How Much 2 Part Do You Dose?

[curiousphil]

Just over a month ago I switched from dosing my ca/alk via kalkwasser in my topoff water to dosing the Tropic Marin Balling salts - right now just parts A and B because my Mag is through the roof (not sure how that happened). Just before I did the switch I hadn't checked my ca and alk in quite a while, so I figured it was time to see where I was at... and I was shocked to discover that they were way down at 340ppm & 6.7 dKH! That's what prompted the switch, as I didn't want to hand dose in addition to adding kalkwasser. It was a bittersweet moment, sweet in that my tank had started using more than I could supplement via kalkwasser and bitter because I had to make a change .

When I got the doser I started dosing around 36 ml a day (12 doses of 3 ml) because I wasn't sure exactly what my consumption rate was, but I knew that I wanted to slowly raise my levels back to "normal." That may have been a bit too fast as my pearlberry and monti verrucosa lost a bit of tissue at their tips, so I bumped the dosing down to 24 ml. No more tissue loss but the values weren't really coming up either - I think I found my maintenance dose! So, not wanting to mess with that, I decided to hand dose what was left of my Seachem 8.4 and Calcification bottles to boost the levels that last little bit to my target maintenance level. As of last nights test, my alk was right where I wanted it... and calcium was at 390, my goal is 410. My calcium was lower than it should be in balance to my alk, so I hand dosed enough calcium chloride solution to hopefully bring it in line. Tonight's test will tell for certain.



Anyways I didn't start this thread with the intention of rambling, but it happened.... so TLDR version:

What you guys keep your calcium levels at? And similarly, how much 2 part do you dose to maintain that level?

 

[Jewel]

I continue to manually dose 30 ml per night, I'm using a 2 part that I received from Reef Supplies but soon I will be switching to a mix I got from Aaron at Big Als, well half of it anyway. The Calcium Chloride addition mixes very well but the Alk addition won't mix very well at all dispite heating the water so I'll be making my own using Baked Baking Soda. My current levels have been Calc 440, KH 8 PH 8.4 Mag 1360, I believe doing regular water changes weekly at 10 percent has helped to maintain those values, I'm using Reef Crystals. I have 2 BRS Dosers but I'm not sure if I trust them. I dose all at once at bed time to the display. So far so good.

 

[harleymike]

You need too test, and test and test to get it right. Then keep testing. I use a dosing pump. Changed brands of chemicals. Tested thought i had it right. I didn't test for along time. Now i have killed about half my corals. Some corals are very sensitive.
Good luck

 

[pulpfiction1]

Personally i don't recommend adding anything until you know the numbers for your parameters

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[curiousphil]

I've been testing daily/semi-daily and dialing things in for several weeks now. Once I got the levels up to where they should be, I noticed that consumption skyrocketed - I'm now dosing about 60ml daily to keep stable at 415 Ca/7 dKH.

But the reason for this thread was mostly to find out how much other people dose, and what level they keep Calcium at.

 

[curiousphil]

BUMP! Never did get any replies to my question - how much 2 part do you guys dose? I'd be interested to see the numbers for some of you high growth SPS keepers like Salty, Duke, Jordan (before his issues and subsequent shut down), Brandon (if he remembers what he dosed back when he kept SPS), Darryl (again if he remembers), etc.

I'm up to 84 ml now and I think it needs to be bumped up again.

 

[EricTMah]

I've been testing daily/semi-daily and dialing things in for several weeks now. Once I got the levels up to where they should be, I noticed that consumption skyrocketed - I'm now dosing about 60ml daily to keep stable at 415 Ca/7 dKH.

But the reason for this thread was mostly to find out how much other people dose, and what level they keep Calcium at.

7dkh is on the low side.

I run my system at 9.5dkh, 450 CA, and 1400 Mag.



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[curiousphil]

But how much do you dose to keep it there is my question? I run a low dKH because I carbon dose with vinegar and high dKH causes burnt tips when carbon dosing.

 

[EricTMah]

I don't use two part.

Every tank is different. I get that you want a rough idea what others are running. But honestly. It's comparing apples to oranges.

Every systems uses different things at different rates. So many factors cause different dosing amounts. Types of corals, age of system, size of corals, refugium size, lighting, and so on.

You're not going to be able to gauge if you're "on track" or not.

You just need to test your water on a very regular basis to dial it in.

That's why you're probably not getting much of a response.


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[curiousphil]

Thanks Eric. Again, I'm not trying to use other's numbers to dial in my own system. I am testing regularly and adjusting, which is how I know that I need to go up again. I was just curious how much other people's tanks are consuming... as a conversation topic, not a help topic.

 

[EricTMah]

Oh. Sorry. My bad

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[Reef Hero]

7dkh is on the low side.

I run my system at 9.5dkh, 450 CA, and 1400 Mag.



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7dkh is not really on the low side IMO
I know lots of ppl who are keeping their sps mixed reefs between 7-8dkh....
I'm dosing about 100ml of each component of esv bionic 2 part daily and keep my parameters at 7.5dkh, 450ppm calcium, and 1450ppm mag


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[matti2uude]

I dose 48 ml to keep my dkh at 8.75. I haven't had to dose anything else yet.

 

[Pistol]

I dose Randy's 2 part, 60ml alk, 85ml ca, 35ml mag, for 90 gal LPS tank.
My params are alk 10.5 dkh, ca 450 ppm, mag 1400 ppm.