chalices receding fast

[ryanpal]

hey guys, the past few days my chalices started receding fast. after we took care of our algae problem, we took our phosban reactor offline because the zoas looked like they were starving for nutrients. the zoas look a lot better and the other corals look good too. unfortunately the chalices are receding. we don't think it's a bug or anything but our mag levels seem low. here's what my water tests:

mag: 1125
nitrates: 0
dkh: 5.7
Ph:8.01
P04: 0

i have salt ready to make salt water for a WC if needed. anyone have any suggestions of what i should check/do?

thanks in advance!

 

[saltkreep88]

Your alk is crazy low. That would do it, bring that up to 7 over the next 24 hours. Your mag is low and might be why your alk is low. Where is your calcium?

 

[saltkreep88]

Also phosban will drop alk, so the sudden change of alk and phos is what most likely did it. Dropping either of those fast are very hard on coral.

 

[ryanpal]

unfortunately i do not have a calcium tester. i'm not sure why the alk dropped so much, we've done a good amount of water changes frequently. it's a 75gal tank with about 20 or so gal fuge. should i raise alk with baking soda?

 

[rkalola]

Bake one box of basking soda on a sheet tray at 360F for a couple hours. This creates soda ash. Mix this in 1 gallon of warmed RODI water with a powerhead. Let it sit for a couple minutes. This is your alk solution.

Aquarium & Reef Calculators - Bulk Reef Supply

Use the alkalinity calculator and "2 park alk soda ash" option. Split that result into a few doses throughout one day or over the course of a few days. You can do the same wth magnesium (3 cups epsom salt and 5 cups mag chloride per gallon of RODI).

 

[redfishbluefish]

If you are concerned about stoichiometry, and the balance with the calcium part, it actually takes 594 grams of baking soda (about 1.3 pounds), or, as Randy Holmes Farley's recipe states, 2 1/4 cups. Spread this out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 for an hour. The baking drives off carbon dioxide, and leaves you with approximately 2 cups of soda ash. This is dissolved in one gallon of RO/DI water. It is this concentration that you can use with the calculators.

I summarized the recipe HERE.

 

[ryanpal]

thanks a lot guys, i appreciate that and will do this today

 

[saltkreep88]

Also as your coral grow you will have to does at least alk daily, calcium and mag can be less often. I lose a full alk degree a day if I don't dose, corals are most sensitive to alk changes. Once your alk is back to a normal level measure at the same time daily to see what is used and dose daily accordingly.

 

[art13]

brs makes a cheap kit as well that i used at first, i still use their mixes, i just upgraded to dosers instead of doing it by hand. What salt are you using?

 

[Sunny]

I have buckets of Soda ASH from BRS. I dose it in my tank. Come and get some if you need.

Sunny

 

[Mark_C]

+1 on the BRS kit, the 1 gallon kit specifically... BRS 2 Part Calcium & Alkalinity Total Package - Bulk - Bulk Reef Supply
That, and a $99 Jaebo doser made a world of difference, and stability/growth, in my tank. I was manually dosing and was constantly off. Once I ran a dosing setup I just check monthly and the numbers are spot on. A definite great investment.
Note that BRS does sell a kit with dosing pumps, but those pumps require a timer and/or a reefkeeper/apex to run. The Jaebo dosers are quite reliable and have the computer built into the unit.
Seriously consider a calcium tester as well. The Hannah checkers are nice but their calcium checker is a bit of a chore, the Red Sea is easier and a bit more reliable imho.

 

[ryanpal]

thank you sunny, i appreciate that.

 

[ryanpal]

+1 on the BRS kit, the 1 gallon kit specifically... BRS 2 Part Calcium & Alkalinity Total Package - Bulk - Bulk Reef Supply
That, and a $99 Jaebo doser made a world of difference, and stability/growth, in my tank. I was manually dosing and was constantly off. Once I ran a dosing setup I just check monthly and the numbers are spot on. A definite great investment.
Note that BRS does sell a kit with dosing pumps, but those pumps require a timer and/or a reefkeeper/apex to run. The Jaebo dosers are quite reliable and have the computer built into the unit.
Seriously consider a calcium tester as well. The Hannah checkers are nice but their calcium checker is a bit of a chore, the Red Sea is easier and a bit more reliable imho.

i'll have to check into this. i have an apex so integration shouldn't be an issue