calcium/alkalinity adjusting

[johnsmb]

After months or research and hours and hours of reading, my 25 gallon tank has been up for 2 weeks!! Yippee!! It is gorgeous. I used 35 pounds live rock from an established tank and 20# bagged livesand - so I never really had any cycle.

 

I have been using these first few weeks to get used to topping off, testing and just trying to get comfortable with things. Ok, now I think I may be ready to "tweak" it a little bit before getting corals.

 

Using mostly salifert or seachem test kits: no ammonia, nitrite or nitrate. However, alkalinity started at 3.5 meg/L and is now down to 2. Calcium started around 360, now down to 340 or so. So, I would like to raise these both slightly - I intend to keep just soft corals. pH around 8.0, salinity 1.024 and temp is 79.

 

Despite all the reading, I have been doing, I still find the alk/calcium/pH a little confusing. I have been using aragamilk, but it is not doing anything, and I have not heard good things about it. So, I am going to order B-Ionic.

 

Questions: Do you dose B-ionic daily, or could it be doing every other day? Does it raise the alkalinity, or just maintain it? Should I also order a buffer to raise the alkalinity before the B-ionic. Finally, any idea how quickly you go through this stuff? I have a 25 gallon tank - roughly how long will the 32 oz bottles last?

 

Sorry so long - thanks for any guidance.

[tinyreef]

it depends, unfortunately that really is the answer.

 

each system/setup is different and uses additives/chemicals at different rates. e.g. a stony or clam setup will blow thru ca/alk whereas softies typically wouldn't. that same example changes if i said i was growing halimeda macroalgae in the refugium. it changes yet again if i said i run the refugium 24/7!

 

it all gets pretty confusing. you can read all the materials and they still just give you a general 'feel'. the tank and its inhabitants will give you the best feedback. the trick is to notice their 'signals'.

 

b-ionic is a very good supplement imo. it can increase alk depending upon your dosage and the tank's consumption. if the #1 additive stays 'smokey/foggy' then the alk is still low. once it starts 'snowing' then i'd back off (i.e. skip a day). the #2 additive is very soluable in water so you can easily keep dumping in and see no immediate deleterious effects, be careful.

 

follow mfg. instructions and you should be fine. as you learn more about the livestock's needs and signs of need you can play around. i started out with the 64 oz./set and i'm now onto the 5gal pails, so you learn to adjust according to the system's needs. also, there are a number of past threads/posts on this topic and they have many views. hth