How much do you dose? Alk and Calcium

benibarra23 · 03/09/2018, 02:13 PM

I have been having a hard time keeping up with Calcium and Alk.

Here are my details

150 Gallon tank, a lot of fast growing acros and Montis
Nitrate 0
Phosphate 0.02
Calcium for the past 4 months around 360 ppm
Alk for the past 4 months around 6.4 dkh
Mag has been insanely high since using Fritz Pro. (Stopped doing water changes 5 months ago and its still around 1500. Slowly coming down from about 1800 at one point

I dose using BRS Calcium and Alk (Soda Ash)

I have been testing weekly and adding more to my doser on almost a weekly basis to try and raise them both with no luck.

I am at about 108 ml per day of calcium and 90 ml per day of alk.

Is this insane? Should I keep adding more and more? I do have solid growth on all my SPS, no deaths or problems and everything seems happy. Just worry if I keep adding more and more eventually I will have a problem.

Is there a point where I am adding too much? Is the BRS stuff just not as strong as others and thats why I am using so much?

oldhead · 03/09/2018, 02:31 PM

If you truly have 150gal including sump Their calculator for liquid Calcium Solution calls for 921 ml to raise cal from 360 to 420. It seems you need to figure out what is being used per day( that will be your dosing amount), Then use the calculator again to figure out how much you need to raise things where you want to keep them.

dodgy67 · 03/09/2018, 02:45 PM

No I don't think this is ott I started using Kalkwasser but my Ca and Alk went out of each other I then switched to Randy's 2 part as cant get BRS in the UK
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Started of at 1ml per gall per day and tested and adjusted using Calcium Chloride, Bicarbonate of Soda off Ebay.

I dont know how strong BRS 2 part is but i'm using 150ml of each daily.

Magnesium is Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate, Epsom bath salts

benibarra23 · 03/09/2018, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldhead

If you truly have 150gal including sump Their calculator for liquid Calcium Solution calls for 921 ml to raise cal from 360 to 420. It seems you need to figure out what is being used per day( that will be your dosing amount), Then use the calculator again to figure out how much you need to raise things where you want to keep them.

Ya I know how much to raise it to get where I want but the goal is to not have too big of a swing and **** SPS off.

My main question was if at a certain point you can be dosing too much.

hersheyb · 03/09/2018, 05:22 PM

As mentioned above you need to see how much consumption is getting used daily on ur tank and make the adjustment from there, but for a 150 gal tank with full SPS colonies 108 mil does not sound like a lot. I have a 100 gal system, that I recently convereted to SPS, have bunch of frags and mini colonies. I was dosing about 25ml from BRS Calc/Alk. You also might consider dosing equal parts of Calc/Alk. I just recently switch to ESV 2-part from BRS 2-part. It went down from 25ml a day to 7ml a day. My alk is currently at 8.4-9 dkh Calc is at 460 Mag is at 1500.

jgal912 · 03/09/2018, 06:13 PM

I found the addition of a Kalk stirrer really helped me lower my dosing amounts

bertoni · 03/09/2018, 09:25 PM

Assuming there's about 100 g of actual water volume in the system, 90 ml of alkalinity corresponds to about 1.3 dKH per day, which is reasonable. You could check for signs of abiotic precipitation, though. If there are tannish deposits building up on surfaces, heaters, or inside pumps, that might indicate a problem.

benibarra23 · 03/10/2018, 01:42 PM

Thanks everyone.

Phixman · 03/11/2018, 12:30 PM

I recently started to dose myself, I took readings on everything daily for a week, and noticed my alkalinity consumption was .3 a day and someone mentioned that that equals to about 2ppm of calcium a day. Dosed the same amount of both because for a 20 gallon the extra calcium wouldn't cause my levels to go crazy. The reason why I only dosed consumption is because my water change water levels were much higher (reef crystals IO) than my tank water, so that corrected my levels.

I also read that dosing more Alk than Calc or the other way around may cause one or the other to drop and the other to rise if dosed in different proportions, especially for a bigger tank like yours.

DarkSkyForever · 03/12/2018, 08:47 AM

I dose 115ml of Alk/Ca a day in my 45 gallon, so your numbers aren't crazy by any measure, maybe even a bit low.

bertoni · 03/12/2018, 10:51 PM

Dosing a calcium or alkalinity supplement won't change the other parameters measurably as long as you don't cause a precipitation event, which most often would show up as cloudy water.

nogascans · 03/13/2018, 10:57 AM

What you are dosing doesn't sound out of range. I have a 160/40 total of 200 mixed/mostly SPS with some large snails, 14 fish, and I am dosing 191 Alk/168 Ca over 24 cycles daily.

As others have mentioned, you need to get the Alk and Ca to where you would like them to be by adding additional amounts not tied to current dosing amounts, and then adjust your current dosing amounts based on maintaining those #'s from + or -.

Stability is what you are after, and unless you are running ULNS, actual numbers are less important to coral growth and health. With ULNS, shoot for lower Alk ranges (7-8.5)

Sincerely,

David

benibarra23 · 03/13/2018, 03:51 PM

Thanks everyone, I was mainly worried about the amount I was dosing but after hearing from many people that its nothing crazy Im not going to worry about it and continue upping my dosage until I get back to my desired levels. I am pretty happy with my current growth and everything is healthy so I am just trying to keep it as stable as possible.

oldhead · 03/14/2018, 06:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by benibarra23

Thanks everyone, I was mainly worried about the amount I was dosing but after hearing from many people that its nothing crazy Im not going to worry about it and continue upping my dosage until I get back to my desired levels. I am pretty happy with my current growth and everything is healthy so I am just trying to keep it as stable as possible.

Do not up the dosing to get to higher levels. Keep dosing the same, especially if what you are doing is holding your parameters steady. You need to add extra on top of your dosing to raise the levels.

benibarra23 · 03/14/2018, 08:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldhead

Do not up the dosing to get to higher levels. Keep dosing the same, especially if what you are doing is holding your parameters steady. You need to add extra on top of your dosing to raise the levels.

Can you clarify? Add extra one time? Daily? Add the whole extra amount at one time? Won’t that cause a rapid increase of alk all at one time?

oldhead · 03/14/2018, 10:15 AM

Bring each up a little at a time while continuing to dose your normal amount. I usually add alk at night and calcium in the morning. You can do your testing after work before adding your alk. You will have to test everyday until you get to desired levels. After that once a week to make sure things are staying stable.

03/09/2018, 02:13 PM	#1
benibarra23 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Santa clarita Posts: 693	How much do you dose? Alk and Calcium I have been having a hard time keeping up with Calcium and Alk. Here are my details 150 Gallon tank, a lot of fast growing acros and Montis Nitrate 0 Phosphate 0.02 Calcium for the past 4 months around 360 ppm Alk for the past 4 months around 6.4 dkh Mag has been insanely high since using Fritz Pro. (Stopped doing water changes 5 months ago and its still around 1500. Slowly coming down from about 1800 at one point I dose using BRS Calcium and Alk (Soda Ash) I have been testing weekly and adding more to my doser on almost a weekly basis to try and raise them both with no luck. I am at about 108 ml per day of calcium and 90 ml per day of alk. Is this insane? Should I keep adding more and more? I do have solid growth on all my SPS, no deaths or problems and everything seems happy. Just worry if I keep adding more and more eventually I will have a problem. Is there a point where I am adding too much? Is the BRS stuff just not as strong as others and thats why I am using so much?

03/09/2018, 02:45 PM	#3
dodgy67 Dave Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Leighton Buzzard UK Posts: 122	No I don't think this is ott I started using Kalkwasser but my Ca and Alk went out of each other I then switched to Randy's 2 part as cant get BRS in the UK http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php Started of at 1ml per gall per day and tested and adjusted using Calcium Chloride, Bicarbonate of Soda off Ebay. I dont know how strong BRS 2 part is but i'm using 150ml of each daily. Magnesium is Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate, Epsom bath salts __________________ Dave 3 years still lots to learn about reefing Mag Curve 5 Skimmer, Jebao 4 way dosing pump,4 way slave, Maxspect Gyre 2 x XF230 T5 4x39w 2xBlue 1xBlue Plus 1xPurple Mixed SPS & LPS Current Tank Info: Red Sea Max C130. Self built 44x19x19 tank and stand June 2016 Maroon Clowns , 2 Pajamas, Sand sifting Goby, mixture of SPS and LPS

03/09/2018, 09:25 PM	#7
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Assuming there's about 100 g of actual water volume in the system, 90 ml of alkalinity corresponds to about 1.3 dKH per day, which is reasonable. You could check for signs of abiotic precipitation, though. If there are tannish deposits building up on surfaces, heaters, or inside pumps, that might indicate a problem. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/12/2018, 10:51 PM	#11
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	Dosing a calcium or alkalinity supplement won't change the other parameters measurably as long as you don't cause a precipitation event, which most often would show up as cloudy water. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/09/2018, 02:31 PM	#2
oldhead Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: New Jersey Posts: 527	If you truly have 150gal including sump Their calculator for liquid Calcium Solution calls for 921 ml to raise cal from 360 to 420. It seems you need to figure out what is being used per day( that will be your dosing amount), Then use the calculator again to figure out how much you need to raise things where you want to keep them.

03/09/2018, 05:22 PM	#5
hersheyb Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Covina Posts: 1,626	As mentioned above you need to see how much consumption is getting used daily on ur tank and make the adjustment from there, but for a 150 gal tank with full SPS colonies 108 mil does not sound like a lot. I have a 100 gal system, that I recently convereted to SPS, have bunch of frags and mini colonies. I was dosing about 25ml from BRS Calc/Alk. You also might consider dosing equal parts of Calc/Alk. I just recently switch to ESV 2-part from BRS 2-part. It went down from 25ml a day to 7ml a day. My alk is currently at 8.4-9 dkh Calc is at 460 Mag is at 1500.

03/09/2018, 06:13 PM	#6
jgal912 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2018 Posts: 23	I found the addition of a Kalk stirrer really helped me lower my dosing amounts

03/10/2018, 01:42 PM	#8
benibarra23 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Santa clarita Posts: 693	Thanks everyone.

03/11/2018, 12:30 PM	#9
Phixman Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2017 Location: Lynnwood, WA Posts: 176	I recently started to dose myself, I took readings on everything daily for a week, and noticed my alkalinity consumption was .3 a day and someone mentioned that that equals to about 2ppm of calcium a day. Dosed the same amount of both because for a 20 gallon the extra calcium wouldn't cause my levels to go crazy. The reason why I only dosed consumption is because my water change water levels were much higher (reef crystals IO) than my tank water, so that corrected my levels. I also read that dosing more Alk than Calc or the other way around may cause one or the other to drop and the other to rise if dosed in different proportions, especially for a bigger tank like yours.

03/12/2018, 08:47 AM	#10
DarkSkyForever Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Minneapolis, MN Posts: 92	I dose 115ml of Alk/Ca a day in my 45 gallon, so your numbers aren't crazy by any measure, maybe even a bit low.

03/13/2018, 10:57 AM	#12
nogascans Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2012 Location: Jesup, Georgia (USA) Posts: 387	What you are dosing doesn't sound out of range. I have a 160/40 total of 200 mixed/mostly SPS with some large snails, 14 fish, and I am dosing 191 Alk/168 Ca over 24 cycles daily. As others have mentioned, you need to get the Alk and Ca to where you would like them to be by adding additional amounts not tied to current dosing amounts, and then adjust your current dosing amounts based on maintaining those #'s from + or -. Stability is what you are after, and unless you are running ULNS, actual numbers are less important to coral growth and health. With ULNS, shoot for lower Alk ranges (7-8.5) Sincerely, David

03/13/2018, 03:51 PM	#13
benibarra23 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Santa clarita Posts: 693	Thanks everyone, I was mainly worried about the amount I was dosing but after hearing from many people that its nothing crazy Im not going to worry about it and continue upping my dosage until I get back to my desired levels. I am pretty happy with my current growth and everything is healthy so I am just trying to keep it as stable as possible.

03/14/2018, 10:15 AM	#16
oldhead Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: New Jersey Posts: 527	Bring each up a little at a time while continuing to dose your normal amount. I usually add alk at night and calcium in the morning. You can do your testing after work before adding your alk. You will have to test everyday until you get to desired levels. After that once a week to make sure things are staying stable.