Dosing increases salinity

[lyz77]

I have been dosing Ca and KH for 6 months and I notice an increase in salinity over time say 2 weeks from 1.025 to 1.027. To reduce salinity, I top up with RO/DI but the down side is it will affect my Ca and KH level. I am thinking of doing a 20% water change with salinity at 1.022. However, this will also reduce the Ca, KH and Mg level in the water mix. If I add Ca and KH in the water mix, again, it will increase the salinity.

In this case, how can I maintain my Ca and KH and still prevent salinity increase? I measured my Ca and KH mix with a refractometer and both register high salinity reading, over 1.025.

[xiggie]

Why is it that your CA and KH mix has a salinity of 1.025?

Could u explain again what is this CA and Kh mix? Saltwater?

[lyz77]

I do not follow Randy Mix as I choose to increase the concentration of the mix and reduce the dosing proportion. Currently, this is my mixing ratio:

Ca: 1L RO/DI water + 500g CaCl

KH: 1L RO/DI water + 180g Sodium Carbonate (Baked)

Mg: 1L RO/DI water + 200g Magnesium Chloride

I have no issue with my Ca and Mg as with the above mix, I dose 48ml each at 8 different interval. As for my KH, I need to dose 500ml per day at 8 interval as well. With the above mixing ratio, I tried to measure the mix with a refractometer and the reading go way beyond 1.025 which I believe is what contribute to an increase in salinity over time when I continue to dose. I am still trying to figure out why my KH fluctuate so much and I need to dose such a high level to keep it above 7dKH.

[sun2000]

90g of Sodium Carbonate is a lot to dose. What is the size of your tank? Low Mg makes it difficult to maintain Kh/Ca in solution. Check your Mg level.

[lyz77]

90g of Sodium Carbonate is a lot to dose. What is the size of your tank? Low Mg makes it difficult to maintain Kh/Ca in solution. Check your Mg level.

I am equally puzzled. I chk my Ca, KH and Mg on a daily basis around the same time. My Ca is around 430ppm and Mg is around 1380ppm. Just that the KH is going up and down inconsistently. Being trying to figure out why but till date, clueless.... hence do not dare to add new stock!

[diki88]

dosing diy two part or randys two part does increase salinity. although for your case its very fast.

here's a quote from Randy about his two part dosing method :

After one year of adding 8 ppm of calcium and the accompanying 0.4 meq/L (1.1 dKH) of alkalinity per day (41 mL of both parts per day or 4 gallons of both parts per year in a 50-gallon aquarium, including the effect of the magnesium part #3A, 2440 mL/year), the following residue (Table 2) would remain after calcification and adjustment for salinity (there is roughly a 32% rise in salinity over a year using this addition rate without water changes).

however as I mentioned, he is talking about over a year of dosing and without water change. perhaps your highly concentrated solution plays a part, im not too sure.

[Clement Chen]

Usually will increase salinity but the water changes are supposed to correct it as much as possible in ur case cause of the high dosage have to do more water changes or change to calcium reactor?

[sun2000]

Balance Kh for Ca level of 430 is around 8.9. Is that what you are aiming for? I'm also struggling with 2 part. Recently had unusual high Ph and did several water changes and now back to normal. Kh always fluctuates between 8.5 and 8.9 but dose only 12g of Sodium bicarb a day much lower than your dose. Maybe time for a major water change

[lyz77]

Balance Kh for Ca level of 430 is around 8.9. Is that what you are aiming for? I'm also struggling with 2 part. Recently had unusual high Ph and did several water changes and now back to normal. Kh always fluctuates between 8.5 and 8.9 but dose only 12g of Sodium bicarb a day much lower than your dose. Maybe time for a major water change

Will doing a major water change stabilize KH? More or last the fast increase of salinity is due to high dosage of KH but on the other hand, I could not pin point why my KH drop so fast within a day.

[xiggie]

Maybe can tell us more about your tank and stocks

My tank is eating up about 1kh per day. And now a Calcium reactor is holding the parameters steady.

[ReDDeviLs]

there are some inbalance in your tank that causes the swing.

i agree that if you could show a photo of what you have in your tank.

my tank drains about 1 odd dkh a day, im using CR to hold the kh at 9.xx to 10.xx

i notice that if you have big clams or alot of coraline growing rapidly it kinda contributes to the drop in DKH

[lyz77]

Maybe can tell us more about your tank and stocks

My tank is eating up about 1kh per day. And now a Calcium reactor is holding the parameters steady.

there are some inbalance in your tank that causes the swing.

i agree that if you could show a photo of what you have in your tank.

my tank drains about 1 odd dkh a day, im using CR to hold the kh at 9.xx to 10.xx

i notice that if you have big clams or alot of coraline growing rapidly it kinda contributes to the drop in DKH

I only have 2 feathers, 1 hammer and 4 fish. Didn't wanna stock up until I can control my parameter as those SPS I added previously stn. Which I suspect is due to KH swing. As I use dead rock to start my tank, so far no coralline algae. Got brand new Salifert test kit to verify my parameters and pretty sure test kit is working fine.

[xiggie]

How big is the tank? With your current corals u don't need to dose anything. WC should be enough to replace any lost elements.

[lyz77]

How big is the tank? With your current corals u don't need to dose anything. WC should be enough to replace any lost elements.

Mine is only a 3ft tank. As I mentioned previously, when i introduce some SPS, it start to STN and one of the possible reason is likely due to the swing of KH. Before I start dosing, I notice my KH will normally fall below 7 and sometime even drop to 5dKH. With dosing, I am also finding it hard to keep KH at 7 by dosing such a large amount.

[xiggie]

Wow , there could be imbalance going on in there, maybe too much dosing of kh or something else which is causing precipitation . Your livestock won't be taking in too much kh or any other elements.

What I would do is , a major wC. Stop all dosing and do a test after a few days.

Use this link for the dosing amount after that if parameters are still off by too much, it has never failed me when I was doing manual dosing. http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Good luck

[lyz77]

Wow , there could be imbalance going on in there, maybe too much dosing of kh or something else which is causing precipitation . Your livestock won't be taking in too much kh or any other elements.

What I would do is , a major wC. Stop all dosing and do a test after a few days.

Use this link for the dosing amount after that if parameters are still off by too much, it has never failed me when I was doing manual dosing. http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Good luck

Thanks!

[lyz77]

Did a 20% water change last week and stop dosing of Ca and KH but continue Mg. The Ca reading maintain between 400-420ppm. As for KH, it was 8.3 after water change but gradually drop to 5.1 and stay consistent after 3 days. Did another 20% water change again yesterday and KH was only 6.1. Tried to bring it up to 8.4 and this morning, the reading drop to 6.7.

It seem like I continue to have difficulty figuring out the cause of fast KH consumption.

I am wondering if low PH will cause KH to drop? On average, my PH range between 7.6-7.8. I tried dosing kalkwasser but doesn't seem to help bringing the PH over 8.0.

[sun2000]

Why continue Mg dosing. The amount of Mg needed is quite low and with your low stock 4 fishes and feather and hammer it would not demand too much Mg at all. What is your current Mg level and what are you dosing for Mg. Epsom salt alone may cause ionic imbalance too. Low Ph could be due to poor circulation or high CO2 in the surrounding area. No idea why your levels are dropping so fast. A daily drop of 1dKh is what I have and I'm dosing around 16g of CaCl a day for my 188 gal tank to keep it stable at 8.9 dKh. Will be interested to know what is causing your problem as well.