robpardee Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 I have been recently wondering if I should opt for the kent parts A and B for my tank. Currently my alkalinity is on the low end of normal, the pH however has been steady at 8.2 and the calcium has been a little low at 320, but I have only soft corals in my tank. I also finished up my IO and now have RC (one water change w/ this salt mix so far) which is supposed to have more alkalinity buffering capacity and more calcium although I realize it's not great levels of calcium. I want to finish my 10lb bag of RC before swithing to another salt. 1) Do you guys think I should just give the RC a chance and see if they raise my levels or dose w/ Kent parts A & B? 2) If you think I should go for the Kent parts A & B then I was wondering if the change in alkalinity from this dosing would affect my shrimp detrimentally? Thanks for any help!! Link to comment
Rehype Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 What are your actual alkalinity readings? And are you keeping any sps? Link to comment
robpardee Posted February 22, 2008 Author Share Posted February 22, 2008 My alkalinity is about 7dKH on the low end. But the good thing for now is I don't have any SPS but I do want to get a hammer and that would be all for my SPS coral. I was looking at the bottles of Kent A & B and the instructions said to dose everyday but I wondered if that was necessary in the nano tanks, would just once a week be good? That is only if you guys think I should go for the kent. Link to comment
Deano Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 Sounds like ever thing is in balance but on the low end. Softies are not a picky as SPS and LSP when it comes to the chemisrty. But it would be best if you increased your doseing to get your Alk around 10dKH and the calcium around 350-400ppm. I think if you dose per the Kent instructions you shouldn't have a problem getting everything up to the recommend levels. Link to comment
robpardee Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 Ok, thanks! Kent's instructions are dosing every day, do you think this is too much for my tank being normal just a little low though? Link to comment
rep Posted February 23, 2008 Share Posted February 23, 2008 You don't have to dose every day..... I have a 12g and I dose 3 times a week 10 drops each......but every tank is different......just keep testing and when your levels are where you want them you will know how much and how often to dose Link to comment
robpardee Posted February 23, 2008 Author Share Posted February 23, 2008 Ok thanks will do!! Link to comment
Deano Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Ok, thanks! Kent's instructions are dosing every day, do you think this is too much for my tank being normal just a little low though? What you have in your tank will not be harmed by your current levels. But now is a good time to learn about the chemistry of your tank. I am sure some day you will get bit by at least the LPS bug and then you need to be able to manage the chemistry. It will not hurt to dose everyday if you want to get the levels up. Once you get there then back off watch and see how long the system can maintain them. Let the levels drop a bit again then redose bringing the levels back up. Doing this will give you a fell for how much you need to dose to maintain your levels. That said once you get the levels where you want them with regular water changes and a very small chemistry load, IE corals that use the calcium to grow, you will be suprised how easy it is to maintain the system balance. Keep in mind things like coraline algae will take up calcium so if you start getting a good growth of it you may have to increase you doseing if you don't want it to die off. I rarely check my chemistry these days, maybe once a month, but I know what my tanks need. Link to comment
HecticDialectics Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Dosing calculator... http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html Never follow the instructions on dosing bottles unless they say that x amount of dosing will raise calc/alk etc y amount in z gallons of water. "Dose x amount every day" is pretty much plain and simple wrong. Link to comment
Deano Posted February 24, 2008 Share Posted February 24, 2008 Dosing calculator...http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html Never follow the instructions on dosing bottles unless they say that x amount of dosing will raise calc/alk etc y amount in z gallons of water. "Dose x amount every day" is pretty much plain and simple wrong. Nice calculator , never seen it before. Thanks for sharing. Link to comment
robpardee Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 Thanks for the input, this really helps alot guys!!! Link to comment
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