Dosing question

[Spechty37]

Hello when I dose should I turn off my skimmer and where should I dose in the sump or tank thank you

 

[Animal-Chin]

What are you dosing? I dose Calcium, Alk and Mag right into the tank and don't turn the skimmer off...

 

[carey]

Unless you have a huge amount of corals that are consuming the elements from the salt mix you really shouldnt have to dose anyways. What size tank do you have and what are you keeping?

 

[Spechty37]

I have mushrooms, hammers , favia, one acan, some polyps, pulsing Xenia ,green star, frog spawn and there all most all frags. I have a 75 DT with a sump/fug that I made out of a 55g that holds about 30g. I check my alk , cal , and mag and they are all low I use instant ocean salt mix and do about 20 to 25 gallons every other week I was using API test kits but I heard they weren't the best so I went today and bought a Red Sea reef foundation pro test kit it test kh, ca , mg I also bought Red Sea reef foundation supplement A, B, and C

 

[Sniperhank]

Well, you hopefully shouldn't have to dose anything until the colonies in your tank are straight massive. It takes alot to draw out large amounts of calcium/alk/mag out of the water.

 

[Spechty37]

I don't really want to have to start dosing I forgot to tell you I also got new salt today in hopes there was something funky going on with my old salt my old salt was kinda clumpy like it got wet or something I'm gonna start some water more water changes tomorrow how much and how often do you recommend I start with

 

[Sniperhank]

That depends what you are trying to accomplish. There isn't anything in your tank right now that regular water changes can't replenish the levels of...so I'm not exactly sure what you are looking to accomplish as you never really stated what goal you are trying to reach.

 

[Spechty37]

I'm trying to raise my alk , cal, and mag they are all low

 

[Sniperhank]

What are they?

 

[carey]

Yep, that would be a good start getting the numbers out there so we can see if they are in fact low. An lfs will alot of times test your water find something to pick on and then sell you something to "fix" it like ph buffers or other chemicals. A good quality salt mix used for regular water changes should put all your levels at an acceptable level.

 

[Spechty37]

My cal is 380, alk is 3 and my mag is 1200

 

[Sniperhank]

From what test kits? Those numbers don't sound believable tbh. I'd want to blame a bad test before anything...do a large water change if true and it should fix it...what brand of salt are you using?

 

[Spechty37]

I was using an API then was told they weren't that good so I went and bought a Red Sea pro test kit today and they were the numbers I got. I use instant ocean mix I don't know I'm going to do like you said tomorrow I will do a big water change and test again maybe I'm not doing something right I followed the directions lol. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed

 

[Spechty37]

I will let you know tomorrow what my numbers are after the water change. Thanks for helping me try and figure this out

 

[carey]

What is your salinity at by the way? Are you keeping it high enough? I ask because the numbers the salt mix will add to those parameters is based on you using enough salt mix, if you dont have high enough salinity then you arent adding enough salt and therefore are not getting the benefit of the numbers it provides. Salt mixes are supposed to keep or get those numbers to a specific stable and constant number.

just a thought.

 

[Rmckoy]

I will let you know tomorrow what my numbers are after the water change. Thanks for helping me try and figure this out

I know I have heard different pros and cons with all salt .
I use the aqua vitro .
It is a little more expensive .( $65 for a 35 lb bucket ) but it's apparently higher quality I've never tested mag , alk or cal .

 

[Mrc8858]

You said your salt seems "clumpy" like it got wet correct? If that is the case then that can really throw off the levels in the salt. When you mix that salt does the water it makes have a murky look or a lot of sediment building up on the bottom of your mix container?

 

[Spechty37]

Yes I did notice stuff on the bottom. I have a 30g tank set up and mixing my new salt now I'm going to let it run for about 2 more hours and then do my water change with it and I will let you all no what my numbers are. Will. 30g be a big enough water Change in my 75

 

[Mrc8858]

Test the water you're making before you do your water change. This will give you a definitive answer as to whether or not the salt is the issue.

 

[mr_X]

Instant ocean is not as close to NSW as salts labeled "reef" grade. It's alk is usually ok but calcium is a bit low. All this will do is slow growth though- it's not going to kill anything. I would change to reef crystals or another reef grade mix. This should give you readings much closer to NSW.