65 gallon tank

[MichaelB]

Not to micromanage / armchair quarterback your tank, but just calling out that a 7.1-7.8 alk change from a one time dose over 15 minutes is in big alk swing territory. Every tank is different, but swings like that caused me major euphylia polyp bailout and dead torches. Other things were probably going on in my tank at the time, but if you're having issues I'd really be careful about changes like that.

Have you been spot feeding them, with mysis sized stuff not reef roids. It might sound repetitive, but the basics like water changes + spot feeding can go really far with less chances for craziness.

Good to hear it at least appeared things improved.

What would be a safe daily increase in alk?

I've never directly feed the hammers with mysis. Just brodcast feed the tank for the fish. I have done it with reef roids/ benepets but not recently. The fish don't let the corals get any food they pick it from any of the corals beyond duncans, nems, and mushrooms that have tend to have a faster feeding response. Any tips on this? I would be willing to try spot feeding the hammers if it could work and I could keep fish and crabs away long enough.

 

[jhuynh]

how much is the total dosage of alk? get a doser and dose x amount every hour to make thing easier. test daily around same time and adjust +/- accordingly. you cant just hit your number you want in one dose and let it swing. you need to keep things consistent.

honesty, i would bump your magnesium to 1400+ and go from there.

 

[MichaelB]

how much is the total dosage of alk? get a doser and dose x amount every hour to make thing easier. test daily around same time and adjust +/- accordingly. you cant just hit your number you want in one dose and let it swing. you need to keep things consistent.

honesty, i would bump your magnesium to 1400+ and go from there.

It was 88.9 or so. Just basically divided the total dose in half.

@derek_SR has already given me homework and strict instructions aimed at helping me dial things in. I'm told to test everyday at the same and report to him daily, no water changes, and no dosing for two weeks to figure consumption rates.

 

[dangalang]

how much is the total dosage of alk? get a doser and dose x amount every hour to make thing easier. test daily around same time and adjust +/- accordingly. you cant just hit your number you want in one dose and let it swing. you need to keep things consistent.

honesty, i would bump your magnesium to 1400+ and go from there.

I agree with raising your magnesium since magnesium helps prevent the excessive precipitation of calcium carbonate.

Test alkalinity on Day 1 at a certain time. Test alkalinity on Day 2 the same time as Day 1. The difference between the two you could call your daily alkalinity consumption.

Let's say your daily consumption is 0.1dKH and you are at 7dKH and want to be at 8dKH. You could dose 0.2dKH worth of ESV alkalinity spread out over say a 12 hour period. The reef chemistry calculator says that would be 6.2ml of ESV alkalinity for 65 gallons of water (but let's call it 6ml for ease of math). If you have a doser, you could spread that out to 1 dose every hour, for 12 hours, at 0.5ml a dose. Then in 10 days you should be at 8dKH. But, for example, your corals might be happy that they are getting a steady supply of alkalinity and consumption could increase above the 0.1dKH you started with, which changes everything. So you gotta adjust and test and adjust and test all the time until you feel comfortable with where it's at, then you still gotta keep testing hahah.

 

[MichaelB]

I agree with raising your magnesium since magnesium helps prevent the excessive precipitation of calcium carbonate.

Test alkalinity on Day 1 at a certain time. Test alkalinity on Day 2 the same time as Day 1. The difference between the two you could call your daily alkalinity consumption.

Let's say your daily consumption is 0.1dKH and you are at 7dKH and want to be at 8dKH. You could dose 0.2dKH worth of ESV alkalinity spread out over say a 12 hour period. The reef chemistry calculator says that would be 6.2ml of ESV alkalinity for 65 gallons of water (but let's call it 6ml for ease of math). If you have a doser, you could spread that out to 1 dose every hour, for 12 hours, at 0.5ml a dose. Then in 10 days you should be at 8dKH. But, for example, your corals might be happy that they are getting a steady supply of alkalinity and consumption could increase above the 0.1dKH you started with, which changes everything. So you gotta adjust and test and adjust and test all the time until you feel comfortable with where it's at, then you still gotta keep testing hahah.

I have a doser, never used it since i bought it 9 months ago. He will help advise me on how to get it running after the homework is completed. So far I've only ever hand dosed things. But i can already see the merits in dosing multiple times a day everyday, verse just pouring it all in. After listening to him and your feedback. Looking foward to getting that set up in the near future.