Clownfishy
Well-Known Member
For some time now, I have never managed to balance my dosing and have dosed unequal amounts. I could not track down why and just assumed some reefs run different to others. Well, I think I have found the issue so thought it would be useful to document that here just in case others are having the same issue as this may also be the cause. I was previously dosing -
Alk 42ml
Cal 28ml
Mineral Salt / Magnesium 28ml (magnesium was also 3 times the recommended strength)
For further infomration on the water chemistry and the reef aquarium itself, please see this thread.
Previous Alkalinity Additive
I was using Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for Alkalinity where I mixed 99g per 1 litre of RO/DO water. I have since learnt this is on the high side however, this in theory would make the solution stronger not weaker, yet as you can see from the above, I was having to add more Alkalinity than Calcium.
Previous Calcium Additive
I previously purchased 5kg of food unbranded Calcium Chloride and mixed 132g per 1 litre of RO/DO water. I suspect this was also over the amount required and as it was unbranded, I had no way of knowing.
New Additives
As my 5kg of Calcium was running out and as I have been using Aquaforest as part of my 3 part, I decided to purchase Aquaforest Calcium so I would be using their Calcium, Mineral Salt (Part 3) but stayed with Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. I kept with Baking Soda as it is cheap to make and gives me a much needed pH boost. I reached out to Randy to confirm how much of the Baking Soda I should use with the Aqua Forest products (see here) and this is where I learnt the quantities of my previous mixing had been wrong which could well have been the cause of my unbalanced dosing.
Balanced Again
Since mixing the quantities below, I now dose the same quantities of each component albeit higher quantities (58ml per day). Some of the increase is due to the coral growth I have observed over the last few months. I have also now reduced the Magnesium concentration down from 3 times the recommended quantity to 1.5 times but will see if this maintains levels or not.
A big shout out to @Randy Holmes-Farley for his continuous support to people like me where chemistry is not a strength! His DIY recipes have helped thousands of people and his advice is second to none.
Alk 42ml
Cal 28ml
Mineral Salt / Magnesium 28ml (magnesium was also 3 times the recommended strength)
For further infomration on the water chemistry and the reef aquarium itself, please see this thread.
Previous Alkalinity Additive
I was using Arm & Hammer Baking Soda for Alkalinity where I mixed 99g per 1 litre of RO/DO water. I have since learnt this is on the high side however, this in theory would make the solution stronger not weaker, yet as you can see from the above, I was having to add more Alkalinity than Calcium.
Previous Calcium Additive
I previously purchased 5kg of food unbranded Calcium Chloride and mixed 132g per 1 litre of RO/DO water. I suspect this was also over the amount required and as it was unbranded, I had no way of knowing.
New Additives
As my 5kg of Calcium was running out and as I have been using Aquaforest as part of my 3 part, I decided to purchase Aquaforest Calcium so I would be using their Calcium, Mineral Salt (Part 3) but stayed with Arm & Hammer Baking Soda. I kept with Baking Soda as it is cheap to make and gives me a much needed pH boost. I reached out to Randy to confirm how much of the Baking Soda I should use with the Aqua Forest products (see here) and this is where I learnt the quantities of my previous mixing had been wrong which could well have been the cause of my unbalanced dosing.
Balanced Again
Since mixing the quantities below, I now dose the same quantities of each component albeit higher quantities (58ml per day). Some of the increase is due to the coral growth I have observed over the last few months. I have also now reduced the Magnesium concentration down from 3 times the recommended quantity to 1.5 times but will see if this maintains levels or not.
| Additive | Water Volume | Weight | AF Strong |
| Calcium Chloride | 1 Litre | 50g | 5ml Strong A 5ml Strong B |
| Baking Soda | 1 Litre | 80g | 5ml Strong C |
| Mineral Salt / Magnesium | 1 Litre | 25g 15g | 5ml Strong K |
A big shout out to @Randy Holmes-Farley for his continuous support to people like me where chemistry is not a strength! His DIY recipes have helped thousands of people and his advice is second to none.
