2 part dosing vs. Reactors

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by tatted4ever, Oct 20, 2009.

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  1. tatted4ever

    tatted4ever Clown Trigger

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  3. Peredhil

    Peredhil Giant Squid

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    that's a nice looking tank BT. That is a lot of SPS...
     
  4. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

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    I just tested again today, my Ca is holding at 425, with alk at 155ppm, so I dropped my dose of alk by 20ml.
     
  5. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Are you pilyo on RC? I read your thread and I still say you need to rethink things.

    And ya... beautiful tank.

    At least run it by Randy what your tank is and that you are adding 360 ml of Ca. If that was your thread, they were just speaking in generalities.
     
  6. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

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    nope i am fishez4alivin on RC
     
  7. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    Well Bertoni that helped you is a good guy. Don't know him.... but he is quite knowledgeable.

    This is all I know.... I was asking on RC if what I was doing was right.... if my mismatch was right... if I should be using equal parts.... My CA was low.... I kept adding and adding and adding. .... raising my Ca raising my Alk cause it would fall.....Kept asking for advice and kept getting told I was good. At that point I was using 150 ml/day of Ca.

    Then my skimmer was not working one day, opened it up and it was calcified. Finally called BRS and they said I was far from good. That there can be a minor mismatch... but not a major one. That I was using way too much for my load. Even BRS says 1+ ml/gal for SPS dominate. Yours is, but it isn't full. Right now you are doing 1 ml/gal of Alk and 3 ml/gal of Ca. There is something wrong there. Right now I use right at .6 ml/gal for SPS/LPS which is what I have. Pretty equal in parts and right in line with BRS doses. Instant Ocean salt. Been totally stable for over 3 months

    Adding too much of one will cause the other to be off. It throws everything off. I can believe you would be around 1 ml/gal, but 3 to 1 does not seem right. Now I'm no expert, I'm just telling you my experience. Might not be the same for you.... but it is at least worth it to run this by BRS, Andrew or Ryan are happy to help and will get things straight.... IF there is a need for that. I chased this problem for a couple of months. Just trying to spare you the same.
     
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  9. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

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    I talked to BRS, and have decided to drop my dosing to 120 ml of both Ca and Alk, and test everyday, making adjustments. I appreciate your experiences, since I have always used a reactor, and dosed 2 part for maybe a month. And that was a couple of years ago. My problem and the reason why I wanted to keep alk around 150 ppm, is because I carbon dose my tank, and if alk hits 165 or higher, you start to burn sps tips.
     
  10. Powerman

    Powerman Giant Squid

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    No sweat. Really I'm just a rookie. I was just sharing my experience that it really led me around by the nose for a while. And I freaked out on every test and chased numbers around.

    Try your hardest not to make daily changes. Go by the recomendation and start at that 120 ml/day.That sounds reasonable. Then WAIT...... see where it goes, see where it lands.... if it continues to rise or lower then you have to adjust. But if you just wait and see if it stabilizes.... then you know that your consumption is that. So say you do 120ml/day...and it falls for a couple of days, but then stabilzies at say 400 ca and 9 (DKH) alk. Well then you know your consumption is the 120 ml/day. Then all you have to do is put single doses in to bump it up to the numbers you want, but your daily dose will still be 120ml/day.

    What I did it chase test results, adding, lowering, adding, lowering... driving my numbers all over the place. I made too big of changes too often. so if you are going to do daily adjustments, just do small ones. Like say 5ml/day. 3-6ml/day made big changes for me on my 90g only consuming 50-60ml/day. (I don't know exactly what I use. I have not calibrated my pumps in a while, I just know minutes and what my pumps put out last time I checked.)

    But seriously...once I got it sorted out... rock solid and a totally hasle free set up. A jug will last me 3-4 months. Takes 15min to make a new batch. Easy as pie. Have not messed with it in months. Numbers 430 ca, 9.6 Dkh every singe time. So I matched my consumption rate perfectly. Now if I wanted to raise or lower my numbers, I just add some one time, or hold off on a dose for a day or two. If my numbers start to fall, then I need to add a minute or two to my timers daily dose.
     
  11. AZDesertRat

    AZDesertRat Giant Squid

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    Thats basically the same advice used when setting up a calcium reactor. Set it to the recommended bubble count and drip rate and monitor for at least 24 hrs then make only one change at a time, either to the bubble count or drip rate but not both. Once you get it set its almost a set and forget device.
    Either method works and I dosed for the first few years but I will stick with my reactor for simplicity.
     
  12. BTowned

    BTowned Peppermint Shrimp

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    Yeah, my reactor was set it and forget it, but for some reason, because of the amount of effluent I needed to keep my tank's levels in check, my ph would be low. Adding a kalk reactor helped, during the summer, but in the winter, the lack of evaporation, even made that ineffective. I actually noticed a stall in growth the past two months, and since my ph has risen, by using the 2 part, i've noticed rapid growth, especially with my encrusting montiporas. My sunset is a weed, but it grew a 1/4 inch the past week, that seems pretty ridiculous

    Ive stopped the testing everyday, and making adjustments....I guess BRS is pretty spot on their recommendations, because so far my Ca is around 425-430 and alk is around 150-155 ppm, which I can definitely live with. I do have a question about mixing alk. Even after letting my powerhead mix overnight, I found the solution to be a little less then crystal clear. Only after I heated the water up in the tub and mixed, did the solution get crystal clear. Does that happen if you add the soda ash at once? Maybe slowly adding it to warm water and mixing works better. IDK
     
    Last edited: Jan 20, 2010