Ay Carumba! 5.1dkh!

[Tom Toro]

I don't know how I let this get so out of whack, but I did. Lazy. My alk is at 5.1dkh, Mg way above 1500, Ca above 500, ph 8.28, sg 1026, temp 79

I jumped on the CR calculator and it told me I need 660ml of my Bionic alk part. Do they want me to dump this per day (I understand, very slowly), but each day I put in 660ml? I'm trying to just get up to 7.1dhk. I'm dosing vodka/b7, so I'm supposed to keep it low to avoid burning the tips (from what I've read).

Any advice would be appreciated very much. I can't imagine dumping in that much in one day.

[BeakerBob]

Are you dosing daily Bionic supplements? If so, you have two options:

1) dose the stated 660ml of my Bionic alk over a three to 4 day period so as to not stress the tank, or;

2) just dose the ALK for the next week with no Ca dosing.

Typically, when I get off-balance like this from dosing my DIY supplements, I choose option #2.

[MizTanks]

I'm following along here and I hope you don't mind me asking a question of BeakerBod. Concerning Tom's ca. Being that it's high 500+ wouldn't dosing the ca only raise it even more? I ask because I'm sort of in the same boat as Tom :)

[BeakerBob]

My bad. I made a mistake by stating CA when it should be ALK.

I have edited my original reply to reflect the correct info. Good Catch!!

[Tom Toro]

Thanks Bob! I appreciate it.




Are you dosing daily Bionic supplements? If so, you have two options:

1) dose the stated 660ml of my Bionic alk over a three to 4 day period so as to not stress the tank, or;

2) just dose the ALK for the next week with no Ca dosing.

Typically, when I get off-balance like this from dosing my DIY supplements, I choose option #2.

[slapshot]

Tom if your alk goes below 7 most sps will stop taking up calcium. That is why your calcium is so high. Same for mag I think. Being it up slooooowly to 8. Your corals will be very happy. Your lucky they did not RTN on you.

[Tom Toro]

Tom if your alk goes below 7 most sps will stop taking up calcium. That is why your calcium is so high. Same for mag I think. Being it up slooooowly to 8. Your corals will be very happy. Your lucky they did not RTN on you.

I will go slow. Maybe over a week at least. Things weren't rtn'ing, but sure don't look great and not much growth at all. I've had disasters before trying to raise alk too quickly.

[dentdominator]

I would start dosing .2 -.3mls of Alk and Cal 1:1 ratio per total tank water volume and start testing every 2 to 3 days. Then add 3mls of Mag for every 20mls of Alk/Cal.

[Tom Toro]

I've been dosing 40 ml per day, very slowly and am up to 6.1. Going to keep going until I hit 8dkh and then cut in half to maintain and test in a week and adjust up or down?

Also bought a new Salifert to double check my findings.

[slapshot]

Just watch your corals for any sign in stress. Take a few days off if you sense something.

[dentdominator]

Tom, you will need to add more slowly and keep testing. Just make sure you wait a few extra days before making any adjustments. Once you find the numbers your looking for that will be the maintenance dose . Once the corals start growing the number will slightly drop and then you can fine tune .

[Tom Toro]

Still at 6.1 on alk, over 500 ca and over 1500 mg. Increased to 50ml of part 1 Bionic. Starting to get some bryopsis for some reason. The frogspawn and other lps looks like it's hurting some, but all the sps are looking better with colorful tips and polyp extension.

Getting my doser today so maybe a slower input will help the shocked lps. As of now, I'm putting in around 10ml every hour.

[slapshot]

Tom, first things first. You need to determine your 24 hour usage. Measure your alk today. Don't add anything. Measure it again 24 hours from when you measured it. Then dose until you get it up to where it was at today's measurement. Measure carefully how much you add. That is then your normal dosage. Then dose that plus a little more until it comes up to where you want it. Then dose the 24 hour amount.

If you are going to switch to soda ash for dosing (baking soda baked) you should start on that now. The key to dosing is consistency of the mix. I suggest you go to Kroger and invest $15.00 in a digital food scale. It makes mixing consistently a breeze.

[Tom Toro]

Tom, first things first. You need to determine your 24 hour usage. Measure your alk today. Don't add anything. Measure it again 24 hours from when you measured it. Then dose until you get it up to where it was at today's measurement. Measure carefully how much you add. That is then your normal dosage. Then dose that plus a little more until it comes up to where you want it. Then dose the 24 hour amount.

If you are going to switch to soda ash for dosing (baking soda baked) you should start on that now. The key to dosing is consistency of the mix. I suggest you go to Kroger and invest $15.00 in a digital food scale. It makes mixing consistently a breeze.
Don, I know you're right on this, but I'm making headway if my coral health (poly extension is great, colors are great and tissue is filling in on dying corals) is an indication. I should've done what you said at the beginning, but I'm not sure how to do that and don't want to screw things up now. I understand the test and leave it for 24hrs, test again. But not sure how to add alk part to get it back up to the number it was the day before? It took me a long time to get from 5.1 to 6.1, pouring first 40, then 50 and now 60ml. Should I wait until I get to the 8dkh and then do this exercise?

In the same vein, it's time to do another water change/bryopsis remova/cheato harvest. Should I do my regular maintenance or leave it alone until I get to the 8dkh?

[slapshot]

It doesn't matter when you do it. Keep doing what your doing until you get to where you want to be. If we sat down with a piece of paper I could explain it better. After you get your alk where you want it, we can tackle the byopsis. My experience is if you move your mag to 1700 it goes away. I would not do that now, too much strain on the SPS. As far as how much you are adding just keep doing what your doing until you get it to 8. Then you can make the switch to Baking Soda or soda ash. It is sooooo much cheaper then any other way. I can help you with this when you get there. Maybe you can stop over and I'll show you exactly what I do. It is so simple you'll be surprised.

Don

[Tom Toro]

It doesn't matter when you do it. Keep doing what your doing until you get to where you want to be. If we sat down with a piece of paper I could explain it better. After you get your alk where you want it, we can tackle the byopsis. My experience is if you move your mag to 1700 it goes away. I would not do that now, too much strain on the SPS. As far as how much you are adding just keep doing what your doing until you get it to 8. Then you can make the switch to Baking Soda or soda ash. It is sooooo much cheaper then any other way. I can help you with this when you get there. Maybe you can stop over and I'll show you exactly what I do. It is so simple you'll be surprised.

Don

I'm at 7.1 as of today with the calcium and mag still off the charts and adding 60ml per day. Corals are starting to color up even more with some odd changes. My purple grape is very purple, but my purple haze is the color of coralline. Used to be more orange. Ice blue tips back on my stag. Still have the algae, but I've been feeding a lot lately because of a new inhabitant.

I once got rid of my bryopsis a couple of years ago by using mass amounts of Tech M. Not really sure why it came back. Always in my DT, never in my refugium/sump.

I got my BRS shipment. Got the 5gal bicarbonate, half gallon of Soda Ash (to make the ph neutral mix), 2 gal of Calcium Cloride and already had the gallon of Magnesium so I'm ready for this. I finally figured out how to use my profilux doser too. Figure I'll use the Bionic two part until it's gone and then start the BRS stuff.

I will take you up on your offer to come over, Don. I've always wanted to see your awesome setup in person anyway and I'll take notes. AROD's business is winding down for the winter so I'll get with him and we'll invade the Slapshot Aquatic Expo when it's convenient for you. I appreciate the help.

[slapshot]

You guys are welcome anytime!!