Reef nutrition

Balancing Alk and Caclium for doser

BleepBloopMunchMunch

BleepBloopMunchMunch

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I know this topic has been brought up a million times, but I am still a little confused on getting this dialed in correctly for dosing purposes. I understand the testing of the system in order to see what the consumption of both alk and Ca is, and that you want to dose them in equal parts. However, the way I understand the chemistry from what I have been reading, the amount of Ca present in the water depends on dKh, so how can I accurately measure both at the same time if they are closely linked?
My alk was at 8.1 at night on 10/13 and then tested again 24 hours later at 7.5, I will measure again tomorrow to see what the numbers are since 0.5 dKh seems high to me, but maybe it isn't. I dosed alk, measured again a few hours later and was at 8.0 dKh with Ca at 450 ppm.
So assuming these measurements are correct (which they could very well not be and further measurements will help with that variable) I should be dosing 0.5 dKh a day to keep things stable, but I am still lost on Ca. Will Ca drop in proportion with dKh? Can I just keep testing both every day and then take a daily average and use that as my dosing guide?
Hope this makes sense, 3 am isn't when I do my best writing but it has been keeping me awake.
 
You should be able to test calcium less frequently than alk, but dose the same amount as you do for alk.

For instance, if you find you need 30ml of alkalinity solution per day, also dose 30ml calcium.

Calcium will drop with alkalinity, but it is to a much less noticeable amount. This is why alkalinity is generally the go to parameter to determine dosing amounts.

Also, don't forget about magnesium. You can measure this even less frequently, and don't need to dose daily. But ensuring you are keeping magnesium in line will help with keeping alk and cal in control.
 
.5 dkh is very believable. Just take your reeding at the t[same time every day and adjust your alk accordingly. Always run cal and alk in equal parts, and I highly suggest you run a product meant to dosed together like b ionic’s.

after a while you won’t even test your cal very often. I don’t even remember the last time I checked calcium.
 
Coral reefer said:
What exactly are you dosing by the way?
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IMG-0902.jpg


This is what I have right now. I picked these up a couple months ago and have them around, not married to these as dosing agents if there's something much more recommended
 
Meshmez said:
You should be able to test calcium less frequently than alk, but dose the same amount as you do for alk.

For instance, if you find you need 30ml of alkalinity solution per day, also dose 30ml calcium.

Calcium will drop with alkalinity, but it is to a much less noticeable amount. This is why alkalinity is generally the go to parameter to determine dosing amounts.

Also, don't forget about magnesium. You can measure this even less frequently, and don't need to dose daily. But ensuring you are keeping magnesium in line will help with keeping alk and cal in control.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the magnesium reminder, I had tested it a while ago and haven't again but have been trying to keep it in mind. I will test again for this since its been a while.
 
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