Dosing questions and proper levels

[Jonjonmolina333]

So in the past month I upgraded my system rocks are all the same sand is new. Every week I do my water change of 8-10 gallons on my total of 90gallon water system. I figured that would be enough to keep the right levels. I have a lot of lps I got and some new sps. Last water change was four days ago. Today in the mail I got my dosers and my redsea test kit on alk, ca, mg. I tested twice to make sure.
Salinity-1.025
Temp.-77.5
Mg-1360
Alk-5.6 dkh
Ca-440
The test kit says levels should be at 12.6 dkh.
Also I saw the DIY sticky on making sodium bicarbonate haven't done it yet. But tried to find out on brs how much I needed to use but it had many different options for alkalinity, can any one help out with explaining that as well.

 

[iTzJu]

all your levels seems to be in the acceptable range except your alk. that is waay to low. alk levels should be between 7-12 dkh. I keep mine between 7-8 dkh. i would see if you can grab another test kit and test with that and compare with your kit.

 

[redfishbluefish]

Water changes alone will not maintain alk and calc levels in a SPS/LPS/Clam tank….you need to supplement.

Since you are just starting dosing, I’d start on the low side and creep up to where you need to be. This is especially true with ALK.

Right now your CALC looks OK, but that most likely will be driven down once you start to dose ALK…so keep an eye on both.

I would start dosing ALK only…as a starting point on a 90 DT, 30 mls a day. I would dose for two days and then test and start to creep the dosing volume up to get to the ALK level you prefer. Again, keep an eye on CALC while you are doing this, because increasing ALK will drive down the CALC where you will have to start dosing that.

Hope this helps.

 

[dppitone]

what's the pH level?

 

[dppitone]

Also, just an FYI that calk and alk are mutually exclusive. your calk at 440 is higher than you need it, so if you back it down closer to 400, then the alk will be free to tend upwards.

 

[downbeach]

Baking soda will work fine, but is harder to get into solution than soda ash. I would take 2 1/4 cups of A&H baking soda, spread it out on a cookie sheet, and bake it for an hour at 400 degrees, this will make the baking soda into soda ash by driving off the CO2 and moisture. Take the remaining powder and mix it in a gallon of RO/DI water, this will take a little effort to get into solution, so I like to use a hand held blender, heating will also help. Once you have the solution use this calculator, fill in the blanks, and select Randy's recipe 1 from the drop down menu in the alkalinity part. If you have to increase your dKH by more than 1.4 dKH to get to your desired number, spread the dose over a couple of days. Using the calculator I linked and your tank volume of 90 gal., your current alk reading, and a target of 7 dKH, I come up with a dosage of 3 oz. using this solution.

Here's a few article worth reading:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-03/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-05/rhf/index.php
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/rhf/index.php

 

[BuGG]

Thanks for the links Jim. My Alk, Calc and Mag are a little below recommended levels too and want to remedy before anything goes out of whack.

 

[Hockeynut]

Like Paul said Jun I would start with alk being your calcium will drop as alk rises. Also what is your mag if it is low you stand a chance of precipitating when you raise the alk.
All and all go slow! Better to be low and stable then swing. If your tank looks good to your eyes as dppitone said eairler don't go crazy chasing numbers.
I had an issue using reef Chrystal's where if I dose cal it goes through the roof even in small quantities I have been just dosing alk for about 2 months and it seems to be working my alk is 8.3 and my cal is still high at 480 and mag at 1400
I also have a 90 with a lot of sps and a clam.
I do a 12 gallon water change a week

 

[Jonjonmolina333]

Thanks guys. For the advise. I meant to say that soda ash just didn't know what it was called. Also thanks for the links they have me a better understanding still need to practice, since I just got the dosers and proper test kit. My tank is 75 with a 20 gal sump so I figured the whole system is about 90 gal. I never really worried about it but recently my growth has been little and my hammers and plates and coralline aren't as vibrant as before. Well that's the life of a developing reef tank and reefers, always learning and changing theories.