2-part dosing

[bcoop78]

I'm not sure exactly what I did wrong here... I started dosing B-Ionic 3 days ago. Using the recommended starting dose for my system size, I dosed 25ml of both 1 & 2, once a day, for 3 days. My calcium went from 460 to OVER 600 (I have no idea just how much over...), and my Alkalinity is about the same at 8.68 dKh. Temp is 77.8, PH is 7.87, Specific Gravity is 1.026. No precipitation is evident in the system or equipment. Am I ok? Should I just perform a decent water change? My tank is still cycling so I don't want to remove too much ammonia or nitrite... Thanks!

[Mando77]

You should be fine. The amount the product recommends is not very accurate. It depends on how many SPS you have and how often you do water changes. I have had my tank well over 600 a few times and nothing bad happened. Stop dosing for 2 days than test for ALK and CAL. If it has gone down then restart the dosing and use half of previous amount. Just continue to watch ALK and CAL with kits and adjust as needed. No need to dose if you don't have many SPS.

[onux20]

^ I agree.

 

Check out the Bulkreefsupply calculator. It provided good numbers for me to maintain and increase values based on tank volume and observed demand.

[bcoop78]

Thanks guys. The real reason I started dosing was to try to raise PH. I believe the decomposing matter from my LR is causing it to drop... Would it be ok to dose only the alkalinity component to keep the PH up?

[Mando77]

Don't worry to much about PH, it is usually misunderstood and very unclear to many aquarist. Measure your PH through the day and record. it should be high in the afternoon and lower in the morning unless you have a sump with lights. My PH is never them same. Probably around 8.3 in the evening and down to 7.7-7.8 in the morning. I have never had a problem and would consider this normal. So if you measured your PH around 2 PM and it reads at 7.9 than it should be fine. If it doesn't increase by 6-8 PM after the lights have been on a while than something is wrong.