esv- b ionic

just a quick question?
My system is 2 months old and done cycling. I cycled the fuge first ( started 4/26) and then brought the DT on line 2 weeks ago with no mini spike. I used Tropic marin bio actif salt (not impressed- residue in brute can) and have done two 8g WC so far, one just now and one two weeks ago. I will increase the WC but didn't want to prolong the cycle.I started with 100lbs dry base from reef cleaners in my DT, 10lbs dry in my fuge from old tank, and 8lbs live from lfs between the two to seed. I have combined total of 80lbs live sand, 60lbs in DT and 20lbs in the fuge. I have one coral beauty angel in the fuge (bought one week ago) to keep the bacteria alive and because I loved the color of him (didnt QT him, stupid I know). My mag level is 1300 (using Seachem reef status kit) but i'm still having a problem keeping my kh and calcium levels up to where they should be, dosing kent buffer for kh like crazy and purple up for calcium( all i have right now). According to the directions on the bottles of 2 part I should dose 1ml of each part per 2g of water. I have a 75g tank with roughly 60g of water as i figure the 100lbs of rock and 60lbs of sand take up in volume the other 15g, 16g in my sump, and 40g in my fuge.
60
+16
+40
------
116g

So accoring to the bottle I should dose 58ml of 2 part per day to start with, is this correct? No kalwasser drip, I use mrs. wages picling lime if needed.

 

The initial 58ml sounds correct, but you need to dose based on consumption. The directions on bottle like that are really just based on average use. Each system is different and requires different amount of 2-part.


What is your current Alk? Once you get your Alk to the correct level, you need to figure out how much you need to dose on a daily basis.

Lets say you ALk is 8 and you want to have it at 9. Calculate how much you need to get it to 9. Next day see where your level is. If it dropped to 8.5 calculate again how much you need to bring it back to 9. Now if the next day the level is still 9 you know now how much you have to dose to keep the 9. I would recommend to keep testing for a week to be sure.

 

I agree.

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kh was 7, got it to 9 over the last 3 days. I'm dosing buffer 4tsp per day(1 tsp per 40g so a little heavy) which is what the directions say.
Your saying dose it till the desired level is reached then figure out what it takes to keep it there. it's ok to bring the kh up a couple numbers all at once and then baseline that level I want to keep. I was wanting to keep it at 10 which is in the middle, some keep it at 12 but If my kh goes high for some reason and 12 is at the top of the scale there's no room for error. As a rookie I need that room for error LOL
cal is only 350, I want 400-420. The calculator says 17 oz over two days of esv cal part 2 will get it there. then I have to figure out what it takes to keep it there. It's ok to bring cal up that quick?

 

Once you get your Cal up to where you want it, your Cal dosage will be the same as your Alk dosage. In other words, dose the same amount for Cal that you dose for Alk. Dose in the AM. There really shouldn't be a problem with raising your Alk and Cal in a day or two. the purpose of 2-part is to dose what was used up the day before. This keeps your levels stable.

 

I don't even measure it anymore.. I have been doing for so long I do it by eye. I really should get a doser though..

 

So real me in here a little bit cause maybe I am reading wrong. So your total stocking is one coral beauty (fish), I'm guessing a CuC, and no corals mentioned? If that is correct what salt mix are you using? Dosing a more or less brand new tank doesnt seem right.

 

correct, DI water and no corals which is why i'm a little lost at why I'm having such a hard time believing I cant keep my alk or cal up. mag is 1300 and stable, water changes really just now stated due to not wanting to prolong the cycle. seems there is nothing in there to use up the cal and unless water gets old seems nothing should be changing the alk. I'm having a hell of a time. I was using tropic marin bio actif salt but as of tonight I switched to seachem reef salt, wasnt impressed with the 105.00 price tag, having this much problem, and leaving a white residue in the bottom of my heated and stirred brute can. Nutrafin (hagen) cal test kit, tropic marin and seachem reef status mag and alk test kit, both lfs were out of the salifert test kits. I started at 3:00 pm today two part dosing with seachem fusion 1&2, may be crazy but I can already see new red tips (sponges) on the base rock in my fuge when I just got home at 11:00pm tonight but cal levels still aren't were they should be. The new base dry rock wouldn't be sucking up the cal would it? fuge rock was already cycled when added dry to the 75g and brought on line.

 

Found it, being a new seachem reef status mag/ alk kit I am using I tested the reference sample to make sure of the color changes, I missed the middle violet color before the blue color change(only one drop difference) and the blue has a hint a purple so just keep going to where I thought I seen a small change to blue.
OOPS!!!
Now lets see how the seachem reef salt does over time, I know it mixes very clear in no time and far cheaper than the tropic marin bio actif that I no longer trust. I understand doesing the pickling lime reduced the mag level, but having to dose for cal on a new tank right out of the gate is all tropic marin bio actif IMO. I know coraline takes a while to grow, but knowing my rocks I'm here to say the coraline has went into turbo mode.
Thanks all!!!!!!!!!!

 

I think your making it out to be too complicated. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't need to worry about calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity unless you actually have coral. What you need to be worry about is ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates.

Also, I don't understand why you "cycled" the fuge seperate from the DT but if I read right, your DT might not actually be cycled. Your fuge is 2 months into the cycle but your DT is only 2 weeks?