[quote author=Gomer link=topic=4053.msg48446#msg48446 date=1215480575]
Mikey
it is sorta hard to tell consumption rate directly because many components are coupled. Just because something goes down by X amount doesn't mean X amount was consumed by coral. What I did was mix up according to the bulkreef recipe and dosed the medium suggestion (after bringing everything up to a "starting" condition). I then tested my levels every few days for a couple weeks. Turns out that that recommended dosing + WC's worked out to a reasonably stable level of all "parts". I got those big 1g dosing bottles from bulk reef. I adjusted my recipe (by dilution for my case) so that 1 full pump=1dose. No more fussing with doses. pump, dose, pump, dose, pump, dose, get some wine and watch a movie.
AA=amino acids
[/quote]Not necessarily true Tony, in Mikeys case all of the consumption is from the coral, he has a light bioload, and little coraline growth, the corals are consuming alk/ca (like crazy I might add). In order to get a base line, Alk is key, it will tell you what your Ca consumption is, and in his case they are completely relevant to one another, as they are consumed in proportion to one another.