I can't keep up levels
 

My tank seems to consume an ever-increasing amount of supplements that I can't seem to elevate levels or maintain them for more than a couple of days, has this happened to anyone else with an sps dominant setup. I'm increasing the dose amounts every time I test which is 1-2 times a week. I want it to level off. any ideas.

Go
 

rather than raising each time you should:

1. test
2. make a correction dose (using a reef calculator) which gets your levels where they should be. (if needed)
3. increase the amount you dose for a few days (if needed)
4. go back to step 1

1. done
2.done.
3.done
4.done
......next

5. Buy a calcium reactor :razz:

next setup for sure but in the mean time holy sh.t

-if your problem is Ca, what's your Mg? ca/mg =~1:3 ratio.
-what's the levels of your SW mix? could be every time you change water you're driving the levels down.
-how much you supplementing? just might be comparable to what others are adding

Mg 1350 on Sat. after water change, today 1350
Ca 420 Same , today 400
Alk 9 dkh Same, today 8.4
New water is mixed to match paras
Ca is added 144 ml per day into 55gal NVW
Alk is @ 138 because I switch between 2 types of salt & alk stays higher because 1 of them is RC which has a slightly higher Dkh while they Ca tends to drop faster, but there are no signs of precipe & the sand bed is soft, there are visible signs of growth & I believe it is due to consumption I just wonder when it may level off. Which makes me wonder will this process be any easier with a Ca reactor. I know that it'll be less work & may cost less but I'm sick of checking it. I want to be one of those people who says " the last Time I checked it" especially with summer coming up, I want it dialed in.

I likely will become one of those who say that regardless of whether or not it's dialed in just out of frustration rather than achieving it.

Test.....wait 24hrs and test again. Go to the reef calculator and find out how much you will need to dose daily. Maybe tweek a bit but this method has always worked well for me.

Just an FYI but many tanks including mine can drop 1dkh or more in 24hrs.

Tested today after work ,24 hrs,
Ca read @ 410 after being topped to 420 yesterday
Alk read @ 8.9 on a hanna after being topped to 9 dkh yesterday I find it odd that Ca is dropping faster even though it's added @ a slightly higher dose, again because of the salts, Ca is now added @ 144 per 24 hrs, & Alk is @ 138ml per 24. will check again tomorrow, but a 10 ppm drop in Ca is 56 ml more & the drop in alk is only equal to like 11. So ummm... like WTF.

how bigs your tank and how much SPS do you have in it? thoes drops are what I would expect is a average to above average sps tank.

Ca reactor is the way to go then you can drop testing down to once a week :mrgreen:

Steve

I think you are stressing too much on having the "perfect" numbers. I have a 125 gallon mixed reef. I dose 260ml of Ca EVERY DAY and can't get my levels over 400! In fact, I usually get a reading of 350. My Alk is 9, my Mg is 1350 to 1400 (still trying to balance it better), BUT.......I have about 140 SPS,LPS, zoa corals/frags/clams in my tank - everything grows like a weed in my tank and all my corals are happy and healthy. My tank is gorgeous, so I will try to up the dosage a little more, but I'm through stressing over it.

So, use your coral's health as an indicator and the numbers just as a reference/guide. If you have a lot of SPS/Clams, etc. using up calcium, you are going to have to dose more.

Holy crap thats over 100 more coral in your 125 than I have in my 120gal! What do you plan to do in a few months when they all start killing each other?

Thanks, I know I stress over it to much, like I said I'm sick of trying, everything looks good but I was eager to level it off @ 420 or just a bit higher. guess not. spring is here, time to start kayaking already.

This is something I wonder about... how is it that some tanks we see are so packed with sps on top of sps on top of sps with very little issue & others start killing right a away, different types of coral yes but not always with the same results. I think I'll likely run into some issue's as well, as I've got 45-50 in an RSM 250 & they're all growing happily. When I have to start fragging it's gonna be like frag-mas in CT for whoever wants them.

Well, they are not ALL SPS. About 40 or 50 are SPS - and all frags at the moment - and the rest are Zoas, LPS, Rics, Favia, Acans, etc. However, I am not placing my SPS frags right next to each other. It will fill in nicely and I will simply sell of the frags as I need to trim them. Also, it's a peninsula, so I am placing corals on both sides of the rocks, which gives them more places to grow.

It's laid out fairly nice ATM. Here's a vid to give you an idea :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I89KENiWMEw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iq7CS...eature=related

No video, but her is a fresk FTS.
http://i971.photobucket.com/albums/a...ts1april15.jpg

ya I would say your going to have a fairly high consumption.

my recomendation would be to buy a Ca reactor used or new depending on what you want to spend. get the biggest co2 tank you can hide. I used a 30 lb one as it fit under my stand, fill it up and then enjoy the tank instead of testing and dosing every day.

the alternative to this is to buy a stand alone dosing pump and set that up. once you get it dialed in it is pretty nice also.

Steve

I use a Profilux SA3 standalone dosing pump. I highly recommend it. Works well. I wanted a Ca reactor, but have no room for it. Be careful trying to set up auto dosing cheap. I know guys who have almost killed their beautiful tanks by trying to use aqualifters and normal light timers.

I keep tellin ya about the profilux man:wink:.......SA2 for me (mag is not added nearly as often as Ca and DKH so I did that manually).....but ya.....once you roughly know where your at, its pretty much set and forget.....and really easy to change dosing increments too......or you could do a Ca reactor...Ive never used one personally so I cant speak from experience as to how they are for adjusting and general maintenance and stuff....not as easy to hide and store reactor/Co2 bottle combo as a cable box sized dosing unit and a couple gallon reservoirs tho



oh and BTW sweet tank man.....that gonna be pure mayhem when it grows up......

That's what I have... in operation... & I'm still having to increase those dose's weekly. Every time I test which is 1-2 times weekly, I use the BRS calculator, top up & increase the dose to accommodate what has been used in the previous 24 hrs. let it go usually 3-4 days check & it'll be low. So then I'll top it up & repeat, top it up & repeat. The reason I got a doser was so that I didn't have to try to maintain by means of testing so frequently..... I can't have a reactor on this setup. I've had this online since Jan. & the daily amounts have been increased every single week with the exception of one. If that's set it & forget it, then I must be missing something because I've yet to achieve & maintain levels yet. My corals are growing & thirsty?? but this is high maintenance.

What salt are you using? What are the numbers? You may be trying to make up for the lack of Ca in your salt. Or, you could just have a high demand, like me, in your tank and that's the way it is.

Again I test & match the in-going water to existing. Yes I agree high demand but can't help but wonder will it settle out for a while? Ultimately I guess I'm looking for people who've had a similar experience while trying to "dial in" their SA doser.


Why is sps so awesome that I had to fill my 1st tank with them, & then turn out to have this & patience as my biggest issue's so far?