Low Alk? Time to dose?

[Poodges]

My 29 Biocube has been up almost a year. I do weekly 4-5 gallon water changes with Reef Crystals. Up to this point, I have never dosed. I'm starting to get into SPS and decided to purchase some better Salifert test kits. My calc is 420, alk is 7-8 (faint pink at 7, solid pink at 8 not sure how to read that one). I know that those levels are acceptable, but low. My ph is 8.2 using an API kit.

 

hard corals: monti cap, encrusting monti, tiny birdsnest frag, bird of paradise frag, ora red planet frag, acan, 2 favias, duncan and welso brain.

 

Should I start to dose some kind of 2 part to raise my alk and calc? Any advice/ crash course in dosing would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Lawnman]

If it was my tank I would just do another small water change a week. That would elevate those levels a little. I am not a big fan of dosing.I will do more water changes before I start dosing.

[disaster999]

7-8dkh is really not that bad. its right on par with natural sea water, but most will suggest you to go higher just so that you have some buffer space.

 

i would go ahead and try getting frags of sps and see how they do in your tank. monitor your levels and make sure they are good. chances are with only 1 or 2 frags, you shouldnt have to worry about your levels dropping too much with regular water changes, but if you start to stock more then you might want to look into dosing.

 

theres only so much you can do with water changes unless you enjoy changing out large % of water a few times a week just to keep your levels in check.

[youincolor]

7-8 dkh and 420 cal is pretty much right on, like someone said above, a little buffer would be nice, but those levels are great. as soon as you start dosing, they will get more unstable as they are connected to one another. i would up the amount you are changing before i dosed anything.

 

dosing sucks

[Poodges]

I appreciate the advice. I think as long as my alk stays above 7 and my ph is good, I'll keep doing what I'm doing. We'll see how the sps affects my levels. Would it make since to elevate the alk/calc in the new water before doing a water change...assuming ph is steady?

[lakshwadeep]

+1 to not worrying, at least now. In the meantime, read this guide to supplementation (check the link "solving calcium and alkalinity problems"). A two-part (or three-part, including magnesium) is usually a simple way control dosing.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-04/rhf/index.php

[Poodges]

Thanks for the link. I guess I'll wait and see if I absolutely have to dose....don't want to mess anything up.

[bdare]

By the way... I'd say your alk is closer to 8 than 7. If it starts to change color but does not change all the way then that means there is still some "reagent" (if you will) that is accepting the stuff from the kit. Until it changes all the way you are good.