The title is the question. I recently noticed a pretty large drop in Alk. I am attributing this to demand, as I have literally had an explosion of growth of both coral and corraline in this tank since setting it up. It's clear to me that WC's are not going to keep up with the demand. So I was going to start Kalk in the topoff but I really don't want to deal with having to clean the resovior every week, plus I can get it out of the stand without moving the sump(poor planning). In light of that I have decided to move on to dosing 2 part. Manually at first then dosers when I get them. That said I know I have to get my number where I want them then figure out the depletion rate to determine how much to dose.
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Optimal time to check parameters
- Thread starter jgraz
- Start date
John, so you're basically asking what's the best time to test for alk, cal, and mag?
IMO, if you're trying to establish a baseline for dosing purposes, the best thing to do is to take 1 in the morning, 1 in afternoon, then one at night... and then average the 3 for each test.
That will account for any changes due to lighting and consumption during the day.
IMO, if you're trying to establish a baseline for dosing purposes, the best thing to do is to take 1 in the morning, 1 in afternoon, then one at night... and then average the 3 for each test.
That will account for any changes due to lighting and consumption during the day.
The only thing that really gets affected by light is pH. ALK and Ca will depend on how your corals and clams (if you have any) eat through them.
I dose ALK in the night since the pH drops in the night. Dosing ALK at night keeps the pH fairly consistent for me. Ca I dose over 10 hours during the day.
I test ALK and Ca around 7:00 PM.
Sunny
I dose ALK in the night since the pH drops in the night. Dosing ALK at night keeps the pH fairly consistent for me. Ca I dose over 10 hours during the day.
I test ALK and Ca around 7:00 PM.
Sunny
Thanks guys, I can say that im all over the place here on which way to go. Until a couple of days ago I was certain I would be using kalk in the top off. Then I was leaning towards dosing 2 part. Just a second ago I was reading about dripping kalk instead of adding it to the topoff. Im knd of all over at the moment. Leaning heavily towards dosing ATM.
Dosing manually is probably the best way to get your feet wet. BRS makes it incredibly easy with their 2 part system, and as long as you are measuring correctly it is really tough to do something incredibly wrong at first. Once you get comfortable with that, then you can get the dosing pumps which will make it automated. I found when I tried to do the dosing pumps first without getting it correct by hand, I ran into issues running my alk up high.
