question on using ESV bionic 2 part (or Alk in general)

[Captain Ron]

My Alk was low a few weeks ago in my 37 gallon tank (I don't have my notes at the moment. I think it was 7) so I dosed baking soda to raise it back up to 9 (my calc was stable at 420). Yesterday I measured 8.15 for Alk and 393 for calc so I decided to start using 2 part. I added 7.5 ml calc to the water in a high flow area in 2 stages (half of 7.5 ml at a time) over the course of ten minutes. Half an hour later I started to add the alk but I noticed a small snowy cloud where I added the solution. The cloud dissipated after 1 literal second. I thought maybe I needed more time so I waited until this morning to add the rest of the 7.5 ml of calc. The same thing happened. I added it drop by drop and after each drop was added a small cloud appeared which dissipated in less than a second. Is this normal behavior? I will test my tank again tonight after I get home to see if the alk or calc changed since my addition of the 2 part. Am I doing something wrong?

-Captain Ron

 

[Northstar24]

That's normal for dosing for Alk, but you never want to jump fire than a single dkh per day, and even then you want to do it slowly. Rapid changes in Alk are greats ways to kill coral

 

[Captain Ron]

Thanks for the info. Glad to know it is normal. I measured today and am now 8.75 and 415 with my magnesium around 1320. I think I will wait a day or two and then measure and dose 7.5ml again (or maybe 5ml) as I am just starting to figure out what to dial in.

 

[Northstar24]

Yep, figuring out the proper dose requires some trial and error. If you aren't dosing a ton, you could also consider adding kalk to your top off water if you have an ATO and use a resivour for holding top off water, that way your dosing is automated. As a side benefit, bulk kalk is pretty cheap, a $12 container I bought back in January for my 180 is still almost half full

 

[RockStacker]

The white globs/cloud are normal if you dose the saturated solution directly into the tank.

When I need to dose Alk, what I do is dilute the desired saturated amount with half a gallon of RODI water.
This way I avoid the "alk snow" (which my clown tends to mistake for food).
I then pour small portions at different high-flow areas of the tank so that it gets distributed evenly.

If my alkalinity deficiency is significant, I spread the dosage out across several days so the tank's alkalinity goes up gradually instead of spiking.

 

[RockStacker]

Thanks for the info. Glad to know it is normal. I measured today and am now 8.75 and 415 with my magnesium around 1320. I think I will wait a day or two and then measure and dose 7.5ml again (or maybe 5ml) as I am just starting to figure out what to dial in.

Use those values as your starting point.
Do not dose for a day, and see how much Ca, Alk, and Mg were reduced.
Based on that, you can calculate how much you need to dose regularly in order to maintain your desired levels.