Reef Central Online Community - View Single Post - How do you know when it is time to start dosing?

cedwards04 · 06/15/2018, 07:50 PM

ok, so now that i am home and looking at my log book, i realize my memory was pretty off haha. here are my actual test results.

initial test:
ca 440
dkh 7.0
mg 1420

after 7 days:
ca 420
dkh 6.4
mg 1420

insert 20% water change, waited 1 week, retested
ca 450
dkh 7.4
mg 1420

i went ahead and tested dkh only again tonight. i ran the test 3 times to ensure accurate results, all 3 tests were within 0.1dkh of each other. i also retested a water sample i had left from the last time to be sure the dkh reading was accurate then, and got a reading of 7.3 dkh, so within 0.1 again. i think i just screwed up that one test that read crazy high somehow and i am going to disregard it.

so tonights test results are 7.0 dkh. i tested 3 times to be sure it was correct. this means i have lost 0.3-0.4dkh in a few hours shy of 4 days time.

by my math from my data collected so far, i am consuming approximately 0.1dkh/24hr period. i also did the math on how far a 20% water change@13.3dkh should swing my water, and it works out very close to my test results.

i am going to continue to monitor my water using the red sea kit until my hanna checkers arrive. at that point i will begin testing using both until i decide which one i feel to be most accurate.

my biggest question at this time is how much of a daily or weekly swing is too much? i am sure the ultimate goal is for there to be virtually no swing, but realistically, how much can it swing before i start experiencing side affects from it? i am trying to determine if i need to start dosing.

i have done the math and at my current tested consumption rate, a 20% waterchange is going to raise my dkh each week by approximately 0.3-0.4 as i am putting more back in at the moment than is being consumed. but again, i know that stability is best so am i over compensating with a waterchange when i should be dosing?

06/15/2018, 07:50 PM	#16
cedwards04 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 217	ok, so now that i am home and looking at my log book, i realize my memory was pretty off haha. here are my actual test results. initial test: ca 440 dkh 7.0 mg 1420 after 7 days: ca 420 dkh 6.4 mg 1420 insert 20% water change, waited 1 week, retested ca 450 dkh 7.4 mg 1420 i went ahead and tested dkh only again tonight. i ran the test 3 times to ensure accurate results, all 3 tests were within 0.1dkh of each other. i also retested a water sample i had left from the last time to be sure the dkh reading was accurate then, and got a reading of 7.3 dkh, so within 0.1 again. i think i just screwed up that one test that read crazy high somehow and i am going to disregard it. so tonights test results are 7.0 dkh. i tested 3 times to be sure it was correct. this means i have lost 0.3-0.4dkh in a few hours shy of 4 days time. by my math from my data collected so far, i am consuming approximately 0.1dkh/24hr period. i also did the math on how far a 20% water change@13.3dkh should swing my water, and it works out very close to my test results. i am going to continue to monitor my water using the red sea kit until my hanna checkers arrive. at that point i will begin testing using both until i decide which one i feel to be most accurate. my biggest question at this time is how much of a daily or weekly swing is too much? i am sure the ultimate goal is for there to be virtually no swing, but realistically, how much can it swing before i start experiencing side affects from it? i am trying to determine if i need to start dosing. i have done the math and at my current tested consumption rate, a 20% waterchange is going to raise my dkh each week by approximately 0.3-0.4 as i am putting more back in at the moment than is being consumed. but again, i know that stability is best so am i over compensating with a waterchange when i should be dosing?