Arce's Tank

[markalot]

On the BM doser you should be doing 24 doses a day, hourly, for the greatest stability. What hurts the most in Alk drops is rapidly raising it to correct. You want to creep up .5 KH or less a day. You can do 1KH without killing anything but you will lose color. In my experience anyway. So let the doser slowly raise it up for you by trying to guess a daily value more than what you need, then setting it to dose that amount 24 times a day.

[Arce]

On the BM doser you should be doing 24 doses a day, hourly, for the greatest stability. What hurts the most in Alk drops is rapidly raising it to correct. You want to creep up .5 KH or less a day. You can do 1KH without killing anything but you will lose color. In my experience anyway. So let the doser slowly raise it up for you by trying to guess a daily value more than what you need, then setting it to dose that amount 24 times a day.

 

Ok, ill give that a try. Thanks

[Arce]

Thinking about taking out my sand and going BB....

[TheKleinReef]

On the BM doser you should be doing 24 doses a day, hourly, for the greatest stability. What hurts the most in Alk drops is rapidly raising it to correct. You want to creep up .5 KH or less a day. You can do 1KH without killing anything but you will lose color. In my experience anyway. So let the doser slowly raise it up for you by trying to guess a daily value more than what you need, then setting it to dose that amount 24 times a day.

 

See that doesn't make sense to me. Since everywhere I read, calcium and alkalinity shouldn't be dosed within 1-3 hours of each other (depending on who you talk to, what you read, etc.) so if you're dosing every hour, how would you dose calcium without risking that. I've had great results dosing every 6 hours with no drastic swings in between. I'd have to test and check alk/ca levels between and after doses to prove my theory though.

 

I guess dosing 1-2ml every hour wouldn't really matter with precipitation since the amount is so minuscule compared to total water volume.

[Arce]

See that doesn't make sense to me. Since everywhere I read, calcium and alkalinity shouldn't be dosed within 1-3 hours of each other (depending on who you talk to, what you read, etc.) so if you're dosing every hour, how would you dose calcium without risking that. I've had great results dosing every 6 hours with no drastic swings in between. I'd have to test and check alk/ca levels between and after doses to prove my theory though. I guess dosing 1-2ml every hour wouldn't really matter with precipitation since the amount is so minuscule compared to total water volume.

Curious about this as well. Luckily at the moment my calcium usage isn't high so i manually dose it as needed but once these acros take off im going to have to automate it. I figure if i switch it to 12 or less doses/day it can give time in between for calcium dosing while maintaining as stable alk as possible.

[TheKleinReef]

Curious about this as well. Luckily at the moment my calcium usage isn't high so i manually dose it as needed but once these acros take off im going to have to automate it. I figure if i switch it to 12 or less doses/day it can give time in between for calcium dosing while maintaining as stable alk as possible.

When I had my ghl doser at 10 doses. Nanotopia told me to increase the dosage amount and the gaps between ca and alk to ensure nothing precipitates. I don't think dosing 10ml 4x is any different swing wise than dosing 1.67ml 24x...

[markalot]

Wa?

 

I have Alk on pump 1 and Calcium on pump 3. Ca is dosed 10 minutes after Alk. I dose in chamber 1 of my sump which has a 750 GPH powerhead aimed at the sump bottom to keep detritus mixed up as it comes in from the overflows. After 10 minutes it's plenty mixed up and long gone, no need to wait longer IMO.

 

Chamber 1 - overflow, dosing, powerhead for circulation

Chamber 2 - big ass skimmer and powerheads to keep detritus from settling

Chamber 3 - live rock, Kalk-topoff drip, power heads, return pump

 

The Kalk really helps reduce the monthly 2 part usage.

When I had my ghl doser at 10 doses. Nanotopia told me to increase the dosage amount and the gaps between ca and alk to ensure nothing precipitates. I don't think dosing 10ml 4x is any different swing wise than dosing 1.67ml 24x...

 

Depends on daily usage. If the usage is high there certainly is a big difference. At lower dosages the BM pump will only allow 12 per day anyway, which may be a limiting factor here. I've got a lot more water to deal with.

[4x5]

I don't see why you can't dose 24 times per day with 15 minutes between Alk and Cal. People hand dose like that all the time. I dose 12 times per day on alternating hours only because my doser requires each dose to be manually inputted which honestly is a massive pain in my ass.

[Arce]

Alk is on the rise.. 6.2 today going to keep letting it slowly climb back to normal

[metrokat]

See that doesn't make sense to me. Since everywhere I read, calcium and alkalinity shouldn't be dosed within 1-3 hours of each other (depending on who you talk to, what you read, etc.) so if you're dosing every hour, how would you dose calcium without risking that. I've had great results dosing every 6 hours with no drastic swings in between. I'd have to test and check alk/ca levels between and after doses to prove my theory though. I guess dosing 1-2ml every hour wouldn't really matter with precipitation since the amount is so minuscule compared to total water volume.

I dose every 15 minutes, alternating between calcium and alkalinity.

 

I picked up a BM doser last Wednesday and put it in the same day. Since i switched my alk dropped to around the middle/high 6's which wasn't a huge swing but now it came down considerably. I think it hasn't shown issues because it was a gradual drop, though i don't doubt i will see issues soon if i don't fix it. I'm using the red sea 2 part. My old doser was one of those junkie marine magic dosers with the dial on top so i never really knew how much i was dosing every day but could pretty much average it and it was around 10ml a day so i started with that but apparently need more.

 

When you have corrected your Alk to the level you want, it might be a good idea to test how much alk your tank uses daily. to do this you have to stop dosing and test every single day. It will give you a daily consumption which will help you better dial in the doser.

[TheKleinReef]

I dose every 15 minutes, alternating between calcium and alkalinity.

 

even in such a small system? wow. after speaking to christine, i'll never dose that close together in such a small system with moderate to high ca/alk consumption. if they precipitate its just wasting money and throwing everything off balance.

[metrokat]

even in such a small system? wow. after speaking to christine, i'll never dose that close together in such a small system with moderate to high ca/alk consumption. if they precipitate its just wasting money and throwing everything off balance.

My alk and calcium drip into my return chamber, the dose gets swept up to the back chamber of the display and into the display and all over the place almost immediately. The dosing is barely 1ml or whatever, the dosers are on for a minute or less. Not going to precipitate anything at those levels.

[Arce]

The alk problems continue. Ive been neglecting my tank the past few days which isnt smart when having alk problems... But i tested this morning before i left for my one of my classes and it was 5dkh..... I went to manually dose through the BM and the pump motor would turn on, the needle would spin but nothing was coming out. So i think somethings wrong with the head itself or the rollers which is why ive been having problems. Fml. Any ideas?

[markalot]

The heads are very simple so just pop one off another motor and replace it, then carefully take it apart and see if one of the hoses is crimped.

 

And while you are having issues just start putting a cap of Alk part in the sump every morning.

 

I was mystified by the peristaltic pumps until forced to take one apart. Simple DC motor, extremely simple head design.

[Arkayology]

The alk problems continue. Ive been neglecting my tank the past few days which isnt smart when having alk problems... But i tested this morning before i left for my one of my classes and it was 5dkh..... I went to manually dose through the BM and the pump motor would turn on, the needle would spin but nothing was coming out. So i think somethings wrong with the head itself or the rollers which is why ive been having problems. Fml. Any ideas?

I pm'd you.

[Arce]

The heads are very simple so just pop one off another motor and replace it, then carefully take it apart and see if one of the hoses is crimped.

 

And while you are having issues just start putting a cap of Alk part in the sump every morning.

 

I was mystified by the peristaltic pumps until forced to take one apart. Simple DC motor, extremely simple head design.

 

 

I pm'd you.

 

I think i fixed it... Will have to see tomorrow if it works.

[Arce]

Fixed the doser problem. Alk is back up in the 7s, now i just need to dial it in and keep it stable where i want it. Luckily i didnt have many issues with the alk swings, some loss of color but not extreme. I did lose one of the "frag swap impulse buy" frags, but im not heart broken over it.

 

Sitting at work i cant stop thinking of my upgrade for this tank. It wont happen atleast till next year... But a guy can dream... I want a rimless tank same dims as a 40b, 4 bulb t5 w/ leds, and id probably reuse the rest of the equipment that i have on my 29 except swtich out my sump for a larger one. I would also go for a completely different scape and go BB. After my 29g matures past the year and a half mark ill probably consider the upgrade.

[Arce]

Alks pretty much stable now. But my calcium was super low, i have to up my dosage alot. Once Iget it dialed in I'm expecting some super fast sps growth . Everything's doing good, I only had one loss from the alk swings, but nbd. Colors are amazing on everything, even my katropora . I need to take new pics but my cameras horrible, I have to see if one of my friends has a better camera I can use.

[markalot]

Alks pretty much stable now. But my calcium was super low, i have to up my dosage alot. Once Iget it dialed in I'm expecting some super fast sps growth . Everything's doing good, I only had one loss from the alk swings, but nbd. Colors are amazing on everything, even my katropora . I need to take new pics but my cameras horrible, I have to see if one of my friends has a better camera I can use.

 

Calcium dosage should match Alk dosage. I have not found a valid exception to this rule.

[metrokat]

Calcium dosage should match Alk dosage. I have not found a valid exception to this rule.

Or very close in dosage.

[Arce]

Calcium dosage should match Alk dosage. I have not found a valid exception to this rule.

Or very close in dosage.

 

Ive never had a 1:1 ratio of alk/calc consumption... Ill have to check again. Maybe im doing something wrong.

[TheKleinReef]

 

Calcium dosage should match Alk dosage. I have not found a valid exception to this rule.

Exception: the solutions are in different concentrations.

That happens to me everytime and I just don't change it. Consumption state steady, but it takes different amounts to accommodate for it.

 

18ml of BRS cal

24ml of BRS soda ash

 

But if you're using premixed liquid solutions, I agree.

[Arce]

I use the red sea 2 part

[markalot]

Exception: the solutions are in different concentrations.

That happens to me everytime and I just don't change it. Consumption state steady, but it takes different amounts to accommodate for it.

 

18ml of BRS cal

24ml of BRS soda ash

 

But if you're using premixed liquid solutions, I agree.

 

Ah, perfect explanation.

 

 

I use the red sea 2 part

 

Then dare I say you are incorrect. Basically you are trying to force the system out of balance. Dose equal parts and calcium will settle at where it wants to be in relation to Alk, assuming Mag is kept above 1300. IMO. I use pre-mixed 2 part but was soon going to switch to BRS so I learned something here.

[TheKleinReef]

 

Ah, perfect explanation.

 

 

 

Then dare I say you are incorrect. Basically you are trying to force the system out of balance. Dose equal parts and calcium will settle at where it wants to be in relation to Alk, assuming Mag is kept above 1300. IMO. I use pre-mixed 2 part but was soon going to switch to BRS so I learned something here.

Just stay consistent on how you mix the BRS stuff and adjust dosing amount from there. I tried making them concentrated enough to where I'm dosing 1:1 but I couldn't do it. The best I could get was 1:1.3