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[BasementBox]

Ok. Time for unasked for advice

You do not know how much Your tank consumes in a 24 hour period. Thus, you can not easily determine how much alk supplement you need. Combine that with dosing pump / tubing / whatever issues, and you are on a long path to correct one of the easiest and most basic things in reefkeeping.

Here is what you do. Turn the dosing pumps off. Unplug it. Disconnect the lines. Flush them out so nothing is in them. Just get it disconnected completely from the system. It’s a variable we don’t need right now; and for whatever reason, is not even a consistent variable. Take it out of the process for now

Pick a dkh you want your tank to be. I would suggest 8.5. Then. Manually. Make your tank 8.5. Measure alk. Use the calculator tool with baking soda from
The link I sent you, and learn how to manually boost your alk to whatever you need on demand. This is an invaluable skill to have. If you ever for whatever reason have low dkh you will be experienced and ready to correct it.

For my tank, I know, every tsp of baking soda increases my tank by juuust under .5 dkh. I can divide this in half to increase by .25, I can multiply it out to increase by 1 or more.

So, Lesson 1 - figure out current dkh. Use the calculator to figure out how much is needed and figure out what something easily measurable will do. IE 1 tsp will yield x increase in dkh.

Test it a few times. add what you calculated to bring the tank to an expected 8.5. Then measure a few hours later and see if it’s 8.5. Note if it’s more or less than expected. Test next day. See what the drop is from the day before Maybe 8. Or 8.2. Or whatever. And test what is needed To bring it back to 8.5 and then wait a few hours and test again and see if it: 1) worked 2) was too little or 3) was too much. Learn what it will do and then you will know how to manually correct alkalinity any time it’s low
When you are comfortable with this and have done it several times and know the outcome, you will have passed lesson 1

Lesson 2) maintaining dkh manually
Figure out what your daily dkh drop is. Test same then each day for a week. Let’s say 7 pm after dinner each day for a week
You test today, it’s 8.3. Bring it up to 8.5. You’ll know how to do that from lesson 1.
Then, tomorrow, 7 pm, test again. Let’s say it’s 8, then bring it up to 8.5. Repeat this and log the info - what your test was at 7 pm, and how much baking soda you added

After a week, if your lighting is on a regular schedule, and you aren’t adding new corals,you should see a pattern. The tank drops approx the same amount each day, and you need to add x tsp baking soda each day.

Now, lesson 3. Regular dosing and reducing to weekly testing. At this point, continue your nightly dosing of the amount of baking soda we determined is needed each day in lesson 2. Everyday at 7pm you add…let’s just say 1 tsp. Whatever. Do this everyday for a week. Then do a weekly dkh test, a few hours after one of the doses. It should be 8.5 or very close. At this point we are going to continue manually dosing Baking soda each night and testing weekly. At the same time. And what you are looking for, is a trend. Is the test results consistent or each week does it go from 8.5 to 8.6 to 8.7 etc..or downwards. If it’s continuing to trend in ONE direction then we need to slightly adjust the dosing amount. If it’s consistent and 8.5, 8.6, 8.5, 8.4, 8.5 like this, then that’s ok. You aren’t trailing off up or down its staying right where it should be. Slight variations are ok, what we don’t want, is a continuous trend in one direction and it will take a few weeks to figure out. If you test 8.5, then next week 8.4, do not make changes. One week isn’t enough for a trend. If the following week you see 8.3, then it’s time to consider adding a little extra to the daily amount.

Lesson 4 - automation. At this point we know the daily amount. We know how to make precise corrections and we can work on automation. At this time you can decide, is it worth it to start trying to automate alkalinity or do you want to continue dosing manually. I don’t even want to give advice on this section yet until you are complete with the three steps I gave above. It’s like relying on a self driving car, without knowing how to drive. What happens when something goes wrong and you need to take over. You need to be able to do that comfortably. And from your posts here, something is wrong with the doser, the tubing itself, the way it’s routed, etc
When ready we can start from scratch with hooking it back up and setting it up

Okay... I'm interested in trying to learn it manually - it will be a useful skill, right now what i'll do is try to get it to 8.5, and sit it at that, then try to do as you instructed. Going to save what you stated as a word document to refer back to it. right now we're at 7.5, it is a 1.0 swing, so hopefully - IDEALLY with pump head replaced It will increase higher tomorrow, once I hit the desired point, i'll try it. I know at one point you spoke of buying a large container of baking soda, or should I just worry about buying a small box and getting this off the ground.

 

[Brisk]

Fun times cleaning out my room at my mom's house. Lots of random drawings from when I was a kid.

 

[BasementBox]

Fun times cleaning out my room at my mom's house. Lots of random drawings from when I was a kid.

What not super Sayien...? had to put in the little jab..... just (Sayian)

All kids love DBZ well, teens and adults.

 

[billyocean]

Ok. Time for unasked for advice

You do not know how much Your tank consumes in a 24 hour period. Thus, you can not easily determine how much alk supplement you need. Combine that with dosing pump / tubing / whatever issues, and you are on a long path to correct one of the easiest and most basic things in reefkeeping.

Here is what you do. Turn the dosing pumps off. Unplug it. Disconnect the lines. Flush them out so nothing is in them. Just get it disconnected completely from the system. It’s a variable we don’t need right now; and for whatever reason, is not even a consistent variable. Take it out of the process for now

Pick a dkh you want your tank to be. I would suggest 8.5. Then. Manually. Make your tank 8.5. Measure alk. Use the calculator tool with baking soda from
The link I sent you, and learn how to manually boost your alk to whatever you need on demand. This is an invaluable skill to have. If you ever for whatever reason have low dkh you will be experienced and ready to correct it.

For my tank, I know, every tsp of baking soda increases my tank by juuust under .5 dkh. I can divide this in half to increase by .25, I can multiply it out to increase by 1 or more.

So, Lesson 1 - figure out current dkh. Use the calculator to figure out how much is needed and figure out what something easily measurable will do. IE 1 tsp will yield x increase in dkh.

Test it a few times. add what you calculated to bring the tank to an expected 8.5. Then measure a few hours later and see if it’s 8.5. Note if it’s more or less than expected. Test next day. See what the drop is from the day before Maybe 8. Or 8.2. Or whatever. And test what is needed To bring it back to 8.5 and then wait a few hours and test again and see if it: 1) worked 2) was too little or 3) was too much. Learn what it will do and then you will know how to manually correct alkalinity any time it’s low
When you are comfortable with this and have done it several times and know the outcome, you will have passed lesson 1

Lesson 2) maintaining dkh manually
Figure out what your daily dkh drop is. Test same then each day for a week. Let’s say 7 pm after dinner each day for a week
You test today, it’s 8.3. Bring it up to 8.5. You’ll know how to do that from lesson 1.
Then, tomorrow, 7 pm, test again. Let’s say it’s 8, then bring it up to 8.5. Repeat this and log the info - what your test was at 7 pm, and how much baking soda you added

After a week, if your lighting is on a regular schedule, and you aren’t adding new corals,you should see a pattern. The tank drops approx the same amount each day, and you need to add x tsp baking soda each day.

Now, lesson 3. Regular dosing and reducing to weekly testing. At this point, continue your nightly dosing of the amount of baking soda we determined is needed each day in lesson 2. Everyday at 7pm you add…let’s just say 1 tsp. Whatever. Do this everyday for a week. Then do a weekly dkh test, a few hours after one of the doses. It should be 8.5 or very close. At this point we are going to continue manually dosing Baking soda each night and testing weekly. At the same time. And what you are looking for, is a trend. Is the test results consistent or each week does it go from 8.5 to 8.6 to 8.7 etc..or downwards. If it’s continuing to trend in ONE direction then we need to slightly adjust the dosing amount. If it’s consistent and 8.5, 8.6, 8.5, 8.4, 8.5 like this, then that’s ok. You aren’t trailing off up or down its staying right where it should be. Slight variations are ok, what we don’t want, is a continuous trend in one direction and it will take a few weeks to figure out. If you test 8.5, then next week 8.4, do not make changes. One week isn’t enough for a trend. If the following week you see 8.3, then it’s time to consider adding a little extra to the daily amount.

Lesson 4 - automation. At this point we know the daily amount. We know how to make precise corrections and we can work on automation. At this time you can decide, is it worth it to start trying to automate alkalinity or do you want to continue dosing manually. I don’t even want to give advice on this section yet until you are complete with the three steps I gave above. It’s like relying on a self driving car, without knowing how to drive. What happens when something goes wrong and you need to take over. You need to be able to do that comfortably. And from your posts here, something is wrong with the doser, the tubing itself, the way it’s routed, etc
When ready we can start from scratch with hooking it back up and setting it up

Or..just test now....then don't dose for 24 hrs..test again. Plug the numbers into the alk calculator. This will tell you how many ml it will require to get back to where you were the day before. That's your daily dosing starting point.

 

[billyocean]

Reefing isn't hard folks.

K.I.S.S. principal.
Keep It Simple Stupid

 

[VintageReefer]

Buy this. It’s 30$ for 1 gallon of baking soda in a resealable tub.
this is 768 tsp…so if you use 1 tsp a day, or lasts 2 years. If you use 2 a day, it’s 1 year. That’s a lot of all correction for $30. How much is that bottle of liquid and how long does it last?

Amazon.com

 

[billyocean]

Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda (15 lbs.) https://a.co/d/6pZqM31

Or...make 11 gallons for 18 bucks.

 

[Kasrift]

Reefing isn't hard folks.

K.I.S.S. principal.
Keep It Simple Stupid

 

[6t4nova]

Battle of the baking sodas…

 

[billyocean]

Battle of the baking sodas…

Buss out da triple beam.baby!!

 

[6t4nova]

 

[Kasrift]

I feel like you are judging me after my prime rib. My scale is definitely going the other way after holiday meals.

 

[Thuan]

I feel like you are judging me after my prime rib. My scale is definitely going the other way after holiday meals.

We Asian have a very fast metabolism. We burn through stuff

 

[VintageReefer]

Arm & Hammer Pure Baking Soda (15 lbs.) https://a.co/d/6pZqM31

Or...make 11 gallons for 18 bucks.

The tub is good though for the environment it likely will be kept in. What if he puts it down on a puddle

 

[billyocean]

The tub is good though for the environment it likely will be kept in. What if he puts it down on a puddle

True..

 

[BasementBox]

The tub is good though for the environment it likely will be kept in. What if he puts it down on a puddle

That. Hurts. And it’s not wrong.

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Fun times cleaning out my room at my mom's house. Lots of random drawings from when I was a kid.

Curious- how old are you?

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Reefing isn't hard folks.

K.I.S.S. principal.
Keep It Simple Stupid

Yes. That’s my moto and work smarter I harder

 

[Thuan]

Curious- how old are you?

Younger than us both

 

[Reefing_addiction]

Younger than us both

Definitely from that drawing he did as a kid is anything to go by lol