So I've got my 46 Bowfront reef tank locked on now. I have alk daily at 9.8dkh, Ca between 410-430, Mg 1320-1350. Nightly I add exactly one cup RODI water with 6g of Seachem Reef Builder mixed in. I was wondering instead of mixing it everyday if I could take one gallon of RODI water(16 cups) and add 6g x16=96g Reef Builder and mix it up that way to cut down a little on daily maintenance. If I could do it like that then I would have enough alk solution to last 16 days. Just have to shake it up a little and measure my one cup and pour in sump or even better yet slow drip if I can get around to making a diy drip system one of these days. Thanks
Using Seachem Reef Builder...can I pre mix it?
- Thread starter GunkGunk
- Start date
Oh I didn'tknow that So that would mean my alk would be around 6-7 dkh. I've been doing 25% water changes every two weeks and that's what it was running before using the reef builder. I started with all base rock and know I am growing a lot of coralline too but I only have a kryptonite trumpet frag and a frogspawn frag. The trumpet is got 2 heads splitting already. I have been feeding them frozen brine and they seem to love it. It seemed to me like the coralline really took off once the alk was up so I thought I was doing the right thing. I must say I never ran across any advice not to dose alk before on my exhaustive searches for information but I will take your words and maybe start doing weekly 10% changes instead of 25% every 2 weeks.
EricTheRed
No, I'm not a communist..
Seachem suggests adding this to your top-off water so that it is continuously dosing the tank. So, if you can premix it in an ATO resevior then you can premix it in a jug and use it when you need it. You might see a little precipitation but don't worry because it will dissolve when it hits your tank water.
poidog
Active member
Yes, there is no need to dose anything in your tank right now. I have a full blown SPS reef and the only thing I do is 10% water changes weekly and add kalk to my ATO.
10% weekly is a good regiment. If you miss one week it's okay, just do 20% the following week.
Alk at 7-8 is good as it is near NSW. What is the alk in your fresh mixed SW (also what brand salt) and how old is your tank?
10% weekly is a good regiment. If you miss one week it's okay, just do 20% the following week.
Alk at 7-8 is good as it is near NSW. What is the alk in your fresh mixed SW (also what brand salt) and how old is your tank?
Ok I'll try it and see how it goes although I'm kind of addicted to testing and doing now in my search for stability which I finally have Lol. It will certainly be easier than the regimen I have now. My tank has been running since June/July including cycling time. I have been using Coral Life salt although I think I might switch to Reef Crystals when my supply runs out. Dkh in newly mixed water is slightly over 9. I have a ton of Coralline growing now too and tons of amphibious and copepods which must have come from some small live rock I have because I didn't put them in there. 20 gal sump too with dub and chaeto.
SkullV
New member
I like Alk at 9.3 unless you are using biopellets/carbon dosing. I needed to dose 150ml of each part daily to keep things stable when I was full of SPS. Depending on evap kalk is usually enough for most reefs. I wasn't evaporating enough to use Kalk for Cal/Alk stability.
Every reef is different. You can get all the advice in the world but only you can decide what is right for your tank.
Every reef is different. You can get all the advice in the world but only you can decide what is right for your tank.
poidog
Active member
I'd back off on testings, theyll just drive you crazy. No real reason to do it unless something is wrong or your trying to dial in dosing. You shouldn't really need to chase anything... let your reef stable itself out and after a few water changes test and see where your at. Good luck.