Dosing - can't find the right levels.

doch · #1 09-14-2011, 02:39 PM

UN-#$%&ing-believable.

Come home today and run a test.

Mg... same as yesterday... this to me is positive believe it or not.
Ca... Hanna Checker says 486, Elos says somewhere between 250 and 300. Judging from the comments here, I'm going to side with the Elos, and give dirty looks to the Hanna.
Alk. F. FFFFFFF. I can't believe it. Tested yesterday... ~5dKh, added a little alk raiser.... 14.8. WTF!?!?!? I'm running 250 gallons of water... I added approximately 2 heaping spoons worth of this stuff along with the normal daily dose. Seriously?
Dosing pump for the Alk is off... I'll test again tomorrow... hopefully it comes down.

BTW... I also ran out of the Hagen KH test fluid, so I can't comment on the difference between the 2. Last i checked though, they were very close to the same. What's with the Hanna Ca Checker? They sure seem to have pooped the bed on this one... 200 ppm off of the Elos? Wow.

Myka · #2 09-14-2011, 02:45 PM

So right now the only doser running is the calcium? I would just leave it like that and alkalinity and Mg will sort itself out.

Boost your calcium up to 450 ppm (over 24 hours)...this will lower the alkalinity a bit. I have had alkalinity up to 19 dKH before it started to irritate corals.

Did you have dosers before the move?

doch · #3 09-14-2011, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Myka

So right now the only doser running is the calcium? I would just leave it like that and alkalinity and Mg will sort itself out.

Boost your calcium up to 450 ppm (over 24 hours)...this will lower the alkalinity a bit. I have had alkalinity up to 19 dKH before it started to irritate corals.

Did you have dosers before the move?

Yeah, I did. That's the thing... it went so smoothly the first time around. I set them up, guessed at 20 mL/day, tested the next week, adjusted to 25mL/day, and it was perfect. Done.

I'll add a little Ca and try again tomorrow. Thanks

viperfish · #4 09-14-2011, 04:06 PM

What kind of dosing pumps are you using? I ran your Alk numbers (5 to 14.8) on the BRS calculator with your tank volume and it would take 630 ml of recipe 1 to gain that much. So whatever you're adding is some potent stuff. I still think there must be an error on the testing side of things, either with the kit or the method. An alk increase of that much would kill almost any SPS and shock the hell out of any other coral. I'm with fishytime on this one, go get yourself some bulk chemicals, and use accurate dosing pumps. You only need two pumps, the Mag doesn't get dosed as much as the Calk and Alk, I actually use an IV bag for Mag and it works like a dream. Once you have the right hardware, go to the BRS site and follow their instructions to the letter and I guarantee you will have success.

Cal_stir · #5 09-14-2011, 10:54 PM

what salt are you using?
H2Ocean is bad for settling out during transport and you must mix the salt up before using it, if you don't, your levels will be all over the place.
I do not about other salts doing the same thing

doch · #6 09-14-2011, 11:00 PM

I actually do have alk brs stuff, mixed to their specs. I'm running 3 of the dosing pumps that oc sells... Can't remember the brand name. I'm sure it's a test issue... There's no way that it could jump that much that fast... Unless my controller glitched and left my alk pump on all day... But it was off when I got home.

I do use h2 ocean salt... Never had any problems before.

Cal_stir · #7 09-14-2011, 11:15 PM

apparently H2Ocean uses different grain sizes for their ca, alk, and mag, and if it had a bumpy ride in the truck they settle at different levels in the pail, could be your problem.
try testing your mix before adding it to your tank.

fishytime · #8 09-14-2011, 11:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cal_stir

what salt are you using?
H2Ocean is bad for settling out during transport and you must mix the salt up before using it, if you don't, your levels will be all over the place.
I do not about other salts doing the same thing

I would recommend to everyone that they roll their buckets of salt before using them......no matter what brand you use

doch · #9 09-15-2011, 02:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fishytime

I would recommend to everyone that they roll their buckets of salt before using them......no matter what brand you use

Doug, when you say roll... you literally just mean to take the full bucket and say roll it down the driveway a few times or what? I always wondered about an easy way to do this.