Bringing up the big three properly?

[theyangman]

I do recall that as well, that mg would be affected, hell if it is stable, then whatever! It worked out perfectly!!! Now to maintain it!!!

 

[Reef Hero]

50ml is a pretty sufficient amount.... Did you only add alk? The system is meant to be a true two part system. You should find you will need to add about the same of each.....I'd be keeping an eye on your levels if you are bouncing around that much. Like I said before the ESV BIONIC contains more than just your basic additives.....read the side and you will soon see that it contains a lot of additives and therefore you will actually be adding what they believe is sufficient nutrients for a reef based on what you would normally use for alk and ca.... If you got time, read up more on how alk, ca, and mag actually affect one another.... A lot of reefers believe that your mag should be 3-3.5x what your ca is
Your levels might be ok today or tomorrow yangman but by adding that much of only one part you could experience a sudden spike in one and a sudden drop in the other..... I'm just warning you. It's important to test daily when adding these things....especially when you start by adding a decent amount like 50ml/day.....and yes I realize you have a big tank but still applies imo


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[Reef Hero]

I do recall that as well, that mg would be affected, hell if it is stable, then whatever! It worked out perfectly!!! Now to maintain it!!!

Yes for now.... But please keep an eye on it. Your system is not stable IMO if you all of a sudden needed to add 50ml of alk. One of the reason why the calcium may not have dropped yet is because the alk (carbonate hardness) has not allowed it to "calcify" yet. I seriously suggest you do some research and see how they work together. Very hard to believe that you will need to be adding 50ml of ALK from ESV and no calcium....


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[theyangman]

I did add Cal as well it was the day or two prior. My only parameter that was out was alk. Still holding steady after the weekend. I'll test again tonight and again Wednesday to see some consistency. I'd hope after a week things have had enough time to settle in and work themselves out with each other to stabilize to their respective levels. Now it's just maintaining those levels.

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[theyangman]

ANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNND fawk.

My alkalinity has dropped again. I tested again after the weekend of letting things settle and here are my new figures:

dKh: 7.0
Ca:480
mg: 1350
pH: 7.5

What the hell. In three days my tank dropped 1.3 dKh and I have like 5 pieces of lps in my tank and no SPS to speak of. Lots of fish, but what is consuming my alk so fast?!?!? This was the battle last time, trying to keep the dKh up but failing miserably at it. Any ideas? I am scheduled for a water change tomorrow, so it wasn't like that could be the issue.... Please help before I put a bullet in my head.

 

[theyangman]

I've set up the doser to add 5 ml of each staggered every other hour through out the day. I'll test every day for a week and report back. There will be one waterchange (tmr) but that will be it.

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[Reef Hero]

Things don't balance themselves out overnight tony.... Wish they did, but that's just not reality lol
You are on the right track tho now tony.... Testing your water as often as possible (even daily) is very important at your stage. It is the only way to see and understand what is happening in your aquarium.
On a side note, 7dkh is not that bad IMO.... I keep mine between 7-7.5 now.
I've noticed your mag has dropped substantially also....keep up the testing tony!! I know it sux but it's worth it in the end, I promise!

 

[Poseidon]

Don't get frustrated , like Ben said your on the right track.

What I did when I set up my dosing is: tested on wendsday. Left it, and tested again the following wendsday to see how much it dropped over a week.
Then do the math and add that much per day.

Then a week later check it again to see what it's at. And adjust accordingly.

Only do alk and calcium for now. And once there balanced out, then check mag.

And to your qu about what's consuming the alk, the three are in a relationship and the other levels can change and affect the others. So don't wry about it too much.

 

[AdInfinitum]

Because of the way we measure these ions Calcium will always appear more stable than Alk.  if your Alk is still dropping and Ca seems to be staying fairly constant, increase both parts of your two part dosing until it stabilizes.  Keep them in balance even though it appears that you only need more Alk.

Have you noticed the growth rate of your Coralline?  It is actually one of the heaviest users of Ca and Alk in any tank and high Mag accelerates its growth.

 

[theyangman]

coraline has been growing steadily in my tank since last fall? It really likes to grow on my powerheads......

 

[nexusnight]

Because of the way we measure these ions Calcium will always appear more stable than Alk.  if your Alk is still dropping and Ca seems to be staying fairly constant, increase both parts of your two part dosing until it stabilizes.  Keep them in balance even though it appears that you only need more Alk.

Have you noticed the growth rate of your Coralline?  It is actually one of the heaviest users of Ca and Alk in any tank and high Mag accelerates its growth.

+1 nailed it I think



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[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

coraline has been growing steadily in my tank since last fall? It really likes to grow on my powerheads......

i have heavy coraline on my rocks powerheads and mexican turbo snail shells

 

[theyangman]

Yes the mexicans have it growing on their backs in my tank as well.

 

[Petercar (RIP Dec 2017)]

and i never dose