# PLEASE HELP with salt and dosing!



## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

HI guys

so I'm new to reefing. I have a 100 gallon tank thats been cycled as of 2 weeks ago. i have a cuc and 2 clowns. I only until recently started measuring alk, calcium, and magnesium. Now i only use rodi water and aquavitro salinity salt. For some reason my salt is not giving me the alk, cal, or mag, that it says to on the bucket i don't know if its because I'm dumping the salt in then mixing or if i have 2 bad buckets of this salt. I don't know if any of you have had this problem. Pretty much here's where my water parameters sit now. 

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrate 4-8ppm
temp 77
phosphate 0
calcium 305 ( i know low )
magnesium 1100 ( i know low )
alkalinity 5.4dkh ( also low) 

Now that i have this problem and before i ad anything to the tank i want to get my water levels right. 

so i guess i have to dose. Now the question is should i dose magnesium and it will bring up alk and cal? or dose alk and cal?

I purchased the bulk dosing from reef supplies.ca but it gives no mention as to how much to dose daily. just a total number per gallons. How do i determine how much to dose to get it to the right levels?


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## blunthead (Jan 24, 2011)

double check your salinity


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

Hi

my salinity is 1.024.


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## blunthead (Jan 24, 2011)

bring it up to 1.026 and your levels will come up then retest


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## Green Ocean (Jun 24, 2014)

I'm just starting new tank as well, and since you don't have corals, starts small around 20ml for mg and kh, don't dose ca for a week or 2, never make too much adjustments in a short amount of time. Test every few days and change the dosage accordingly. Get the parameters to recommended levels before you start adding corals. Aquavitro's salt should be pretty good, although if it doesn't work for you, try the red sea coral pro salt.


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## blunthead (Jan 24, 2011)

your calcium is very low, what kinda test kits are you using?


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## altcharacter (Jan 10, 2011)

I'm guessing he's probably using the API marine kit


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*Dosing*

Brand new tank stop....stop ...stop... don't worry about dosing keep it simple get salinity up ....1.025 
Get better test kits.. saliferts are all u need ...


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

nope

will never use api. i'm using hanna and selifert. in fact i have both test kits for alk, cal, mag, nitrate, and phosphate. Both are giving the same results. 

I've read from others that this brand of salt is finicky with how it's mixed. is that correct? does it need to be mixed very slowly?

one thing that i am noticing in my mixing barrel and in my sump is a lot of calcium build up or precipitate. I read if this salt is mixed too fast it will cause that. 

i can't think of any other reason why my alk, cal, and mag are soo low but to blame the salt. if i bring it unto 1.026 will that really bring up those parameters?


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## Rookie2013 (Jan 17, 2013)

Yes you need to bring up your salt. Do not dose anything and keep testing every few days. it takes time but things will settle on their own. It's best to mix the salt the night before and run a powerhead or a circulation pump in the mixing barrel. It's too early to dose anything.


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## CoralConnoisseur (Mar 5, 2014)

I agree that it's pretty early to be dosing.
I have read that sometime salt is weird and the bucket may need to be mixed. I have never delet with it. Although I did read that tipping the bucket on its side and rolling it around a couple times worked for some people. Obviously need to have the lid on tight.

Good luck


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## matti2uude (Jan 10, 2009)

I believe the salt he uses isn't supposed to be mixed for longer than 4 hours.

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## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

No dose. I'm assuming you don't have sufficient coral to justify the need for all the right parameters. I am biased although I do recommend reef crystals. Easy to find and buy. And I've never had a problem (knock on wood). 

And to be quite honest. The only you really need to test is your crucial parameters such as nitrate and ammonia etc.... Maybe PH. 

When I first started that's all I cared about was testing and being obsessed. I haven't tested in probably over a year now and not too concerned to be honest. Once you get established and you get a routines the testing will become redundant. 

Use same salt. Use same RO/DI water. Use same filters in the unit and keep up with a fairly consistent routine. When doing water changes try for 10-15% and biweekly or monthly should suffice once the tank is established. No need for over thinking this and no need for constant testing. 

Running a Red Sea max with some upgrades to lighting and skimming I've kept a breeding pair of clowns and Bubble tip anemone for a while now without major issues. 

As others have said keep the salinity around 35. And as for temp I wouldn't worry took much unless it creeps up to mid to high 80's. Mine has been around 80-83 for a while now and everything seems happy. Including CUC 

Good luck and welcome to the addiction


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

It says on the salt bin to mix for minimum of 24 hours. So how should I bring my salt.upto 1.026? Through water changes over a few weeks or though adding salt water in my top off?


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## wchen9 (Jan 23, 2014)

I am using the Aquavitro salinity, my bucket says dissolve the salt and it is ready for immediate use. And that excessive mixing can cause it to cloud up. I assume that is the precipitation that you are experiencing. 

What I have found works for me is that I mix about 25% of the salt in, wait 15 minutes and repeat until at 1.026. Then I let it sit for an hour or two and do my water change.


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## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Hey ibrat! Every salt is different I suppose. But what I do is add 3 cups of reef crystals to 5 gallons of water and that usually gives me almost exactly 1.026. I have a power head in there and slowly pour in all 3 cups. I don't look at it or test for about 24 hours. I do a test, add my heater and do another test once heated up. I've noticed temps change the salinity and from what I recall the warmer water increases the salinity. 

My logic I guess is to let the salt break down in the water not just on a granular level but chemically stabilize. The stirring of the water by the power head would also help stabilize the PH and would roughly be the ambient PH achieved in my house. I don't chase numbers . 

I've actually experience a salinity drop in my tank due to a overactive ATO and over the course of a month or so I slowly increased the salinity by adding salt that was around 40 instead of 35. Considering the smaller volume of water being added to the tank it doesn't really impact it all that much once it get diluted. I added the water back into the tank slowly as to not potentially shock anything. 

As I've stated above I've never had an issue with reef crystals and I suggest you look up some studies done on the different salts. Reef crystals score up near the top and provided best results for reef aquaria . And no I don't sell it. Just a happy customer 


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

I'll definitely look into reef crystals my inky problem is I have 4 buckets still of the aquavitro salinity. So what do you guys suggest because I've read that low alkalinity leads to unhappy fish and them nipping at each other. Should I bring my magnesium up and it will bring up alk and calcium? 

Or do a water change and brink salt to 1.026 
If water change and I usually do them in 15% volume. How much should my new salt mixes salinity be to bring the tanks 1.024 to 1.026? 

Or just top off with saltwater and slowly bring upto 1.026


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## wchen9 (Jan 23, 2014)

You don't have anything that needs it to be corrected quickly at this point. You can start doing WCs with the new mix at 1.026 and it will slowly bring it up each time you do a WC.

And as mentioned earlier, I've also read that Aquavitro salinity should be used within 4 hours of mixing. Also, are you using a heater in your mixing bin? I have read with this salt to mix at room temp, and then if needed heat the water before the WC. Personally I find that just dissolving the salt heats the water enough that I don't need a heater since I perform the WC within a couple hours.


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## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

As said above mixing it at 1.026 should suffice. After a few WC the water will be roughly where you need it. 

Like I said before, don't go chasing numbers and adding stuff already. That's a expensive road to go down. Get your salinity up and see where it's at. If it's not where you want it than consider changing salts or do more frequent WC's. 

What you could also do is run a test on a freshly made bucket of water and see what the parameters are before hitting the tank. And if the parameters are not on par with what they claim than try another bucket of salt and go from there. 

What coral and fish do you plan on keeping? 


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*keeping it slow*

agreed with all said .. being a new reefer instinct is to go to big als or where ever , and start buying products , to correct this and that .

u are doing everything all right do as aquaman says chk your bucket of aqua vitro..before u add it .. I believe there is a 1-800 number u can call ... if u have four buckets u can use it all or u can offer to sell .. if u decide to switch ..
but that is a call u will have to make I do like the reef crystals mainly cause of the price point .. ..

but don't start playing with things get the salinity right ..
go from there ...

reading is half the battle , ask your questions before u do on here .. there are plenty of on here who can help .. also reef central is another great forum ..
what is your location ...

good luck 
tom


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

So is it safe to add another fish? I have 2 clowns only right now and wondering what to get next that will be compatible with the clowns. I got the clowns 2 weeks ago.


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*patience*

the rule of reefkeeping is patience 
u are not comfortable with what is goin on in your tank that u want to start dosing .. but u want to add fish ... do as u want but like I msgd before slow and steady is the way to go .. we all are excited to add things to a tank ... its a sickness we all have , but in my opinion u are going way too fast ...
have u even got the salt to the level u are happy with .. are u gonna quarantine or just dump into tank ...just asking .. 
good luck 
tom


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## Ibrat82 (Jan 13, 2016)

Well I was recommended to keep my salinity at 1.024 by my lfs. But I did find the culprit it's mixing the salt correctly. I made a batch of 1 gallon to 1.026 and magnesium was still kind of low at 1250 alk at 8.3 and calcium at 350.

So magnesium aND calcium still low. Maybe I should mix the batch of salt around to make sure all the ingredients are not settled to their bottom. If all my parameters are correct except for what's important for corals why isn't adding fish recommended?


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## fesso clown (Nov 15, 2011)

You're parameters are within a safe range, I wouldn't worry about C,A+M right now...At all. 


When starting up a tank the concern for fish is that the initial main nitrate cycle has completed. You need to wait until there is enough denitrifying bacteria in place to be able to deal with ammonia.


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## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

I think last November was the two year mark of my tanks cycle and inhabitants. I waited over a year to get a anemone and have only added a couple fish since which have either died or were a complete nightmare (six line wrasse). 

This can be a rewarding hobby and with patience it can be a success. Unless you really trust your LFS I wouldn't listen to a word they say. They'll tell you a tang that grows 12" is ok in your 100 gallon. I see it all the time people get a fish knowing it's going to outgrow the tank and to me makes no sense at all. 

Things to consider when buying any live creature:

Can you feed it? Mandarins, certain shrimp need lots of TLC. 

Is your tank big enough for eventual size? 

Will fish eat coral? 

Will it eat other fish? 

Will it eat inverts? 

Deep sand bed? 

Proper temp? 

The list goes on and on LOL. I have a Red Sea max 130 and really only feel comfortable with my two clowns. Don't add anything too soon and don't add anything else while you wait for parameters to be in place. These are living creatures and should be treated as such and provided With the best possible case. 

Also, if you can look for fish that need a new home from another hobbyists! It's not always easy, however, gives you an opportunity to a healthy specimen and probably less likely to need a quarantine !


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