Kimberlee Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I've been having problems keeping my KH up lately. I've tested it along w/ the Mag and the Cal, constantly. Both the other #s come out just fine. Mag holds at 1400, and the Cal a little high at 480. I tested my make up water for the KH and it tested 9. I've read up a little and I'm getting the feeling that I'm going to need to start dosing for KH regularly. I have been dosing, but just to bring the # back up. It is only up for a day, before it falls right back down to 7. Could some 1 confirm my thought that the KH is being used up that fast and maybe give me a tip or 2 about dosing. I've managed to control my #s up to this point w/ good size WC. I think those days are over. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Dog Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 How large is your SPS population? If u have a lot of SPS, they could be sucking down your alk at a very high rate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Yeah sounds about right. I have to dose up to two cups a day of the homeade 2part of each calcium and alk in my 180. Use baked baking soda or regular baking soda depending on ph. I use a lot of regular because if i used all 2 cups of baked baking soda it woulf skyrocket my ph. I usually do 3/4 regular to one 1/4 baked to keep ph somewhat more stable. Start small and test. Then repeat. You will get your dose down fairly quickly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Not too big, it is a mixed reef. I'd say sps makes up 1/5 of the population. LPS on the other hand is most of the tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Thats what I've been using to bring the # up, now I think like said I'll start doing it daily . I guess this is the problem w/ make the move to SPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MVPaquatics Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 Not too big' date=' it is a mixed reef. I'd say sps makes up 1/5 of the population. LPS on the other hand is most of the tank[/quote'] Anything that has a skeleton. Also coraline algae. Clams. Inverts (snails). Anything that grows basically uses calcium/alk (carbonate). Magnesium is ised tremendously in photosythesis (xoothanthellae) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted December 31, 2011 Author Share Posted December 31, 2011 Okay I know 100ml of the 2 part backing soda mix will raise the KH 1 point, so I'm going to start my dosing at 50ml. The tank left to it's self seems to lose 1/2 point a day. I'm hoping this done daily will keep up w/ whats being used. If not I can always up the dose. Thx guys. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Just a quick update. I've found my dose I think. 50ml of the baking soda mix has been dosed every day and I've tested as well. Seems to be holing steady at 9, which is where I decided to keep it. My make up water tests at 9 so I figure it keeps the # from jumping around to just hold the KH there. Corals look a lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 This calculator is handy to keep bookmarked. Its helped me out so many times when params get out of range. It lists several different types of products we use for dosing as well. http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberlee Posted January 7, 2012 Author Share Posted January 7, 2012 Thx I do have it and your right it is invaluable Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kriz2fer Posted January 16, 2012 Share Posted January 16, 2012 One thing is if you have a lot of coraline algae that will comsume massive amounts of alk to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omarortiz Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Nice little calculator. It's impressive that it has a variety of additives (especially the ones I use). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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