Trautman Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Okay, so i have been a little mixed up for quite some time about this whole reef chemistry thing. so right now i am dosing iodine weekly, then i am also dosing (in splashes) iodine, magnesion (MG), calcion (Ca), and seachem reef builder (carbonate alkalinity). i do this in splashes, nothing super precise... i have a 110 tank with softies and lps. the corals are all happy, or at least they look that way. so what exactly am i raising? is DKH what is being raised? is that alkalinity?. if i am correct alkalinity is your carbonate ions, which combine with aqueous calcium ions for coral skeleton (calcium carbonate). the magnesium is the inhibitor for the precipitation of Ca+ and COCO3- before hand ( right?). so PLEASE tell me if this is right... and lastly, can i just use kalkwrasser instead ( for ca and coco3??) does that do both? can i just pop those bad boys into my ATO? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kshack Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Well, you have a pretty good understanding of the chemistry, but possibly not a strong understanding of the biology. The magnesium is necessary to keep things stable ("inhibitor for the precipitation of Ca+ and COCO3- before hand"). Keeping this at around 1,250 should be OK. Need to test to know if you are there. You can add alkalinity (dkh) and calcium to the aquarium to make up for what is lost to building coral skeleton.There are several ways to do this, but the biology that comes into play is that these animals like (need) stability. You can keep things where you want, just do not have swings throughout time. Adding "splashes" once a week, or when you think about it, without testing, is a recipe for disaster. You need to test, then compute how much additives you want to add, then re-test. It is best to break up the additions into several smaller doses. This is why people are buying dosing pumps...to add very little throughout the day=stability. Other options would be a calcium reactor or kalk reactor or dripping kalk. When done properly, these add balanced additions to the tank in small increments during the day and/or night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 well said...when people ask how I do what I do, I say college degree, money, stability...but which order? hahaha Also, alkalinity (buffer) is the systems ability to absorb (or adsorb? I can never remember) pH changes. The lower the alkalinity, the more drastic the pH swings. But it has probably been said 1000 times, with supplements, test kits, and time, water changes and a calcium reactor are by far the better way to go. Let the salt companies get the ratio headache correct, get one with extra trace minerals, the reactor will take care of calcium/alk. You can sit back and feed, the way a tank should be! plus to get rid of built up wastes with water changes "Dilution is the solution to pollution" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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