parims help??

help?? im having a hell of a time getting my levels back up. havent been able to keep them stable since i came back from vaca 2 months ago.these may seem like noob questions for me who has a reef tank already im just trying to go back to the basics of parims and see were i can improve.

im trying to get a better routine down so i know how much of my 2 part, and mag 2 add so i dont have to test every day. and how to keep levels constant after water changes.

i think my big problem is my salt.... i tested 12 gal RC salt mixed with ro/di at 79 degrees, to a SG of 1.025 and the levels were KH 9-10/mag 1080/ cal 420. can someone point me on the right path to get water change salt at proper levels.? i know someone answered a question like this for me the other day. but i still dont get how the hell im gonna raise my mag that much every water change.i added 50 grams about of epsom salts and it only raised the mag from 1080-1140.



anyone have any good ways to figure out how much to add each day to keep levels constant.? how did you all figure out your consumption rates?
i tried the calculator but it dont seem accurate. when with rock and stuff there is know way of knowing how much water volume you really have?

 

How often are you changing your water? If your changing out your water too often, you will never get to where you want. You could add the needed element with the WC water before adding it to your tank. I used to do WC every week, but ever since I installed the bigger refugium, I only do WC when I need to clean out the sand. Which is like once every 3-4 months.

Luna

 

either test daily to find out how much of each element is lowered, then add correctly. or test every two days, divide by 2 to figure out the daily usage.

epson salt and MgSO4 will raise your salinity, so check after dosing.
CaCl raises Ca

bulkreefsupply has a two part that works fine.

the water change will either lower or raise the elements depending on where your at, you need to adjust accordingly. if your elements are higher than the salt used then wait a couple hours to retest, then add correctly

 

yes im sure i could go with out WC and still not worry about nutrient build up all that much,but isnt it good to do wc weekly basically to reup all the elements that i dont add. strontium,iodine, ect.

 

Here is the proper procedure; To raise Mag, or any other parameter.Whatever you use, add the supplement to raise the Mag 18-25 ppm. We don't want any huge jumps in our tanks. Things must be done slowly, incrementally and with patients. After adding a supplement to raise Mag, Calk etc. check it the next day and then dose accordingly until you reach your desired target parameter. When you reach the target number do not dose the next day, but, check the parameter to see the "fall off" rate. It may not move or just slightly move. Check each day after you reached the target number and when the "fall off" drops the parameter to just below the desired target you will then add the proper dose to bring it back. In this way you have discovered the dosing schedule for that particular supplement. My tank sucks up Mag and Calc so I dose almost every day at double what the bottle tells and this maintains my levels. My Calc is a two part system with Alk so Alk and Ph are kept steady. I think I have addressed your question, keep us informed.

 

I also dose trace elements along with Cal, Mag and Alk. I also dose Marine Snow for phytoplankton and such. luna

 

It still surprises me that so many folks say their tank "eats" up Mg!! It is used very little as compared to Ca or CO3, almost 20 times less. Unless you have a tank that is overloaded with SPS and growing rapidly the tank should NOT be eating up Mg. For example, whether you use the Randy Holmes Farley two part or BRS's or who ever, for every ONE gallon of Ca and CO3 you use, you only need to use 20oz of a Mg supplement! That isn't much. Again for example my tank goes through a gallon each of the 2 part in about a month, since my tank is about 2 months old and I am halfway through my second gallon. I have only added 20 oz of Mg, and my levels are stable and where I want them.
I will use my tank for example some more in regards to raising the elements in your salt mix. I use Red Sea, the stock levels for Ca and Mg are 410 and 1200ish, I add to EACH 5 GALLON BUCKET .5 tsp of CaCl2 and 5 tsp of MgCl2. This takes my Ca to 450roughly and Mg to 1330ish.

As far as W/Cs are concerned, I am a fan of frequent and heavy water changes, even in tanks with low bio load I like to do regular changes. The reef never sees the same water even and is refreshed so constantly its hard for me to NOT do lots of changes. If I had the time and a salt stock pile I would do like 50% a day!!

Unclejed, its tough in this hobby to use the terms "this is the proper procedure" whether you are talking supplemention or how to change water or feed fish, there will always be more than one way to do it successfully. Look at substrates, there is the PRO BARE BOTTOM guys, the DSB guys and the IN BETWEEN guys and even the old school DOLOMITE guys! I have seen everyway be successful!
The way I supplement might work well for me and others but run someone elses tank to ruin.

Bluephish, how mush 2 part are you using? Is it home made or commercial? What do you have for LPS and SPS? What are the growth rates?

Happy Reefing!

 

how about a pic! it was taken early yesterday. the euphillia's will get even larger than in that pic

i have people comming soon to buy up my sacro, and sin. leathers, as well as my zenias and yellow palys.

growth well my best reference would be my orange monti cap. i easily have a full inch+ of new growth around the entire colony in about 2 months.
i got and entire archive of pics that show the growth and color change of all my corals.

does that look like to many.?

 

oh yeah i was using esv b-ionic, and esv mag. and was using about 32 oz of alk and 32 oz of calcium in a month. and i used 32 oz of mag even faster.:-/ that dont make sense.

 

well it took a lil while but i finally got my salt mix up to my wanted levels, and wrote down how much of each supp in the new mix i need.
i used about 28 tsp epsom salts to get to 1380, and .4 tsp of baking soda to get my mix at a 12 dkh. i need to get a new calcium test tomarrow. and ill finish up with adjusting that last.
then ill adjust the tank parims , do the water change with identical parim new water, test again, wait a day or 2 test again and figure out how much i need to get it back up.
now it does not seem so confusing.

now i still got to find out if i got a bad batch of reef crystals salt or if its just the how the mix is.. cause then i gotta do all the measuring and testing over again.

are there any negatives of using baking soda to raise kh.?