Do I need to dose?

[calrissian]

My tank:

40 breeder with a 29 gallon sump. Approximate water volume - around 50 gallons.

45lbs rock & 45lbs sand.

Has been running for about 3 months.

No fish.

CUC consists of snails and hermits. Very moderate stocking compared to most recommendations.

1 cleaner shrimp

1 emerald crab

1 anemone crab

All of my corals are small frags and have been in the tank for about 3 weeks. Everything looks good and healthy except zoas. Nothing really bad - just don't seem to open very wide. Might be my imagination though.

1 Torch

Zoa

Acan

Favia

A few Mushrooms

A few Rics

1 Rock flower anemone

 

I finally collected all of the test kits I need and have noticed my ALK and Mg are pretty low. I test before water change and a few hours after. Below are my parameters listed before and after WC.

 

Temp 78/78

Ph 8.1/8.1 (API)

Salinity 1.024/1.024 (refractometer)

Ammonia 0/0 (API)

Nitrite 0/0 (API)

Nitrate 10-15/5-10 (API)

PO4 0/0 (Salifert)

Ca ~380/~420 (Salifert)

Alk 5.5/6.2dkh (Salifert)

Mg 950-1000/1050 (Salifert)

 

So...my question then is about the Alk and Mg levels. I've been seeing the same numbers consistently over the last 3 weeks of testing. Do I need to dose Alk & Mg? My numbers are a good bit lower than the norms I've researched. I'm fine with dosing if that's what needs done. (I'm used to dosing ferts everyday in my planted tanks so this is normal routine for me already). I've looked at BRS's 2 part but not sure if I need to dose calcium or not. It seems like I keep hearing to start with Mg and see if that corrects the Alk issue. Am I understanding that correctly? If dosing is necessary at this point, any recommendations on products?

 

Also I should mention that I have a lot of corraline algae showing up on my rocks and some on the glass. This started about 3 weeks ago. Not sure if that could be contributing to the drop in the already low Alk & Mg numbers or not.

 

Thanks in advance for any input!!

 

[VW_TDI_02]

Those are some really low numbers IMO. Alk should be between 7 and 11, Mg should be 1250 to 1350, and Ca should be around 420-450. I would definitely recommend dosing. 2 part is probably the easiest. I would definitely raise your Mg first and then do either alk or Ca.

[AZDesertRat]

What salt are you using and what salinity are you mixing it to? How often do you do water changes, how much do you change and how do you do the change?

 

I can't imagine needing to supplement with a system stocked like yours if you are using a good reef salt and changing 20% or so on a regular basis.

[calrissian]

What salt are you using and what salinity are you mixing it to? How often do you do water changes, how much do you change and how do you do the change?

 

I can't imagine needing to supplement with a system stocked like yours if you are using a good reef salt and changing 20% or so on a regular basis.

 

I use Instant Ocean Reef Crystals mixed to 1.024. Once a week I siphon about 10 gallons of water out of the display and add new water into the sump. Roughly 20%. I agree that I don't have much stocked. Like I said, they are also fairly small frags. I checked my saltwater mix and the Mg is low. Can't remember what exactly, but well below 1350. I think it was around 1050-1100. Ca was 420-440ish. I need to check the Alk when I get home.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Hey there- start checking your consumption- do a healthy w/c and then test your water. Then test after 3 days and then a week- you should see how much Ca. and Mg. drop - Alk. will drop the most and is the most important number to watch. 7-8 alk is a good number to shoot for. I know it's a pain but you should test your tank for a good two weeks ( everyday) to see what's really happening. I imagine your only using small amounts of Ca. And Alk. But sounds like your starting out with low values- get them up to good values- Ca. - looks good at 420-450 but Mg - get it above 1200 and Alk in the 7-8 range then test and see how much it changes in a day- then maybe it's time to dose. Once you hit proper values you'll be able to maintain with good w/c's but the key is always keeping things stable and that's where a doser or dosing comes into play! Most important - enjoy the ride! Hope this makes sense- good luck ?

 

PS- love the misfits !

[calrissian]

Thanks sk8n. I used to ride myself back in the day. Had to give up the board for glass boxes. Not as painful on the body. Haha.

When you say "get them up to good values", do mean I should start doing some dosing? Cause WCs aren't getting me there. Other than alk and mg being pretty low, everything is as stable as can be.

[VW_TDI_02]

Whenever you make a new batch of water, you're going to have to dose that new water so that it matches the parameters that you want in your tank. For the tank, you're going to have to raise the parameters as well. Do your Mg first and then Ca or Alk. Once you have raised the parameters of your tank, test your water. Wait three days and then test your water again. With those two values, you'll be able to see how much your parameters are dropping daily. That is how much you'll end up having to dose daily in order to maintain your values.

[Sk8n Reefer]

Thanks sk8n. I used to ride myself back in the day. Had to give up the board for glass boxes. Not as painful on the body. Haha.

When you say "get them up to good values", do mean I should start doing some dosing? Cause WCs aren't getting me there. Other than alk and mg being pretty low, everything is as stable as can be.

Hahaha- for sure- I am about a month into broken ribs ?. Yes, dose mg. and Alk. To get parameters up. Be very careful with Alk. - raise it slowly-.5-1number a day at most maybe take a day or two in between dosing to slow it down. Let it maintain at 7-8. Mg.- You can raise faster but remember nothing good happens fast in a reef tank?. When I manually dosed Alk I would add some in the morning before the lights are on and then in the evening when the lights go out. If you dose Alk and Ca. In the same day- make sure to separate the dose by 10-15min. Or it can precipitate out. I usually would dose Alk. Wait 5 then dose Mg. then wait 10 and dose Ca. You'll be adding small amounts so the chance of precipitation is low.

[braaap]

Don't forget you can also use the dosing calculator on BRS to figure out what you need to dose to get to your levels. Luckily I only needed to dose 140ml of calcium and alk to bump my calcium up slightly. I actually set it all up yesterday on my tank and it started dosing today. 14ml calcium on the even hours and 14ml alk on the odd hours. Breaks up the dosage as needed to slowly raise it. I'll test when I get home to check levels and then again in the morning. Not quite sure of my consumption yet but over a week my calcium dropped 50ppm. Can't remember my alk.

[calrissian]

Thanks everyone. I'm about to order the BRS 2 part and give that a try. I've been playing with their calculator and starting after my next water change, I'm going to record all parameters everyday to establish a baseline. Sounds simple enough. Like I mentioned earlier, I dose ferts in my planted FW tank and it took a few weeks to get everything dialed in, so I have a good feeling i'll be able to figure this one out. Thanks again. If I encounter any issues, I'll be sure to come here for help.

[Hig789]

You might also want to get a Hanna checker for your PO4. When I had high phosphates my Xmas didn't look too hot either. I don't know how low the salifert test checks though. But it's more than likely what everyone above said. IMO your CA is fine at 380 but that's the lowest you want it to go.

 

You should check out Randy Holmes-Farley's articles. Dude is a reef chemistry wizard.