Raising KH

[daney90]

Just recently I purchased a doser to help me maintain my calcium and alkalinity.

Now my problem is that how do I raise my KH without changing my calcium? KH is 5.5 and calc is 410. I have my doser dose 35ml of each every 12 hours.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Edited: Just take readings more often and adjust the ratio as necessary until you hit the mark. Then start reducing the dose. As for now, stop calc dosing while increasing alk dosing. Make sure mag is not below 1300 before you start dosing any of them.

 

[daney90]

Mag is 1350 right now. You mean I have to skip dosing calc ? And Continue dosing 35ml of kh? And then recheck ? I'm using b-ionic 2 part system for kh and calc.

 

[bribo12]

How much of each are you losing daily? That dictates how much you should be dosing. Here's what I use to calculate how much I need to dose daily http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html


Sent from my iPhone using Aquarium Advice

 

[jeffaquarius]

That is correct. Avoid dosing calc if your alk is below 7dKH. Otherwise precipitation can occur.

 

[daney90]

Before when I wasn't using a doser, I would dose manually and if I missed a dose my calc would drop to 360. There was one time I checked and it was 310.

 

[daney90]

Ok I'm going to skip my calc this noon time and I'll recheck my water again in the afternoon.

 

[jeffaquarius]

It will not hurt to have a short period (couple of days) of low calc than having a precipitation in your tank.

 

[daney90]

Okay. I just set my doser 0 ml calc and 35KH for noon. Thanks

 

[jeffaquarius]

How big is your tank?

 

[daney90]

55 gal long and 25 gal sump

 

[jeffaquarius]

That is a total of 80 gal but without the rocks and substrate it would be approximately 60 gal or less of water. If you are dosing 35 ccm every 12 hrs that is 70 ccm per day. It seems to be a little more than the allowed maximum dose. Raising the alkalinity must be done slowly.

 

[daney90]

Yes I dose 70ml of kh and calc everyday.

 

[jeffaquarius]

They don't have to be the same amount. It depends on how much each trace element is being consumed by your tank. You increase a little when one is not keeping up and vice versa. The 3 elements interact with each other. When you raise one of them the other 2 has a tendency to drop slightly. To be safe the sequence is mag must be above 1300 before raising alk then followed by calc. They call it the "balancing act". Once they are on the right level then you can dose together with the right amount to maintain their level.

 

[daney90]

Okay so I tested my water just now after skipping a dose at noon. My KH is now at 7 and calc is 400 on redsea test kit and 500 on salifter (which I just purchased yesterday) Hhhmmm.

 

[jeffaquarius]

I suggest that when you reach alk to 9dKH you cut your dosing to half of what you are dosing now with Part 1 & 2 then start adjusting the amount from there. Keep track with mag at the same time.

 

[Ingy]

I have an important question about your Alk level. You said it was 5.5 and it was assumed you meant dKH. However, And this is VERY important, is there a chance your readings are in meq/l. the exchange rate between the 2 is 2.8. So a reading of 5.5 meq/l is the same as 15.4 dKH which is high. And based on the tank you have and your huge dosing regiment, I think is much more likely than a 5.5dKH. Especially with a calc reading of around 400ppm and mag at 1350ppm.
Another reason I suspect it is because my test kit that uses dKH is scaled at 1 drop per dKH. My other test IS in meq/l and is scaled at 0.5 meq/l per drop (amost the same once conversion is taken in).
So please check your scale and let us know. You may need to really cut back on the dosing.

On the plus side, if my suspicions are correct, there is little ill effect on corals due to a high alkalinity (as long as pH is still within range, which it should be), and the only adverse side effect is excessive scaling on equipment.

 

[daney90]

Cut my KH dosing, right ? So that means im just going to put half of the 35ml?

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

I have an important question about your Alk level. You said it was 5.5 and it was assumed you meant dKH. However, And this is VERY important, is there a chance your readings are in meq/l. the exchange rate between the 2 is 2.8. So a reading of 5.5 meq/l is the same as 15.4 dKH which is high. And based on the tank you have and your huge dosing regiment, I think is much more likely than a 5.5dKH. Especially with a calc reading of around 400ppm and mag at 1350ppm.
Another reason I suspect it is because my test kit that uses dKH is scaled at 1 drop per dKH. My other test IS in meq/l and is scaled at 0.5 meq/l per drop (amost the same once conversion is taken in).
So please check your scale and let us know. You may need to really cut back on the dosing.

On the plus side, if my suspicions are correct, there is little ill effect on corals due to a high alkalinity (as long as pH is still within range, which it should be), and the only adverse side effect is excessive scaling on equipment.

This is a good point/question. Which alk kit are you using?

 

[jeffaquarius]

Cut my KH dosing, right ? So that means im just going to put half of the 35ml?

Yes if you answer the question of Ingy and BigRedsReefs to verify that your dKH reading is a true dKH not in meg/l. Are you using an API test kit for the alk?