Water parameters and dosing

[Yumarattler]

I purchased a 30 gallon system with sump, protein skimmer, and all rock and live stock. The previous owner said he was dosing 5ml of each reef fusion 2 part daily.  I have yet to dose and I have only been able to test my water 3 times in the last week due to my work schedule.   Here are my test results:

 

Saturday 

CA 425, MG 1400, 9.0 dkh

 

wednesday

CA 425, MG 1400,  8.4 dkh

 

Friday

Ca 425, mg 1400 7.8 dkh

 

i did a water change last night which was 5 gallons out of 35-45 total system water. I used the Red Sea coral pro salt which I didn’t test aside from temp and salinity prior to using it. I will test again tomorrow to see how it is after the water change.   Once this salt is used up I will be switching it to Fritz RPM like I use in my other nano.

 

Should I be dosing daily?  Shouldn’t everything decrease as it is used and not just the Alk?  I do have a DP-4 dosing pump that is brand new that came with the setup along with the reef fusion 2 part.  Any direction would be awesome. 

[Clown79]

The first step is testing after a waterchange.

 

Then test at the same time every day to monitor consumption.

 

Then you dose to replenish what is being consumed daily.

 

2 part buffers are dosed in equal parts 

 

You go by the alk consumption and dose according to that. So if it requires 1.5ml to replenish alk then you use 1.5ml of ca as well.

 

Alk and ca work together. 

 

 

I wouldn't be concerned testing mag daily. It's an issue of it's too low- 1200 and under.

[Yumarattler]

I work 24 hour shifts so it is difficult to test every day. I will test tomorrow when I get home and report back. 

[seabass]

7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

It's an issue of it's too low- 1200 and under.

Yeah a 1200 is too low.  I'd probably shoot for at least 1300.

[Laurenscube]

Hey i use Red Sea Coral pro too.

It has high parameters so until you change your salt brand keep your water parameters throughout the week around the same- so when you do a water change it isn't drastic for the corals.

Also make sure you are mixing the salt correctly as if you do it too fast the parameters will be all off.

 

The Red Sea salt mix parameters are:

12.2 dkh

450 Cal

1340 mg

 

i agree with clown79 with the dosing plan

[Yumarattler]

How would you mix it to fast and make the parameters off?

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, Yumarattler said:

How would you mix it to fast and make the parameters off?

Coral pro has specific mixing instructions to prevent precipitation.

 

Add salt to unheated water. Mix.

 

After 2 hrs a heater and powerhead can be added.

 

No more than 4hrs mixing time. Can be stored for no more than a week.

 

 

This is per Red Sea

[Yumarattler]

So let the salt sit in the water after stirring it and after 2 hours add a powerhead and heater?

 

i have been adding salt to the water while the pump circulating it with a heater. I will have to change things up. 

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, Yumarattler said:

So let the salt sit in the water after stirring it and after 2 hours add a powerhead and heater?

 

i have been adding salt to the water while the pump circulating it with a heater. I will have to change things up. 

Yes. You need to stir the salt in, getting it mixed well. It dissolves quickly. After 2 hrs, add pump and heater

[banasophia]

I recently started using Red Sea Coral Pro... My understanding is that you can use a submersible pump to mix the salt in, you just don’t want to aerate with an airstone. 

[banasophia]

 

[seabass]

That salt is a PITA.  Unless you have a SPS dominant tank, I don't know why people use it.  Even then, with alkalinity of 11.5 to 12.5 dKH at 1.026 sg, you run the risk of burning your coral if your nutrient levels are too low.   I'm surprised it's so popular.  Plus, it's not cheap.  I guess I just don't get it.

[Aurortpa]

This is salt mix I purchase my water from at my one of my local LFS.  Suits my tanks needs, I don't have to dose as much.

[seabass]

I basically get that.  It's actually fine for most people to use.  It just has a few extra things to consider.  Sorry 'bout the rant.

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, banasophia said:

I recently started using Red Sea Coral Pro... My understanding is that you can use a submersible pump to mix the salt in, you just don’t want to aerate with an airstone. 

 

4 hours ago, seabass said:

That salt is a PITA.  Unless you have a SPS dominant tank, I don't know why people use it.  Even then, with alkalinity of 11.5 to 12.5 dKH at 1.026 sg, you run the risk of burning your coral if your nutrient levels are too low.   I'm surprised it's so popular.  Plus, it's not cheap.  I guess I just don't get it.

Don't be sorry, you never rant😁

Everyone's free to have their opinion.

 

I used to use it.

It was a PITA.

 

I hated the high alk, it ruined my sps.

 

No need for alk to be that high. Never understood it.

 

Regardless if alk starts at 11 or 8, you still want stability, therefore dosing is needed to prevent fluctuations.

 

I love the RS blue box salt. Perfect params and no restriction on how to mix or how long to store it.

[HarryPotter]

4 hours ago, seabass said:

That salt is a PITA.  Unless you have a SPS dominant tank, I don't know why people use it.  Even then, with alkalinity of 11.5 to 12.5 dKH at 1.026 sg, you run the risk of burning your coral if your nutrient levels are too low.   I'm surprised it's so popular.  Plus, it's not cheap.  I guess I just don't get it.

 

If you want to keep your dkh at 9, and it is at 8, a 20% water change with RSCP takes it to where you want it. The whole point is that it keeps your parameters high without as much dosing.

[seabass]

If you want to keep your dkh at 9, and it is at 8, a 20% water change with RSCP takes it to where you want it.

Yeah... I guess through testing and calculated water changes, that you could target more reasonable levels.  I normally consider the salt mix's parameters as the target, but I see where you are going with this.

[HarryPotter]

4 minutes ago, seabass said:

Yeah... I guess through testing and calculated water changes, that you could target more reasonable levels.  I normally consider the salt mix's parameters as the target, but I see where you are going with this.

 

I dont test more than monthly  Alk/Salinity, and it seems to work. Under dose slightly and then a water change brings everything to where you want.

 

however, on the new 300 gallon build, I used Red Sea blue bucket to start off. Don’t want 12 Alk haha

[markalot]

RSCP is a toy salt.   I enjoyed the rant.  It does work for dosing, but since most people struggle with dosing concepts it ends up doing more harm than good IMO.  

 

Something wrong with the water, need to do a big water change?  Use RSCP to do the big change and kiss your SPS goodbye.  

[mitten_reef]

I feel that this debate occurs every single time the mention of RSCP salt comes up.  Yet people continue to ask - I bet I can get more than one page surrounding this topic alone by just searching.

 

Anyway, on the flip side of the coin - qualifying myself as lesser-experienced hobbyist (not as long of tank-keeping history as most of you who'd commented before me), RSCP is more than fine for beginners.  Like someone else said weekly water change would be more than suffice to replenish your parameters.  Corals tolerate a decent range of variation.  It's when beginners don't "stay in their lane" and buy that $250 SPS frags for their brand-new tank that's when things can go bad quickly, financially and hobby enjoyment included. 

 

Get your proof of concept working and build your knowledge on keeping things alive and thrive, this is because EVERYONE'S CIRCUMSTANCES ARE DIFFERENT, YOU'LL NEVER REPLICATE ANOTHER MEMBER'S SUCCESS (nor failures for that matter) if you don't know your own tank. 

 

Go slow, as your understanding of what your tank needs grow, you make adjustment - whether it be changing light, changing salt, add skimmer, add reactor(s), manual dosing, automated dosing, etc.  THESE DON'T ALL HAVE TO BE ON DAY ONE.

 

For me personally, I've been using RSCP since 2014, and it'd been great.  HOWEVER, I've been looking into automating my dosing routine.  And all the cautions that had been given are more than valid.  So once I run out of my current stockpile of salt (maybe end of year?), I'll be switching to Blue bucket, because I just like red sea products.  Most of the tanks I look up to use the blue bucket. 

 

Sorry for my version of the rant.

[the camaro show]

I tried the coral pro and hated it I couldn’t get sps to grow they would just stn on it while lps loved it once I switched to the blue bucket all is good now, low alk 7.5-9 is where sps love it and stn won’t happen 

[Yumarattler]

Thanks for the input guys, I tried the coral pro on my other tank and decided to just use the fritz RPM which just seemed easier and less of a harsh swing on water changes from what I read. The reason I am using it on this tank is that it came with it. I have maybe half of a bucket left and then I will be switching to the Fritz RPM on it as well. So far it looks like everything in the tank is doing ok and the acrapora look like the polyps are starting to come out now. Not sure if it is the water or switching to the hydra 26 but something is working