184g basement 8ft reef - Page 5

Roskoreef · #41 02-20-2015, 03:20 AM

acheived a long milestone, decided to celebrate with a doser for 2 part. I went with another dos because down the road i want to dose the main zeovit stuff, so with the .1ml accuracy and easy scheduling through apex i feel it will be worth it...mainly apex scheduing as i want to be able to leave for a week at a time in the future.

they stack nicely -

i still need to pick up a magnesium tester, but im not dosing right now so that can wait. My levels are:

Calcium 550
Alk 132 ppm - 7.39 dKH - 2.64 meq/l

My calcium is high, could be the tester (Hanna) so 500-600, still high. Tonight i will dose only alk when ph drops at about 10 or so to bring calcium down slightly, then i will be able to dose calc and alk and figure out what my tank is using on a daily bases. is this correct?

next task - build a maintenance cabinet over my sump to organize all of this..

corals, a new sand anenome,

reefwars · #42 02-20-2015, 03:25 AM

Adding Alk won't bring your calcium down by anything noticeable , it will only raise Alk. if you want to bring your calcium down then just don't dose anything and let it fall , as consumption happens in line with alkalinity your calcium with be use up in Ratio.

Once your calcium is where you want it then start dosing it again , dont dose on calcium numbers dose on alkalinity numbers if dosing 2 part.

Roskoreef · #43 02-20-2015, 03:40 AM

thanks denny, that makes sense.. when you say dose on alk numbers, do you mean keep alkalinity in check and correct calc as i need with the right alkalinity?

krazykarl · #44 02-20-2015, 11:52 AM

Hello

By no means am I an expert on doising as I am just about to start using ESV two part myself but check out this artical I found while reading up on how to use it. Maybe someone else has tried this aproch and can put their experience with it on the table.

https://joejaworski.wordpress.com/20...art-additives/

Regards

Roskoreef · #45 02-20-2015, 11:59 AM

That's a great point about the new salt water mix levels, as to not have variations when changing water... Didn't think of that.

reefwars · #46 02-20-2015, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roskoreef

thanks denny, that makes sense.. when you say dose on alk numbers, do you mean keep alkalinity in check and correct calc as i need with the right alkalinity?

What I mean is when your calcium drops don't chase calcium numbers but allow calcium to be dosed fairly equally with Alk.

Most 2 part products have the dry weight of the products already measured out for you , for examplpe your part a and your part b both have the same amount of liquid and same size bottle, but the dry weights would have been different , the idea is to replace and dose both equal amounts at the same time.

Alk and calcium are used up in a fixed ratio meaning that if you were to use up 1 dkh of Alk it would be impossible from a consumption point of view to use 50ppm of calcium , the ratio for calcium consumption is about 10% of Alk or for every 1.4 dkh drop its 20ppm of calcium and about 1-2 ppm of mg.

Myka · #47 02-20-2015, 01:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Roskoreef

i still need to pick up a magnesium tester, but im not dosing right now so that can wait. My levels are:

Calcium 550
Alk 132 ppm - 7.39 dKH - 2.64 meq/l

My calcium is high, could be the tester (Hanna) so 500-600, still high. Tonight i will dose only alk when ph drops at about 10 or so to bring calcium down slightly, then i will be able to dose calc and alk and figure out what my tank is using on a daily bases. is this correct?

Yes, you are correct. Calcium will not drop a lot, but it will a little. You should raise alkalinity to get closer to balanced calcium and alkalinity ratio. It should always be balanced, but calcium at 550 ppm is off the chart, and I wouldn't raise alkalinity more than about 10 or 11 dKH with that many SPS in the tank, and I wouldn't increase more than 1 dKH per 24 hours. Then dose neither until they fall together down to where you want them. You will need to make sure you magnesium is at least 1300-1400 ppm to have elevated calcium and alkalinity. If magnesium is low then you risk calcium carbonate precipitation (aka snow in your tank).

Although I agree with you that it could be the Hanna Calcium Checker. I find it very easy to get a false high reading on that device.

Here's a really good article by Randy Holmes-Farley on calcium and alkalinity. Scroll down about halfway and read Corrections for Zone 4. http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry

reefwars · #48 02-20-2015, 02:06 PM

I also have issues with the Hanna calcium I find it not a good test at all compared to how well the others work

mseepman · #49 02-20-2015, 04:02 PM

Wow, you have really moved pretty fast on this tank! It's looking good. I love my peninsula tank...couldn't imagine going back to one with less viewing sides.

Roskoreef · #50 02-21-2015, 05:08 AM

update - hanna checker is a like an educated guess machine...

today:

calcium - 374
alk - 7.22

Alkalinity dropped slightly, seems legit. The calcium, If the Hanna is off by up to 150 ppm should be balanced and was before, 350-500 today and 550 - 400 yesterday. Im going to say im near the bottom of the suggested range for reefkeeping and pretty close to natural seawater as far as calc and alk are concerned.

Tonight i will dose 50ml of each, as per starting recommended dose for 200 gal, alk when ph begins to drop and calc before lights come on.