Help With Transitioning To Bionic 2 Part

[TheGreenStag]

Hi Guys
I have been maintaining a matured mixed reef for couple of years now. Recently i switched my supplements to bionic 2 part original Cal Buffer from using Kalkwasser (lost quite a few pumps to this so got tired of replacing them). Its been 4 days since i have switched to bionic. I have been maintaing my Calcium at 450 ppm and Alk around 9 dKH. Since the switch i dose 50 ml of Calcium and 50 ml of Alk component. My calcium for the past 4 days have stayed at 440 ppm rock solid however my Alk has been dropping. As of last night it is at 7.31 dKH. Here are the readings of my Alk for the past 4 days :
Oct 21 - 8.4 dKH
Oct 22 - 8.12 dKH
Oct 23 - 7.87 dKH
Oct 24 - 7.37 dKH

As you can see from the above the Alkalinity has been gradually decreasing. This has caused RTN in couple of my corals. I know adding too much calcium drives down the Alk. I want to maintain my Alk around 8 dKH. The balanced part of the Calcium at 8 dKH of Alk is 417 ppm as per diesyst reef calculator. What do you guys think i should do:
> Stop Dosing Calcium which will drive up my Alk ?
> Continue Calcium dosing and INCREASE Alk dose ?
> Any other suggestions?

 

[BIGSHOW]

Most people don’t dose 2 part in equal concentrations. It is normal to be dosing more alk then calc. I also don’t think your corals RTN from that slow drop in alk.

 

[TheGreenStag]

Most people don’t dose 2 part in equal concentrations. It is normal to be dosing more alk then calc. I also don’t think your corals RTN from that slow drop in alk.

Thanks Dave...I have been thinking the same too with a gradual drop that low however you never know and hence i want to address the issue as relatively possible as i can. The RTN maybe due to increase in my nutrients lately as i stopped dosing Nopox about a month ago, however i am addressing this issue with nopox addition again...

So it is safe to say i can add a little more alk component than Cal or drop Cal component a bit...

 

[BIGSHOW]

I would add more ALK and see what happens to your Calc. Stags are pretty hardy and I know you had that one in your tank for a bit. Even a nutrient spike I don't really see it peeling. Usually the acros will turn brown and then RTN with increase in nutrients, but of course it is not 100% (like anything in this hobby) and will all depend on the swing of the parameters. Could be the combination of them both or could be completely unrelated. I know you don't want to hear this, but RTN and pests go hand in hand. Have you added in new corals in the last little bit?

You may want to look into the Fauna Marin bacto reef balls, its a far better product then NOPOX.

Actually while you are at, you should switch from bionic to fauna as well, you will save about 50% of the cost and it is again a better product. I used to use Bionic as well until fauna came back to Canada.

 

[TheGreenStag]

I would add more ALK and see what happens to your Calc. Stags are pretty hardy and I know you had that one in your tank for a bit. Even a nutrient spike I don't really see it peeling. Usually the acros will turn brown and then RTN with increase in nutrients, but of course it is not 100% (like anything in this hobby) and will all depend on the swing of the parameters. Could be the combination of them both or could be completely unrelated. I know you don't want to hear this, but RTN and pests go hand in hand. Have you added in new corals in the last little bit?

You may want to look into the Fauna Marin bacto reef balls, its a far better product then NOPOX.

Actually while you are at, you should switch from bionic to fauna as well, you will save about 50% of the cost and it is again a better product. I used to use Bionic as well until fauna came back to Canada.

Thanks Dave I did add some corals lately and I dip all my corals in revive before adding to my display. However my stag has been suffering earlier than that and yes it did turned brown too which points towards high nutrients. For now the stag seems to be stable as well as my other sps. Seems like my nutrients are going down using Nopox as there'd cyano in the Refugium also looks weaker. I have not seen any pests even when I am looking at night with red light. Will keep ay eye out. RTN is a big mystery and there too many variables sometimes unknown that can cause it. With regards to fauna maybe I will look into it down the road as I already bought my 5 gal pale of bionic. Thank you again for your help.


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