Help with 2 part dosing

Just wanting some opinions on my 2 part dosing because it seems it is getting kind of excessive. As most of you know I recently upgraded my system to a 57g with a 20g sump.  The tank is sps dominated.    Im am dosing BRS 2 part, and am up to about 110-120 ml a day of each to keep my levels up and it seems like a bit much.  Does this sound like too much? I am using Red Sea Coral Pro salt and my levels are as follows:

From the size of your tank and the looks of it...(coral stock)...I don't think you should be using up that much....although, those are not small frags by any means, however this in my opinion is not a heavily stocked SPS dominant tank (yet)...the tank size, dosing that much also bothers me ...I would guess anywhere from 60-90 ml a day for that current setup....perhaps I am wrong, but I would double check your mag/or try raising it a little, to see if that keeps things more stable....I also am not too familiar with BRS two-part, did you mix it up properly?  Perhaps it is more diluted than it should be?  Or perhaps it doesn't require any work to make up your two part.....keep us updated, someone else may chime in some better advice....

Thanks for the reply...to answer your questions:

Edited by kellerexpress - March 26 2011 at 4:54am

I believe bur01014 hit it on the head. If you have not been adding Mg, I would just add a lot of Mg and you will see your Alk and Ca dosing needs decrease. SPS and Coralline Algae use up a lot of Mg along with Alk and Ca. Don't worry about adding Mg without testing. Reef aquariums need a lot of it and the level can be a lot higher than normal seawater without any bad effects. In fact, extra high Mg is what kills the bad Bryopsis algae so go ahead and dump in 2 cups of Epsom Salt Mg solution.  I'm not saying not to test, but that you don't need to wait to test. 

I love the look of that tank. Are you signed up for the Reef Tour?

Thanks for the input and compliments.   Mark I'm not sure my tank is reef tour worthy yet, maybe next year. I have been adding mag, it's part of the brs system. I added some extra a few days ago. I re-tested this morning and my levels are plenty high, in the 1400-1500 range.

I have added more than 2 liters per week of both Alk and Ca in my coral farming years ago which involved just over 100 gals.

Each reef aquarium eats minerals at different rates. Some tanks need Ca more than Alk, but most eat Alk faster than Ca.

Spacing the additions of Alk and Ca can be made within a minute of each other. One component must simply disperse before the other is added.

When the additions of Alk and Ca become too much trouble a hobbyist may choose to install a Calcium Reactor.


Edited by Mark Peterson - March 27 2011 at 5:44pm