Ca and Alk usage

[Rice Reef]

Then like grizz said it prob is the increasing coralline growth.

[RDNanoGuy]

If your tank params are all good you'll be suprised how quickly things will start to grow! Be proud of your accomplishment and get ready to buy a dosing system!

[Rice Reef]

Originally Posted by RDNanoGuy

If your tank params are all good you'll be suprised how quickly things will start to grow! Be proud of your accomplishment and get ready to buy a dosing system!

+1. That too. I find that when I was manually dosing I sometimes forget to dose one or the other and sometimes both. When I invested in a doser, things become more consistent and in addition you simplify things.

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Rice Reef

Then like grizz said it prob is the increasing coralline growth.

Originally Posted by RDNanoGuy

If your tank params are all good you'll be suprised how quickly things will start to grow! Be proud of your accomplishment and get ready to buy a dosing system!

Thanks guys ....

I guess I have to keep a closer eye on my params

I am very surprised how much my tank is using day by day ....

[gregzz4]

Looks like I'll have to invest in a doser of some kind ...

[daplatapus]

Go with a calcium reactor. It'll keep you Ca and alk dead on in one shot. I've got one on my 77 gal and wish I'd gone that route right off the bat instead of dosers and mixes.

[Aquattro]

That's about 16g of Ca consumed, do you see 16g worth of growth and coraline? Measure that much powdered Ca to get a rough idea how much that is.
Regardless, if you're testing is now perfected, and you see that kind of drop, you'll need to add that to maintain levels.

[gregzz4]

I dont have, and dont plan on using, a calcium reactor .....

I only dose Ca and Alk stuff ...

Dosing advice is welcome here ........

[gregzz4]

Originally Posted by Aquattro

That's about 16g of Ca consumed, do you see 16g worth of growth and coraline? Measure that much powdered Ca to get a rough idea how much that is.
Regardless, if you're testing is now perfected, and you see that kind of drop, you'll need to add that to maintain levels.

I've already decided I don't need to measure that much ....
My usage is much less than most users

[RDNanoGuy]

If you a dosing with a quality two part system the easiest thing to do is test your levels then add the maximum dose of each as the instructions dictate (ie. 5mL per 10gal) then wait an hour and test again to see how much the levels rise. Then measure the levels every 24 hours (preferably test at the same time each day) for 3-4 days and record the drop. Average those readings out to figure your tanks demand then use the first dose measurement to figure how much to add each day.

For example:

If you add a full dose of ca and alk and the levels rise 30ppm and through your testing you find your tank consumes 15ppm per day then you will need to add half the maximum dose on the bottle each day.

So when I dosed manually I found a 4:4:1 ratio of ca:alk:mg was about right.

Hope that helps