What do you add to ato water?

Nothing in my ATO's but water. One little mishap and your ATO dumps a couple gallons of extra water in your system of you could be in trouble. If it's just water no big deal, but if it has Alk solution or other things in it you could be looking at swings in Alk, pH or other params that will cause issues. I would agree with others...if you're going to dose, do it in a controlled way...ATO's allow for too much variation in how and when the dose is delivered.

I also agree with adding Ca/Alk supplements at different times. If added to close together they will negate the effects of each other.

 

So if my ph is not a good indication of low alk how does one keep ph stable. If there is one thing I have a hard time keeping stable it's my ph...

 

9 times out of 10 it's CO2... now that it's Winter everyone seems to notice since houses are closed up. Alk does not "set" your PH, it acts as a buffer.. it resists change.. if ph is swinging, something is swinging it.... usually CO2 producing carbonic acid.

 

Pay attention to your Magnesium levels as well, if it falls out of balance with your Calcium (which most of us try to keep at elevated levels in our tanks) it will play havoc with the PH readings as well.

 

Ok So I just got my Cal, Alk, and Mag under control to "ideal" levels. But my pH is way out of whack... Well I guess not way out but on the lower end of "ideal". I think its because of the CO2 level in my house. What is some of the best way to help reduce the CO2 level in my tank. Maybe I am way off base... I read haveing macro algee in the tank will help with CO2 reduction. I read that limewater is a good way to help with pH but I am a little leary on how to go about doseing it. I would love to run a line from my skimmer outside like I also read but that is just not possible with where the tank is positioned in my basement. (Yes Yes I know haveing my tank in my basement is not the ideal place so I am told) Just looking for suggestions and other opinions.

Tank Perameters.
Temp - 78 Degrees
Spec Grav - 1.024
pH - 7.8-8.0 (kinda hard to read the shade. also done with lights have been on for about half of my 8 hour cycle)
Alk - 8.3 dKH
Cal - 400
Mag - 1500

I dose BRS Two Part Recipie 1 to keep my dKH at 7.5-8.5 dKH and Cal at 350-450

Thats about all I really add.

Thanks for the help as always!
Cole

 

Dont know where you live, but can you crack a window in the tank room to allow fresh air in? I ended up running a tube out of the house through a hole used to run the cable in to the house. I got lucky finding that access point. But now my ph is solid above 8 but does fluctuate due to the light cycle.

If you run your fuge with macro on an opposite light cycle from the DT it will help even out the ph swings. I dont think it could raise it unless you have a huge amount of macro, but I could be wrong.

I top off with kalk via a kalk rx.