thanks guys, I didnt use that calculator cause the mg product I bought wasnt one of the listed ones on the calculator :/

i use seachem reef builder but baking SODA will also work

[Eb0la11]

Ok for now Im going to have to go with Baking Soda since I cant run to the fish store right now, but is there a rule of thumb or anything for how much one table spoon effects x amount of gallons of water or anything?

Also, as I raise my Mg and Ca levels as well, I see it effects my Kh, but what other levels are typically effected by trying to raise these three levels?

[Eb0la11]

Ok Im just going to use this thread as a log until I can get my levels in a good range.

So after dosing my tank with 10 capfuls of tailored aquatics magnesium here are my new readings one day later:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
pH - 8.3 --> 8.3
Calcium - <400 > 380 --> < 400
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25 --> >.25 < 0.5
Magnesium - 1150 --> 1250
kH - < 110 mg/L CaCo3 --> < 110 mg/L CaCo3
Iron - I didnt test for this but could if needed.

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I am going to dose in some Baking Soda to raise my Kh closer to 130 ppm.

I ran those numbers into the calculator and it said I need to dose in about 5.4 teaspoons of the stuff, but that I shouldnt add it all at once.

How much do you think I should add tonight, keeping note of my other parameters, also keeping in mind that it will effect my pH?

Also, how exactly will it effect my pH? Will it raise it or lower it? How do I readjust it once it does get effected?

[Marlin65]

In my experience adding lots of baking soda will raise your PH too much.
Just add a bit at a time to get it around 8 or higher. You can bump your magnesium up a bit too 1300-1500 is good.
You want to maintain consistence as that is the most important keep things stable.:wink:

[Eb0la11]

In my experience adding lots of baking soda will raise your PH too much.
Just add a bit at a time to get it around 8 or higher. You can bump your magnesium up a bit too 1300-1500 is good.
You want to maintain consistence as that is the most important keep things stable.:wink:

How much baking soda is "a bit" in comparison to a 200G tank? The calculator said I could add 5.4 teaspoons to raise it to 1.3 for instance but it said not to do it all at once. What do you guys suggest?

Also so it will change my pH from 8.3 to higher as in 8.5+? or what? Sorry, Im wet behind the ears... No pun intended... lol

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I just put in 2 teaspoons then for now. I'll see what people say about that and also test again tomorrow.

[Eb0la11]

Results after the Baking Soda Dosing of two teaspoons:

Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - Very low, near 0
Salinity - Right around 1.028 (I'm going to scoop a bit of SW out and add some RODI to correct this to 1.027 since I hadn't tested it in a while)
pH - 8.3 --> between 8.1 and 8.3 (hard to read)
Calcium - < 400 --> <400
Phosphate - 0 - 0.25 --> >.25 < 0.5
Magnesium -1250 --> 1150
kH - < 110 mg/L CaCo3 --> < 120

[Eb0la11]

So today's test results were somewhat what I expected.

The only one I found funny was my magnesium reading. It dropped 100 ppm in the last 4 days. During that time I only added 2 teaspoons of baking soda to raise my kH. Is that normal?

Perhaps my corals were just dying for some magnesium.

Im going to dose a couple things today now that I kind of understand how all of this works together. I'll try to get my parameters close to in check. Then what Im going to do is leave it for a little while, maybe 3-7 days to see how the levels drop. Then I'll retop them to where I want them. Do a water change, and see how a water change effects my levels. Then I'll know how my tank is changing levels no matter what Im doing to it and then I can work on just keeping them stable by dosing my auto top off reservoir for how much I lose during day to day changes and then I can dose my fresh batches of SW everytime I change my water too.

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I've added today:

5 Teaspoons of Reef Advantage Calcium
8 Capfuls of Magnesium
3 Teaspoons of Baking Soda

Im hoping this will raise my levels to:
Calcium - >420 <440 ppm
Magnesium - 1300 ppm
kH - <130
pH - 8.3

We'll see how I do. I'll test again tomorrow.

[Eb0la11]

So after adding that dosage, my tank water is a little bit "milky".

Was that too big of a dose for a 200G system? I dosed 10 capfuls and 10 teaspoons of magnesium or calcium in its own dose. This is hardly bigger than those, but just 3 elements at once.

Good idea, bad idea? Im sure it'll clear but I just wasnt expecting that.

[xtreme]

Are you leaving some time between dosing? If you dose at the same time they will precipitate in you tank.

[Eb0la11]

What do you mean, I cant dose all three of mg ca and baking soda at once? If thats the case then this particular dosing, I did not do that as I put all 3 into a 1G pail of RODI, mixed it and dumped it in the tank.

[xtreme]

When I was dosing manually I always tried to leave at least a half hour between ca and alk doses. I don't dose magnesium every day but when I do I add it in the morning then my ca and alk at night. I also find it easier to premix a gallon worth of each solution so you don't have to bother with mixing each time. Check this link out for how to make homemade 2 part. I you let your calcium mix in before you dose your baking soda that should help with your milky water problem.

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[Eb0la11]

So after my latest dose here are my results:

Mg: 1200 PPM
Ca: Between 400-420
kH:100 PPM (5.6dkH

So Im gonna dose some more I guess. Still a bit low from where I wanna be which is:

Mg: 1350
Ca: 415-435
kH: 9-10 dkH

[Eb0la11]

Hey guys,

ok so my magnesium seems to be ok-ish and so Im going to focus on my Alk and Calcium readings especially since my calcium product does does some magnesium and so Im going to try to get them to change as follows:

Calcium from 400 PPM to 435 PPM
Alk from 5.6 dkH to 10 dkH

So I punched in my products (Seachem Reef Advantage Calcium dry and regular baking soda) into the calculator and it suggests dosing as follows:

13.3 teaspoons of calcium
21.2 teaspoons of baking soda

Now it says not to dose all at once, especially the baking soda, because it will effect my pH.

So I just wanna know how you guys would dose this amount into your tank? Im thinking of dosing it over 4 days, baking soda first of course, so just quarter the amounts and test half way through to double check its effecting things as I anticipated.

What do you think?

[Eb0la11]

Ok so I added:

5 teaspoons of Baking Soda and let mix for an hour in the tank

then

3 teaspoons of Seachem Calcium

[Eb0la11]

Ok after my 2nd of 4 doses of the following:

3 teaspoons (6 total now) of Caclium
5 teaspoons (10 total now) of Baking Soda

here are my readings:

Magnesium: 1250
Calcium: Between 380-400
Alkalinity: Between 120-130

So that's about what I was expecting. I'll add two more doses of the above over 2 days and retest.

[Eb0la11]

Ok so now my levels after my completion of dosing (or so I thought) are:

Ca: <420
Mg: 1250
Kh: <140
pH remains stable from other readings between 8.1 and 8.3 though I still want a new test kit for this since its hard to read the colour it produces.

So I am going to dose the following again to raise kH and Ca:

5 teaspoons Baking Soda
3 teaspoons Calcium

[Eb0la11]

Ok, readings after 5 days since my last dosing:

Mg: 1150 PPM
Ca: 400
Kh: 110
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate: Real close to 0
Salinity: 1.027

So I'll add some 5 more teaspoons of baking soda, 3 more teaspoons of calcium and 5 capfuls of magnesium. So far my corals are just eating this stuff up.

Things are looking real good in the tank. Only one coral isn't doing well and that is an SPS that hasnt ever really been doing that well. Im not sure if it'll recover. Other than that everything looks great. Duncans are fully open and look beautiful!

[Eb0la11]

Ok, tests after I went away for 2 weeks and my room mate was watching the tank. He dosed twice while I was gone.

Mg: 1250 ppm
Ca: 360 ppm
kH: 110 ppm (6.14 dkH)

So to get up to these levels:

Mg: 1350
Ca: 435
kH: 180 ppm (10 dkH)

I need to dose the following:

28.5 teaspoons of my calcium product
18.6 teaspoons of baking soda

so I'm going to do this over 3 days so I'm dosing 9 teaspoons of calcium per day and 6 baking soda.