ALK keeps dropping????????

[firefightered]

I switched from IO to RC about a year ago. This brought my perimeters where they need to be. In the past 6 months or so its been a pain to keep my ALK above 7dkh. If I try to dose equal parts of alk (Baked baking soda) and cal (BRS 2 part stuff) my cal. goes way up. My cal pretty much stays at 420-460 all the time without adding anything. I try to do a 10 percent water change every week. My problem is I cann't dose 20ml alk(that is what it has been taking) everyday because of my work schedule (48 on 48 off) My son trys to keep this up butttttt. I realy can not afford a auto doser at this point but plan to get one ASAP. Is there any other suggestions that may help my situation? I would build my ALK slowly over a couple of days till it hits 9-10dkh. After about 2 days it will be at 6-7 dkh with no change in cal. My mag pretty much stays at 1450.​

 

[vasinvictor]

What is your ph at?

 

[florida reef]

I am experiencing the same problem. I dose manually, but I know you can't do this reliably. Check out aqua house dosing pumps. They are reasonably priced and have good reviews.

 

[firefightered]

stable at 1450

What is your ph at?

 

[aautio1004]

That was ur mag again...he was asking what ur ph was...should be around 8.2

 

[vasinvictor]

From my experience alk and ph are directly related.

 

[firefightered]

Sorry.....PH stays between 8.3 and 8.5.

From my experience alk and ph are directly related.

 

[redemer123]

If you have a tank with lots of coral and coraline algae its dropping because the corals are consuming it to build their skeletons. Your alk is a buffer for the PH in your tank,A safety net if you will. The lower your alk the more likely your pH is to fluctuate. The fact that your alk is dropping (while not the best) shouldnt be whats alarming you. Its the rate its decreasing you should be worried about. If its a gradual loss of a point or two over a few days just dose to the best of your ability, but if its dropping rapidly you need be concerned with keeping up as sudden changes like that can and potentially will kill your corals. More specifically SPS and and other stony corals. Hope this helps,

Andrew

 

[MBG75]

Try using Kalk in your topoff without dosing.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[vasinvictor]

Do you have a lot of organic material decaying?

 

[firefightered]

I do have a lot of coraline but really not a who lot of mature SPS. My tank is a 46 bf with about 7-8 SPS frags and some softies. They all look healthy and happy but they don't seem to grow very fast at all. I'm thinking it's because of my ALK problem. I am running 4x t-5s with a Reefbrite LED strip. cannt seem to get things to grow......

If you have a tank with lots of coral and coraline algae its dropping because the corals are consuming it to build their skeletons. Your alk is a buffer for the PH in your tank,A safety net if you will. The lower your alk the more likely your pH is to fluctuate. The fact that your alk is dropping (while not the best) shouldnt be whats alarming you. Its the rate its decreasing you should be worried about. If its a gradual loss of a point or two over a few days just dose to the best of your ability, but if its dropping rapidly you need be concerned with keeping up as sudden changes like that can and potentially will kill your corals. More specifically SPS and and other stony corals. Hope this helps,

Andrew

 

[firefightered]

I have with no results.

Try using Kalk in your topoff without dosing.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

 

[firefightered]

No.. Nitrates = 0 and Phos + .025

Do you have a lot of organic material decaying?

 

[Reef Pets]

Dose kalkwasser by drip or kalkwasser stirrer

 

[redemer123]

phospahtes are able to stunt your corals growth by 50% or more, that likely is the problem with the sps not seeming to grow however that leaves your alk. Being that phosphates inhibit carbonate to bond to a corals skeleton they likely are not consuming the alk to grow. So that means something has to be consuming it. likely the coraline.

 

[firefightered]

Drip 3/4 gal/day

Dose kalkwasser by drip or kalkwasser stirrer

 

[firefightered]

The only SPS that is grow at a fast rate is the Pink Birdsnest. I had a long spin urchan that would eat the coraline as fast as it would grow but he also would bulldoze everything else in the tank so now he's gone. I have always had a lot of coraline so how should I keep my Alk in check? Also.. Wouldn't my cal be droping as well?

phospahtes are able to stunt your corals growth by 50% or more, that likely is the problem with the sps not seeming to grow however that leaves your alk. Being that phosphates inhibit carbonate to bond to a corals skeleton they likely are not consuming the alk to grow. So that means something has to be consuming it. likely the coraline.

 

[aslmx]

I just saw that brs has a dosing pump on sale for $79. I think I'm in same boat as you with alk. What I don't undersrand is that the guy I've been buying some corals from does not dose anything and all of his stuff grows like wild fire. I've also got a friend that doesn't dose anything and uses $20 eBay bulbs and his stuff also grows like mad. I might just start doing water changes and just watch the corals and stop the dosing battle and see what happens.

 

[firefightered]

I know what you mean bud..... I have a neighbor that uses hob filter never doses and his stuff brows crazy fast. I do as many water changes as he does and he just uses IO. Drives me NUTS:tongue:

I just saw that brs has a dosing pump on sale for $79. I think I'm in same boat as you with alk. What I don't undersrand is that the guy I've been buying some corals from does not dose anything and all of his stuff grows like wild fire. I've also got a friend that doesn't dose anything and uses $20 eBay bulbs and his stuff also grows like mad. I might just start doing water changes and just watch the corals and stop the dosing battle and see what happens.

 

[Kbra]

I have to dose double the alk compared to cal for the BRS 2 part too. If you have a controller you can make a cheap DIY auto doser for now with an aqua lifter and controller. Ive ran it for over a year now with no prob...