My brick, same one, did nothing in my 65 gal ....I really don’t think it did anything either. The only thing that worked was Cruz Arias’s steps to vodka/vinegar dose. Turned my tank around.
Hi 👋 Question (i dose redsea Alk) when would you suggest is the best time day or night to dose , also I was thinking of a ratio of 70% and 30% at a time .cheers look forward to your answer .😀👍🏴
Hey Mark, I just came across an older video as I watch all your content. I wanted some advice about (alkalinity)- my Dkh is always between 8.4-8.9dkh with a hanner checker and salifert. I used to do water changes every 10-12 days, and doser kh, calcium, magnesium daily by redsea doser always in check. Recently tested, my alkalinity was at 10, then 9.7, then 9.2, now 9.0 doser been shut off for 2 weeks. The main changes have been weekly water changes instead and dosing elos elements weekly. My question is: Why is my alkalinity not coming down quicker. I'm not sure how to get it down to 8.2-8.9 to turn my doser back online. Do you think it's the elos elements adding alkalinity into my system or calcification? Would appreciate it if you know can comment
So is it better to do less frequent water changes and dose then? Because of stability? I change water every week to 10 days and my alk is usually around 8 to 9 But I think I check at the end of week and b4 change. I just left the lsat post about it dropping to 6 or 7. How does a person do a water change if they are dosing alk. I was going to try to keep it at 9 or so with kalkwasser later on. Now I am confused. I use IO reef crystals and I think It has 11 dkh. Api casnt tell you exactly what it is you just count the drops and that what it is. I wanted to keep it the same. How do I do that? Also. I wouldnt mind not changing water weekly haha. Just do it to keep nitrates down! What is a good amount of time to not do a water change if I am dosing and do I not dose for a few days before or after change? How does that work?
Do you have sps in your tank? I know you always speak about your nitrates being high. I have always been 10 or lower on a 10 gallon no skimmer. But after adding a bunch of corals at once that changed and now that tank and my 36 are both at 80! I am freaking! I added 4 sps. How high or low should nitrates be with a few sps?
Have you thought about an algae scrubber? I just purchased the Clear Water Scrubbers CW-50. I should have it installed tomorrow and will be posting updates for it on my channel.
Could the brick be taking the nitrate that your algae needs to live and grow, and in turn your algae it's dying releasing nitrate back into the water? Could this be why nitrates aren't coming down? Just thinking out loud.
I bought the reef trace app because of the video and I use api test kits and I don’t see them as an option for test kits? What should I list instead? Red Sea?
Hi mark. I'm one of those freshwater guys. My 30g mixed is only 3 months old and currently changing 15% a week. Nitrates 1, phosphates undetectable, using nopox and using about 1dKH a week. Those water changes are taking care of the drop but perhaps a move to 15% bi weekly is on the cards now and dose to fill the gap? 15% works well with my bucket size is all.
Sorry I missed this live, but after watching I didn't really hear much about methods of controlling alkalinity other than tweaking Calcium reactors and dosing pumps. I know you can dose Kalk to raise alkalinity and calcium, but what if calcium is high and alk. is still low (6.7 dKH)?
The best control is to test frequently and make minor adjustments to dial it in. Kalkwasser is a method that maintains both alkalinity and calcium equally, but only if they are on target already. If your alkalinity is too low, you'll have to dose with Soda Ash to bring up what isn't being supplied by kalkwasser. Or perhaps do a decent sized water change, and then see if the kalk will keep up.
Thank you for the advice. I’ve done a 20% water change, and measured the parameters of my new water (Reef Crystals) for the first time (no surprises). My tank appears to deplete alkalinity faster than Ca. I’m working to find the right dosing balance of soda ash and/or kalk to meet my tanks needs. At this point my dKH is still in the 7s, and I’m bringing it up slowly. BTW. Your site and videos are an excellent resource. I've been using your RO/DI system for years and my DIY sump was inspired by your designs.
You may need to dose more alkalinity than calcium. If everything is balanced in the first place, dosing equal parts of each daily should keep them there, but testing is the only way to know for sure. Thanks for the compliment about my website, it's quite the stockpile of info. :)
There was a testing device at Reet a palooza this year that used test strips but we’re put into a machine to give you a digital readout I don’t remember the name? , It had an app to log or graft all your results but not sure how cost-effective it would’ve been.
Keep it in 10because most of corals you will buy are use to that high alkalinity. They are hooked on that because they come from farms that make them in high doses.
What do you think is the maximum "safe" amount to dose dkh by hand? Say someone's tank used 1 dkh a day, would that be too much to replenish by hand in 30 seconds of dripping?
I got a reding of 6 and 7. With my api and the lid has been off for a while so maybe it isnt even right. I just added 14 frags and have 18 more coming to a 5 month old tank. Stupid I know. I nevr even ran lights for first 3 months lol I won some corals and the they also had a live sale and ebay auctions and each bunch was over a period of 3 weeks of buying. I couldnt stop! LOL I am going to start dosing but they may get here in 5 days, and may not have my order. I want to get a hannah checker first to make sure. The questions is can 6 or 7 dkh kill my corals, if its just for a short while? My nitrates shot up to 80 as well so going to start carbon dosing. Can adding prime help? Is this to much at once starting carbon dosing and 2 part, only need the alk pert or soda ash though. Calcium is 460. Dont know mag.
Try dosing Red Sea's n03p04-x to get your nitrates down if your worried about them. I use it on my 180 litre tank because i have no sump and only a hang on skimmer and internal filter, but as your friend says, if your reef ain't broke don't fix it...;O)
Yeah, I guess you're talking 450 US gallons which would be just over 1700 litres. That should mean dosing approximately 51ml n03p04x a day. Mmm, I can see how that would get quite expensive, but I guess you wouldn't have to do it for long of your other methods of removing nitrate are working. I only have to dose 3-4ml per day to keep mutt nitrates around 2.
You'd think, right? But my No3 and Po4 levels are still quite elevated, so I think the macro die-off is being affected adversely by whatever the brick is made of. Just a guess, but the timing matches.
Perhaps the dying macro-algae is affecting your test results? When it dies, wouldn't it dump whatever it absorbed back into the water? Maybe remove the remaing macro-algae and continue using the brick for a while and re-test.
Not a bad assumption. At this point there isn't much left, and the filtration should have pulled out most of those pollutants. I think a few water changes are in my future. :)
8-11 dKH has been the standard for a very long time, easily the past 20 years. 7 was recommended later by Zeovit originators due to the very low nutrients their systems contained. The ocean runs at 7 dKH? That's a new one to me. Which ones?
Dosing alk. OMG yesterday perfect. Today....ummmmmm.....It wouldn't even register if that's possible....bought another kit.....tested with both just in case.....yup...non existent. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Now upping slowllllllllly. Guess tank giving me a little karma after 18 years. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of all things to drop.
Have you tried testing some other water to verify the kits are testing correctly? If it's that low, you'll definitely need to get it back up rather quickly. Did you see a precipitation in your aquarium? Did you overdose vodka somehow?
I am at 10 I don't know what people are thinking with low nutrients and especially low dkh it's horrible for your coral!!! I am with you at the 50 nitrate. We are doing it right these people with there low nutrients are horrible pet owners starving there pets. You wouldn't start starving your dog so it had small shits so you didn't have to pick up big ones. The ocean has no nitrate because there is so much water if you where able to have a sump with 10,000 gallon you could feed good and have low nitrate just like the ocean. What is the problem with high no3 some alge. Every reef just like the ocean should have tangs and lawnmower belinies and all the inverts that eat alge just like the ocean where alge grows and feed all the tangs if there was no alge all the tangs in the world would die there is no nor on a clip out there. I am sure the nitrate is high on every reef you just have so much diluted water. But feeding is good just get alge eating fish to keep your tank clean there is nothing wrong with 50 no3 in my opinion you can take care of alge other ways. I think you are killing your coral at 7 dkh I don't believe you can have a thriving tank (unless softie tank) with years of 7 dkh.
When you are talking your mouth is not matching what you're saying or am I just seeing things here and at times when you're not talk and you are talkin
Excellent breakdown on how alkalinity affects your tank and its inhabitants
YES ITS LIKE YOU CAN SEE MY TANK. This topic was very convenient. (4.5 dkh over here 😬 I plan to start dosing alkalinity.)
Thanks Mark! My tanks stays right at 11 dKH. And like you, my nitrates are always a little high at 20 ish! Everything is happy and prospering.
video and sound not sync :-(
My brick, same one, did nothing in my 65 gal ....I really don’t think it did anything either. The only thing that worked was Cruz Arias’s steps to vodka/vinegar dose. Turned my tank around.
Hi 👋 Question (i dose redsea Alk) when would you suggest is the best time day or night to dose , also I was thinking of a ratio of 70% and 30% at a time .cheers look forward to your answer .😀👍🏴
Hey Mark, I just came across an older video as I watch all your content. I wanted some advice about (alkalinity)- my Dkh is always between 8.4-8.9dkh with a hanner checker and salifert. I used to do water changes every 10-12 days, and doser kh, calcium, magnesium daily by redsea doser always in check. Recently tested, my alkalinity was at 10, then 9.7, then 9.2, now 9.0 doser been shut off for 2 weeks. The main changes have been weekly water changes instead and dosing elos elements weekly. My question is: Why is my alkalinity not coming down quicker. I'm not sure how to get it down to 8.2-8.9 to turn my doser back online. Do you think it's the elos elements adding alkalinity into my system or calcification? Would appreciate it if you know can comment
So is it better to do less frequent water changes and dose then? Because of stability? I change water every week to 10 days and my alk is usually around 8 to 9 But I think I check at the end of week and b4 change. I just left the lsat post about it dropping to 6 or 7. How does a person do a water change if they are dosing alk. I was going to try to keep it at 9 or so with kalkwasser later on. Now I am confused. I use IO reef crystals and I think It has 11 dkh. Api casnt tell you exactly what it is you just count the drops and that what it is. I wanted to keep it the same. How do I do that? Also. I wouldnt mind not changing water weekly haha. Just do it to keep nitrates down! What is a good amount of time to not do a water change if I am dosing and do I not dose for a few days before or after change? How does that work?
Do you have sps in your tank? I know you always speak about your nitrates being high. I have always been 10 or lower on a 10 gallon no skimmer. But after adding a bunch of corals at once that changed and now that tank and my 36 are both at 80! I am freaking! I added 4 sps. How high or low should nitrates be with a few sps?
Have you thought about an algae scrubber? I just purchased the Clear Water Scrubbers CW-50. I should have it installed tomorrow and will be posting updates for it on my channel.
I may try one out at some point.
Titos ok to dose with...or are there fish that like the cheap stuff? Theres a joke in there somewhere.
Could the brick be taking the nitrate that your algae needs to live and grow, and in turn your algae it's dying releasing nitrate back into the water? Could this be why nitrates aren't coming down? Just thinking out loud.
I'm unsure, but can't rule that out. I'm sure feeding all these fish doesn't help. ;)
The article link is not in the description as noted. Could you please share the link. (Vodka dosing)
I bought the reef trace app because of the video and I use api test kits and I don’t see them as an option for test kits? What should I list instead? Red Sea?
Which tests? I see API listed under Calcium, for example.
Hi mark. I'm one of those freshwater guys. My 30g mixed is only 3 months old and currently changing 15% a week. Nitrates 1, phosphates undetectable, using nopox and using about 1dKH a week. Those water changes are taking care of the drop but perhaps a move to 15% bi weekly is on the cards now and dose to fill the gap? 15% works well with my bucket size is all.
That should work well. Dosing and testing is what you'll need to do to dial in the proper dose amount each day.
melevsreef great. Thanks.
Sorry I missed this live, but after watching I didn't really hear much about methods of controlling alkalinity other than tweaking Calcium reactors and dosing pumps. I know you can dose Kalk to raise alkalinity and calcium, but what if calcium is high and alk. is still low (6.7 dKH)?
The best control is to test frequently and make minor adjustments to dial it in. Kalkwasser is a method that maintains both alkalinity and calcium equally, but only if they are on target already. If your alkalinity is too low, you'll have to dose with Soda Ash to bring up what isn't being supplied by kalkwasser. Or perhaps do a decent sized water change, and then see if the kalk will keep up.
Thank you for the advice. I’ve done a 20% water change, and measured the parameters of my new water (Reef Crystals) for the first time (no surprises). My tank appears to deplete alkalinity faster than Ca. I’m working to find the right dosing balance of soda ash and/or kalk to meet my tanks needs. At this point my dKH is still in the 7s, and I’m bringing it up slowly.
BTW. Your site and videos are an excellent resource. I've been using your RO/DI system for years and my DIY sump was inspired by your designs.
You may need to dose more alkalinity than calcium. If everything is balanced in the first place, dosing equal parts of each daily should keep them there, but testing is the only way to know for sure. Thanks for the compliment about my website, it's quite the stockpile of info. :)
There was a testing device at Reet a palooza this year that used test strips but we’re put into a machine to give you a digital readout I don’t remember the name? , It had an app to log or graft all your results but not sure how cost-effective it would’ve been.
It's called the iDip I think.
Keep it in 10because most of corals you will buy are use to that high alkalinity.
They are hooked on that because they come from farms that make them in high doses.
What do you think is the maximum "safe" amount to dose dkh by hand? Say someone's tank used 1 dkh a day, would that be too much to replenish by hand in 30 seconds of dripping?
Paul G 1 dKH can be brought up in mere minutes without incident.
@@melevsreef thanks!
I got a reding of 6 and 7. With my api and the lid has been off for a while so maybe it isnt even right. I just added 14 frags and have 18 more coming to a 5 month old tank. Stupid I know. I nevr even ran lights for first 3 months lol I won some corals and the they also had a live sale and ebay auctions and each bunch was over a period of 3 weeks of buying. I couldnt stop! LOL I am going to start dosing but they may get here in 5 days, and may not have my order. I want to get a hannah checker first to make sure. The questions is can 6 or 7 dkh kill my corals, if its just for a short while? My nitrates shot up to 80 as well so going to start carbon dosing. Can adding prime help? Is this to much at once starting carbon dosing and 2 part, only need the alk pert or soda ash though. Calcium is 460. Dont know mag.
Can we get an update?
For me using Algone takes care of high nitrates
Mines currently at 200ppm + how can I lower it? It that bad?
Which parameter is 200ppm?
I have high dkh at 9.2 and calcium is 469...how to lower both of them
To me those are perfect numbers
5 alk constantly this i dont dose anything just dont understand why its constantly low
If you don't dose, it will always be chronically low.
Try dosing Red Sea's n03p04-x to get your nitrates down if your worried about them. I use it on my 180 litre tank because i have no sump and only a hang on skimmer and internal filter, but as your friend says, if your reef ain't broke don't fix it...;O)
It would take quite a bit for a 450g system. But I've considered that a few times.
Yeah, I guess you're talking 450 US gallons which would be just over 1700 litres. That should mean dosing approximately 51ml n03p04x a day. Mmm, I can see how that would get quite expensive, but I guess you wouldn't have to do it for long of your other methods of removing nitrate are working. I only have to dose 3-4ml per day to keep mutt nitrates around 2.
NoPox works well once you get levels down, I have been at 0 for 12 months, and reduced dosing to 1 ml twice a day and Nitrate still have not risen.
Wouldn't dying macro-algae in your refugium mean the brick IS working? Less nutrients in the water, less food for algae.
You'd think, right? But my No3 and Po4 levels are still quite elevated, so I think the macro die-off is being affected adversely by whatever the brick is made of. Just a guess, but the timing matches.
Perhaps the dying macro-algae is affecting your test results? When it dies, wouldn't it dump whatever it absorbed back into the water? Maybe remove the remaing macro-algae and continue using the brick for a while and re-test.
Not a bad assumption. At this point there isn't much left, and the filtration should have pulled out most of those pollutants. I think a few water changes are in my future. :)
2019 and the Trident is still not out smh
It's coming, be patient.
Where the link to article?
Which topic? Water quality? Or vodka dosing?
@@melevsreef the vodka doseing and does the % and brand of alcohol matter?
@@gadamwoll Here's my article, and it's 80 Proof vodka: www.melevsreef.com/articles/dosing-vodka-why
Why not 7dkh? Zeovit recommends 7, triton recommends 7, the ocean (and most reefs) run at 7.
Why did you set the low limit at 8dkh?
Thanks
8-11 dKH has been the standard for a very long time, easily the past 20 years. 7 was recommended later by Zeovit originators due to the very low nutrients their systems contained. The ocean runs at 7 dKH? That's a new one to me. Which ones?
8.5
sugar to lower nitrate
8 dKh
Does what? 20:14
10.5
Dosing alk. OMG yesterday perfect. Today....ummmmmm.....It wouldn't even register if that's possible....bought another kit.....tested with both just in case.....yup...non existent. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Now upping slowllllllllly. Guess tank giving me a little karma after 18 years. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr of all things to drop.
Have you tried testing some other water to verify the kits are testing correctly? If it's that low, you'll definitely need to get it back up rather quickly. Did you see a precipitation in your aquarium? Did you overdose vodka somehow?
I am at 10 I don't know what people are thinking with low nutrients and especially low dkh it's horrible for your coral!!! I am with you at the 50 nitrate. We are doing it right these people with there low nutrients are horrible pet owners starving there pets. You wouldn't start starving your dog so it had small shits so you didn't have to pick up big ones. The ocean has no nitrate because there is so much water if you where able to have a sump with 10,000 gallon you could feed good and have low nitrate just like the ocean. What is the problem with high no3 some alge. Every reef just like the ocean should have tangs and lawnmower belinies and all the inverts that eat alge just like the ocean where alge grows and feed all the tangs if there was no alge all the tangs in the world would die there is no nor on a clip out there. I am sure the nitrate is high on every reef you just have so much diluted water. But feeding is good just get alge eating fish to keep your tank clean there is nothing wrong with 50 no3 in my opinion you can take care of alge other ways. I think you are killing your coral at 7 dkh I don't believe you can have a thriving tank (unless softie tank) with years of 7 dkh.
Does the type of Vodka matter?
No, not really. The cheapest stuff didn't work out well, though.
When you are talking your mouth is not matching what you're saying or am I just seeing things here and at times when you're not talk and you are talkin
Yes, that was an issue when this was recorded. Some type of lag occured.