Why am I dosing SO Much - Iodine, Purple Up, Calcium, Kent Essential Elements.......

most important test kit for the reef is KH if its between 8-15 dkh your system is ok if less its mean carbonate is low ph low calcum start efect it will go low if you do not correct the kh . thse is my openion sorry for broken spelling iam arabic

 

Hey man, don't apologize for your spelling. You can obviously communicate in two languages while most of us can only do one. You're doing great.

 

+1 on what he said. Luna

 

I dose with cal, iodide, and a essential elements. Get good growth out of everything sps softies clams, everything. I think you will be fine. don't worry so much. I always notice things "perking up" after dosing.

 

+ one more Dark.

Now Someone give me a reason.

I would like to believe it were the test kits but I have received the same #s from TWO different LFS.

 

I didn't read the original thread that you say spawned this one, but, without asking my most obvious question (Why are you dosing in the first place. . .) I'll ask these instead:

1. What are you trying to achieve with your dosing?
2. What do you suppose will happen if your stopped?

 

1. I am trying to keep my Calcium at 440-460. My dKh at 12-13, My pH at 8.2 and my Iodine anywhere from .01 to .06

2. I have tried to use a less and saw my Calcium drop to 360, dKH to 9, my pH dropped to 7.75 and when I first started testing for Iodine I was at Zero.

My guess is that is where the #s would return to.

 

When you said "dose" I thought of other items. I think in this hobby those things we administer to our tanks to regulate calcium, dKH, and magnesium are part of the game, and there's no shame in topping off these supplements to maintain levels where we want them. As for iodine, I'd follow what amcarrig said referring to Holmes-Farley's article regarding iodine (not dosing it unless you have some specific reason).

If your calcium and dKH are so low, maybe you should consider a different salt mix like Coralife. PM Geek, he has the rundown on what most salts contain out of the box, so to speak pertaining to their levels of the above items.

I think if you keep your calcium, magnesium and dKH at their proper levels, your pH should fall into line and take care of itself.

FWIW, I use Bulk Reef Supply's two part solution, which gives you the dry chemicals to mix with RO/DI water and produce solutions to keep these three parameters where they belong. They even have a calculator where you can input what your present levels are, and what you'd like them to be, and it gives you the exact amount of each solution to add to achieve the desired levels.

Good luck!

 

Xenia, Sabae Anemone, Frogspawn, Yellow Star Polyps, Buttons, Sun coral, Mushrooms, Riccordia, Zoas, Feather Dusters

If this is what you have in your tank then I have no clue why you are trying to keep Ca so high. None of these are hard corals needing a calcium base structure. Dude you are keeping softies. I would slow down my friend unless you are preparing the tank for SPS's.

 

Originally I was using this tank as my experiment/learning tank. I figured that I shoud learn to keep everything as if I were going to add SPS's. I have since decided that it will not happen until I go to a bigger tank (very soon now).

What level of Cal is acceptable for softies?

If I may quote amcarrig - Oh the stupid. It Burns.