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Author Topic: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?  (Read 2438 times)

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Offline Reef Tank 2.0

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  • Shawn
calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« on: November 06, 2018, 19:10:36 »
the struggle continues and I am at a total loss.
For the past few weeks I have tested my water at the same time each time.  My alkalinity has tested at 8.5 each time.  I'm OK with that.  Would like it to be at 9.0, but I can't get it to budge.
The calcium always tests at 250, and that's way too low for my liking.  Just the other night, I added 50ml of calcium to the water to see what my levels would be at at the next test session.  For some odd reason that stayed at 250 still.  I would have expected to see a spike, but nothing.
I have since increased my dosing by 12 minutes, spread out over 6 hours.
I'll see what that does tomorrow night when I test.

My BRS dosers start running an hour after lights out, and alternate dosing times between the two so they dose individually

But as of right now, no matter how much I add, those two numbers won't move.
Maybe I am not adding enough at one time to make a noticeable change, but I am nervous about over dosing.

corals and nem seem OK, but I am a little uneasy about where the parameters are sitting.

any suggestions?

Offline merlin3

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #1 on: November 06, 2018, 19:19:22 »
How big of tank? Have you looked at the calculator on brs? It takes a lot to get it to move.

Offline Reef Tank 2.0

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #2 on: November 06, 2018, 19:35:17 »
when I checked the calculator, it says I needed to add 2610ml of calcium chloride.  I realize I only added 50, but I expected to see some type of change.  How much calcium can be added at one time?
as for the alkalinity, it says I need to add 60.7ml of soda ash.  How much soda ash can be added at one time?

Should these extra manual dosings be added when lights are off?

The tank is 130g, with a 40g sump (170g)

Offline Keith92

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #3 on: November 06, 2018, 23:43:48 »
The dosing limitations are on the BRS calculator.

Offline Keith92

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #4 on: November 07, 2018, 07:18:52 »
Max per day changes are on the BRS calculator

Offline Reef Tank 2.0

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #5 on: November 07, 2018, 07:36:24 »
now i see the amount that is needed to raise it.
looks like i need to add 870ml every few days to raise the calcium 50ppm.  That is A LOT!  Explains why 40ml wasn't budging the overall number

Looks like the alk needs a one time dosing of 60.7ml to raise it where I want it.

Since calcium can change levels based on the ALK level, I think I need to get ALK stable, then continue on to calcium

Offline SweetReefOH

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Re: calcium/alkalinity won't budge. why?
« Reply #6 on: November 07, 2018, 08:24:47 »
Be careful, don’t raise it fast. It can stress the inhabitants. Do it over a couple days time.

 

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