Want to start adding coral

[habsfan]

Hey everybody. I have a 180 gallon tank with 90 gallon sump in the basement. Currently I only have shrooms and kenya tree. I want to start adding coral, mostly LPS and some Zoo's and a clam or two. In the past I have not had luck with coral that I've bought but my tank perameters were not ideal. I have since straightened that out and I'm ready to try again. My concern is Alk/KH. My tank was at 6 DKH. I buffered it up to 10 using baking soda and RO/DI water. After a week it's down to 9 DKH. I'm thinking I will have to set up a drip dose. Any suggestions would be helpful. I have 50 gallons of new saltwater mixing up now for a water change. I tested the new water and Alk is 10 DKH, Calcuim 480, Magnesium 1200 at 1.026 specific gravity with a refractometer.
Display is
1.026 (refractometer)
PH 8.3
Water Temp 78
Calcium 480
Magnesium 1120
ALK 10 DKH
Phosphate 0
Nitrate 0
Thanks

 

[snakeblitz33]

Hi there!
I would personally get your magnesium bumped up to 1400 if you can. That way your calcium and alkalinity will have more stability and better readings.
It's typical for alkalinity to drop some in the course of a week. Most people do dose and drip in stuff to maintain their levels between water changes.
Since you have such a large tank and your going for some calcium demanding corals, I will suggest setting up a small calcium reactor over manual dosing... it's a large investment at first, but it gives more constant, stable parameters over time and the cost of maintenance is MUCH lower than dosing over time.
Before dosing baking soda, measure your pH. If it is too low, don't add it. If your pH is low and your alkalinity is low, you could add in some sodium carbonate (they sell this at pool supply shops).
I suggest looking up Randy Holmes-Farley improved DIY 2 part mix on Google... and read.
But, like I said, since you have a large tank and are wanting nice, stable parameters and constant growth, you may consider a calcium reactor as a worthwhile investment. (and for that matter, you might want to look into a Reef Octopus Ca reactor for your sized tank (Cheaper than most other ones that do the same job.))
Let us know something!

 

[acrylic51]

Seth you hit on 3 good areas.....Ca....Mg.....an Alk.....Get this 3 in line and the 4th Ph will follow and not a super big issue if you don't achieve that magical 8.3.....Ca, Mg, and Alk the important parameters and the rest will follow.....

 

[habsfan]

My PH is 8.3 no matter what time of day I test it. I agree that I need to raise my Mag to 1400. As far as Calcium it is already on the high side and I really don't want to buy/add another piece of equipment. I just need to figure out out how much to mix and drip dose Alk.

 

[snakeblitz33]

If that was your question, why didnt you ask it first? Im just curious. I could have avoided typing out unnecessary information that you already know.
Anyways, baking soda brings your pH down slightly because of the carbon dioxide in it.
Mix up about 300 grams of baking soda in 1g of water and continue to stir it up until it is dissolved. Heating the water beforehand will help it dissolve better. 4oz raises alkalinity by 1dKH in 25g of water. It also brings your pH down by 0.5 of a degree. Its best to slowly raise it over a period of days and monitor your calcium level as well as alk while you do it. You may start to notice that your Ca level drops a bit. If your Ca drops below 420, you will need to add a calcium solution.
Once you get your ca, alk and mg in balance, you may consider dripping in kalkwasser for your ca and alk requirements.

 

[snakeblitz33]

By the way, your pH is stable only when your alkalinity is kept high and stable as well. Alkalinity is the measurement to the resistence in change of pH.

 

[acrylic51]

Your alk and ca and such could be dead on and still not obtain 8.3 PH......

 

[snakeblitz33]

If there is no variability, you may need to test your readings against another test kit yo make sure your test kit is accurate.

 

[abeandlulu]

I agree with the calcium. I have one on my 265 and my corals love it my ph, alk, mag and cal. all stabilized and I really only put coral ood in the tank now. It is expensive but well worth the money.