In my current set up, using RSCP salt, I only need to dose for ALK. I have set up a dosing system using a mod that Bill (ichthyoid) came up with that works great. Here is the problem. I am confident that I can get a dosing schedule to match what is depleted in my tank with little problem, however, when the ATO kicks in it is adding RO that has a vary low ALK. I suspect that is the biggest reason my levels drop so much. So the simple solution would be to up the dosing schedule to account for that. But, with changes in ambient temp, ambient humidity, etc. the amount of evaporation will vary which means the dosing schedule would have to be constantly adjusted. So, my thoughts are, if the RO water were dosed up to the ALK level I wish to maintain, it would always add water at the correct ALK levels. Then the dosing schedule would only have to be adjusted to account for what is being depleted in the tank. Where is my line line of thinking going wrong?
Where is the flaw in my thinking?
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Rich,
This make sense and I am jumping on board to see the pros and cons because this sounds like a good idea and I have a lot of evaporation also and alk gets low and its up and down and I think this might help me keeping the correct alk in the ATO water
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I add a little brightwell 8.3 to my ato water. How much depends on your evaporation rate. It is a big help in avoiding alk swings and keeping everything stable. Just make sure to dissolve powder in rodi before adding to the ato.
where is the flaw in my thinking?
You wouldn't want that answer posted here
You wouldn't want that answer posted here
I see a few flaws here:
You are suppose to dose a 2 part solution together in equal doses, weather or not your test kits are only showing your ALK depleting and not your CAL. Always dose both parts together in equal amounts.
Your top off water having less ALK than your tank is not lowering your tanks ALK, it in fact will raise it. Your tank evaporates water, not ALK. So when your top off pump kicks on it is replacing water AND ALK when you have actually only lost water to begin with.
You are suppose to dose a 2 part solution together in equal doses, weather or not your test kits are only showing your ALK depleting and not your CAL. Always dose both parts together in equal amounts.
Your top off water having less ALK than your tank is not lowering your tanks ALK, it in fact will raise it. Your tank evaporates water, not ALK. So when your top off pump kicks on it is replacing water AND ALK when you have actually only lost water to begin with.
Without going into the scientific explanation of it, I will try and post a link a
later to Randy-Holmes' explanation. Or you can search for it as well.
Think of it this way. When people maintain their Cal and Alk with kalk or a calcium reactor, they are adding both Cal and Alk at the same time in equal parts. A two part solution should do the same to make sure you don't have an imbalance.
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Rich- I add sodium bicarbonate to my top off water. Not a lot, just a bit. Even running a ca reactor, my alk depletes a little faster than the calcium. Is that because the aragonite media is not composed of only coral skeletons? Maybe. There are shells and other aragonite based minerals in the mix. I guess what I am getting at I that there are many variables when it comes to replenishing elements.
I'll be switching to Julian sprung's Reborn (only coral skeletons) and ill see if that makes a differance when it comes to balance.
I'll be switching to Julian sprung's Reborn (only coral skeletons) and ill see if that makes a differance when it comes to balance.
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I'm no expert at this and I don't know the answer...
Could there be something consuming the alk (maybe CO2 in the the house or something like that) that is happening in conjunction with calcification
Could there be something consuming the alk (maybe CO2 in the the house or something like that) that is happening in conjunction with calcification
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Disagree.....reality is usually not as balanced and is very different from that article way back then, albeit, Randy is the King.....
I dose Alk (Soda Ash) & Calcium Chloride 6 times a day, but they have always been depleted at different rates though out the years. The first few years I was dosing way more Alk, and now in the last couple of years, I am dosing 60% to 40% Calcium to Alk......
Make sense. Wasn't sure if evap would cause Alk to go up as it does with salinity. My thoughts were that if the Alk of the tank water were X and you added RO you would dilute it to Y. By adding RO that is also at X the tank would remain at X.
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In an established mixed reef, there are many different animals that use different compounds at different ratios. Finding balance doesn't always mean that things are equal.
For the most part everything seems to thrive in my tank even though my PH never climbs above 8 and I have a hard time maintaining 7 dKH. But I know with a borderline PH a low dKH is like playing Russian Roulette. While I could add more or longer dosing events to the schedule I am nervous I may overshoot and do more harm.
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I don't think that ph will go up unless you bring the kh up to 9 or so.
Yes I have been trying. I had it there now and again when manually dosing but is was not regimented enough to keep it stable. So I went to auto dosing but let the line get kinked and didn't catch it for a while. I am slowly getting it up by running the dosing pump now and again but today I added a bit of BRS to my RO. I figured that would be a steadier increase.
