chimera Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Just interested in what people dose daily/weekly/monthly to maintain correct Ca, Mg, Alk + others etc? I never really dosed anything, relied on the Calcium reactor to keep Ca and Mg levels up. Prior to that relied on Kalk in topup water. Also relied on water changes to replenish any other parameters/maintain alk. Seems this is simply not enough. After testing my parameters regularly its clear my SPS (+ bacteria, corraline etc) are hogging as much as they can (and my tank is only half populated with corals!) This is likely to be even moreso than in the past as the corals have grown to at least double their original size. I baked about 600grams of baking soda last night and mixed that up as per that reefkeeping article after seeing how quickly my kH drops (man it goes mega-solid and is a b!@#& to mix). I still need to keep testing to work out a rough average but in the first week dkH dropped by about 4. Likewise for Mg chloride and Calcium chloride hexahydrate, have mixed those up with RO/DI and put into containers now (Ca dropped about 50ppm in 1 week, Mg dropped about 100ppm). So just need to keep testing and work out what I need to add weekly or daily now. How many litres is your tank? What do you dose? How much and how regularly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caryl Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 From what I've read, the most regular additive for marine keepers is $$$$ :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 so right you are Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Chim, your Ca and Kh shouldn't be dropping that much in a week if your reactor is working correctly. My tank, with alot of coral growth and coraline growth, Ca only drops maybe 2-3ppm a week and Kh never changes with the reactor working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 yeah puttputt, I agree totally. no idea why its not working, i've mucked around for ages getting drip rate and CO2 bubble rate just right. as i say, its only the first week of testing so unless the corals are playing "catch up" who knows?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 hmmm, 50+ views... seems like no one else doses additives Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 I do...but also keep adding corals so it puts my dosing outa kilter sometimes. Tank (around 130 g) seems to need the equivalent of at least 2-3 litres of Kalkwasser daily to maintain levels. I add calcium to bring levels up occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Baking soda and CaCl2 here. 300mL of Randy's Recipie #2 every day in around 1000 Litres. I'd also add strontium every now and then once I find a decent source. Oh and MgCl2 once in a while. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rubidor Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Randys recipe parts 1,2 and 3!!! I like it a lot. Yay for dosing pumps and Plc's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Much easier than pissing around tuning calcium reactors Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wasp Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Well it's a case of knowing how to use a calcium reactor. Once you understand it they work well, I haven't touched mine in weeks, tank levels are perfect. Not knocking any other system though, they all have their uses, and in fact I've used most of them over the years. But now I've got a ca reactor I would not go back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TM Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Same randys 123. just turned it all on last night. Still need to add 3ltr of ca to get things right though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 It's not an issue of knowing how to use a calcium reactor. Calcium reactors are tuned with a feedback method, and the variables (bubble rate, and drip rate) are a lot more abstracted from the calcium levels and alkalinity levels you're trying to control, than they are when you know exactly how much you're adding as with a two part type system. For example, if you know your tank uses 1 dkH of alk a day, it's pretty difficult to convert that into a bubble count and drip rate, whereas it's pretty trivial to convert that to a volume of 2 part to add. That's my point of view anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 just the reactor for me, oh & zeovit Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Just chlorides and baking soda, plus prodibio, amino acids, vodka, coral trace, peanut butter and vegemite!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cracker Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 By the way... baked baking soda gives you sodium carbonate which can raise ph to over 9. This can be dangerous. Un-baked baking soda gives you sodium bicaronate which only raises ph to about 8.3 I dont bake mine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chimera Posted June 8, 2006 Author Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 its all about balance Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Sea Chem Mg Alk & Ca love it And Kalkwasser with a touch of acidic acid Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Most acids are acidic, i think you mean acetic ;-) Where's that edit function when you need it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkey Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Umm yeah, that is in simple terms White vinager right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 affirmative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JDM Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 i use seachem reef advantage calcium and reef builder, simple and easy to measure. just started with seachem reef iodide, only been using since the weekend so no resuilts noticeable yet. got a calcium reactor but no co2 bottle or reg yet, ill get around to it :roll: ive used reef plus and coral trace in the past but i didnt see any change when i ran out so havnt bothered to get more. :-? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duke Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 I'm looking at using my CA reactor to keep thing ticking along and using the randys 123 to top up when needed. thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KP Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 Thats kinda my strategy but with limewater. Topup with lime water, increasing concentration as demand grows. Once it is at full strength, use 2 part mix to keep levels up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
puttputt Posted June 8, 2006 Report Share Posted June 8, 2006 calcium reactor looks after it mostly. Mg chips in reactor as well. Very small amounts of Calcium chloride and Magnesium chloride every few months. Reactor takes care of Kh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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