ALK keeps dropping????????

[redemer123]

For me alk drops far quicker than calcium

 

[capt85]

Same here. I have been dosing kalk and I am slowly adding baked baking soda daily and I it has been slow going.

 

[Ladysabertooth2]

For me alk drops far quicker than calcium

Yep me to its just so frustrating...

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yep me to its just so frustrating...

Alkalinity appears to drop faster than calcium, in many cases, simply because there is a lot more calcium than alkalinity in seawater.

So when they drop proportionally due to incorporation into coral skeletons, (say, ~2.8 dKH for each ~18 ppm calcium), alkalinity is dropping by about 40% of the natural seawater value while calcium is only dropping by about 4% of the natural seawater value. Since most hobby kits cannot accurately see small calcium changes, it often appears that alk is dropping and calcium is not, while in reality they are both dropping proportionally.

Some salt mixes used for water changes are also overbalanced toward calcium, making the true demand ratio hard to detect.

 

[Ladysabertooth2]

I do also notice my calcium is dropping as well, I just increased both and will continue to watch. I also have come to the conclusion I need a dosing pump. This manual dosing is for the birds! I guess my sps are taking in more than I thought.. they are growing. Funny you don't realize it until you look back at photos and go wow that has grown.....