Calcium and dKh dropping rapidly!

[mrhasan]

So I always do a 5 gallon WC every saturday and don't dose anything. But recently, my corals have kicked off rapid growth (sps; for some reason, my LPS, other than acans, don't grow!) and birdnests are growing like weed.

So on Saturday, I start with SG 1.026, Ca 410-420ppm, Alk 9dkH (don't measure Mg). But the dKh falls very rapidly (today, I read something between 5-6 with API) and the Ca is resting around 380. I have not seen any issue with any of the corals (other than two zoas: one closed up and one opens slightly; I never have any luck keeping zoa - don't know why!). Alongside, I don't get growth in my torch (been one headed for like 5+ months). Funny thing! My SPS are growing crazy (birdnests; montis; red planet) while LPS are like...naaaah I wont grow!

Advice please :) Should I start dosing? Or should I just keep up with the 5 gallon change since there is no ill affect on the corals?

[Wheelman76]

I would get a mag test and measure that , if your mag is low then you'll have a harder time keeping your cal and alk up.

[xenon]

With limited corals, you can get away with water changes to maintain cal/alk/mag but there comes a time when corals consume faster than you can replenish with water changes so its time to start dosing.

It's much cheaper to dose what your corals consume, rather than doing bigger water changes.

Your water may be too clean for LPS. That is my problem also. You will need to target feed your LPS if you want them to grow.

Make sure you never let alk drop bellow 6.5dKH. That is when bad things happen to SPS. We keep our system stable @ 7.5dKH.

[mrhasan]

With limited corals, you can get away with water changes to maintain cal/alk/mag but there comes a time when corals consume faster than you can replenish with water changes so its time to start dosing.

It's much cheaper to dose what your corals consume, rather than doing bigger water changes.

Your water may be too clean for LPS. That is my problem also. You will need to target feed your LPS if you want them to grow.

Make sure you never let alk drop bellow 6.5dKH. That is when bad things happen to SPS. We keep our system stable @ 7.5dKH.

Well my tank holds 56 corals in 20 gallon water so don't know whether I should say its limited amount of coral :lol::razz:

I did have a drop to 5dKh once (possibly for a week even! didn't check) but nothing bad happened (atleast not with SPS). No clue why so (although good for me haha); weird things happen with my tank.

I was planning to do my regular water change this saturday, monitor how things change over the course of next week, and take action accordingly perhaps?

[RDNanoGuy]

For such a small tank I would simply start dosing with a quality brand two part formula in the middle of the week. A set of large bottles should last quite awhile with stank that size.

[Proteus]

Buy a good product like aquavitro. They have online calculator to so do over dose. Make sure you stay on top of dosing as stability will help with your growth. I was told not to raise dkh more than 1.5 a day. And yes start checking mg. all three play a role for the other.

[Spyd]

I would dose 2 part. Some B-ionic or something like that would be good for a system like yours. The jugs would last a very long time. Try not to increase dkh more than 1 per day. I would definitely check Mg levels as well though as that definitely plays a factor with maintaining Cal & Alk levels.

As for the LPS, target feeding works best. Mysis and cyclopeeze are what I use. Feed about 15 minutes after lights out when all the tentacles are out. I would feed once every 3 days or so if you want some nice growth.

[daplatapus]

Like others have already mentioned, it's been my experience that I can't anything to sit right unless my Mg is in the 1400 - 1450 range. Now my Mg is the first thing I check before I even consider adjusting Ca or Alk.

[mrhasan]

Thanks for the info everyone :)

I really thought that I could get away with regular water change in such a small tank instead of any sort of dosing but seems like not a chance :(

I will get a Mg test kit today. Which one would you suggest?

[Proteus]

Red Sea mg is good.

[xenon]

Red sea is accurate but Salifert is much faster/easier to use and just as consistent.

[Wheelman76]

+1 on Salifert

[mrhasan]

Alright good folks. Got myself a Salifet (I like red sea's box but heard that what's inside matters!). Checked the Mg and found it to be 1350 (what it supposed to be according to my salt). So I am putting Mg aside as the source.

So should I start researching on dosing now?

[Proteus]

So should I start researching on dosing now?

Uhhhhhhhh. Ya. Lol.

Simple liquid form such as aquavitro and there calculator and you be flying

[mrhasan]

Uhhhhhhhh. Ya. Lol.

Simple liquid form such as aquavitro and there calculator and you be flying

Yah I like aquavirto (use their salt and love it). So adding calcium and alk won't affect any other params right?

[Proteus]

As long as mg is good and no major ph swings you'll be fine

[mrhasan]

As long as mg is good and no major ph swings you'll be fine

Goody :D Thanks :)

[asylumdown]

FWIW, massive swings in chemistry like that do not bode well for your reef long term. You might have a 'nothing bad has happened yet' situation, but unless you're regularly testing rock solid numbers week after week (with SPS in a very small system, that requires dosing of some kind), you will eventually have trouble.

[mrhasan]

FWIW, massive swings in chemistry like that do not bode well for your reef long term. You might have a 'nothing bad has happened yet' situation, but unless you're regularly testing rock solid numbers week after week (with SPS in a very small system, that requires dosing of some kind), you will eventually have trouble.

Ah did you have to give such a threatening post in you 666th post? :twised: JK:razz:

Yah I will be getting into dosing within a week or so :)

[mrhasan]

Ok before I take any plunge; I was thinking of only adding alk (maybe soda ash?) to keep the alk around 8-9 between water change. Ca doesn't seem to be much off (goes from 410 to 380). Or should I start adding that too? I was thinking; instead of going for the fancy stuffs like redsea or aquavitro, why not use the bulk soda ash and calcium chloride?

[marie]

I would add both parts equally so you don't create an imbalance. Bulk soda ash and calcium chloride are perfectly fine to use. Start slowly until you know for sure how much your tank needs.....although going too fast will only result in a snow storm which is a pretty easy fix in a small tank :biggrin:

[mrhasan]

I would add both parts equally. Bulk soda ash and calcium chloride are perfectly fine to use. Start slowly until you know for sure how much your tank needs.....although going too fast will only result in a snow storm which is a pretty easy fix in a small tank :biggrin:

Yah the bulk seems pocket friendly :)

I will be getting a good alk and ca kit (salifert) and will test how the parameters change between the water change (next week) and will adjust things accordingly :)

[asylumdown]

Alk will swing way more than calcium in general, and it has a higher potential of changing over the course of a day than calcium too.

And I've never used soda ash, sounds... Complicated. You can adjust Alk using garden variety baking soda.

[mrhasan]

Alk will swing way more than calcium in general, and it has a higher potential of changing over the course of a day than calcium too.

And I've never used soda ash, sounds... Complicated. You can adjust Alk using garden variety baking soda.

Yah bicarbonates are more widely used but soda ashes are coming into the light because of its potential of not getting any pH swing which bicarbonates is notoriously known for (atleast that's what I found; I am, in no means, is familiar with these chemistry).

I just checked Ca and Alk with my API and I precisely measured 5ml of water using syringe and surprise surprise; one of the marking on the test tube was way lower :P So my alk came to 7dkh and Ca came to 400ppm (maybe I missed my count last time). Found somewhere that a drop of 20ppm can result in a drop of 2dkh and that sounds right since the WC gets it to 9dKh and 420ppm. Confusing stuffs! I never thought I would have to dose this tank but..oh well!

[marie]

Dosing can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. I just measure out the correct amount of alk and cal ( I use the bulk stuff) and slowly pour it into a high flow area every morning

[mrhasan]

Dosing can be as simple or as complicated as you want to make it. I just measure out the correct amount of alk and cal ( I use the bulk stuff) and slowly pour it into a high flow area every morning

Heard that the easiest thing that a reefer can do is crash through dosing :P So I am actually a bit skeptical about it :(

[Timbits]

Your right, be careful while dosing. My tank just crashed from overdosing alk. I'm scared to dose again now after losing all my sps. Just going to try regular water changes now and see how it goes

[marie]

I have never crashed a tank from dosing and I have been dosing tanks for the last 13 yrs.
I have had snow storms from too much (It takes a huge water change to bring things back into balance after that) I have had it precipitate out on power heads and heaters (wasteful) from adding a little bit too much but never a crash and I really do just dump it in every morning

[kien]

So my alk came to 7dkh and Ca came to 400ppm (maybe I missed my count last time).

I don't think there is anything to panic about with these numbers. This is often where my numbers are at for long periods (ie, when my dosing jugs run out and I'm only doing water changes to replenish).

[mrhasan]

Ok got myself salifert kits for Ca, Alk and Mg and here are the results:

Ca: 430ppm (the API was saying 400ppm so it was 30ppm off)
Mg: 1350
Alk: 5.8dKh (DAMN!)

Tomorrow is the WC day and so Alk is going to go up to proper level.

Anyway, so since my Ca and Mg are alright, I was thinking of starting to dose Alk ONLY; using RA's soda ash. Should I be concerned about something or just follow the dose and be happy with it?