Well, I will say that removing the sand bed is a maaajor destabilizing event. There's an enormous amount of nitrification going on in the sandbed, microfauna populations etc. When you take that out, the system will need to rebalance itself. During this time I wouldn't be surprised if calcification slows or stops until the system has regained equilibrium. So not having your alk rise now is a win in my book. In time, it should go back to normal if everything else is kept stable. How long has it been since you removed the sand? Also be sure your RODI filters aren't old. It can be easy to forget to change them and be letting in some pollutant.
In my case, and I'm sure most everyone's, keeping SPS happy is a moving target. My sps are absolutely doing better. During my ordeal and for a while after I had very little growth and a couple of my acros we're quite pale. So I really up'd my feeding and even starting dosing phosphate, as both my N and P were consistently undetectable. Now N and P are detectable and coloration has really improved, coralline is growing more rapidly etc. I suspect the sand/alk issue and the undetectable nutrient/pale SPS issue could be related in some way.
All that being said, I bought some frags a month or so ago and placed them on my frag rack to settle in and wait for signs of growth. They started growing, one even encrusting into the frag rack. So I figured it was a great time to place them on the rock. Wrong. They started to STN a few days later so are back on the rack to hopefully recover. So I'm now trying to figure that one out. Was it the rock? A pH spike from when we went out of town? Just stress from being handled? The phosphate dosing? I wish I knew hehe.
In my case, and I'm sure most everyone's, keeping SPS happy is a moving target. My sps are absolutely doing better. During my ordeal and for a while after I had very little growth and a couple of my acros we're quite pale. So I really up'd my feeding and even starting dosing phosphate, as both my N and P were consistently undetectable. Now N and P are detectable and coloration has really improved, coralline is growing more rapidly etc. I suspect the sand/alk issue and the undetectable nutrient/pale SPS issue could be related in some way.
All that being said, I bought some frags a month or so ago and placed them on my frag rack to settle in and wait for signs of growth. They started growing, one even encrusting into the frag rack. So I figured it was a great time to place them on the rock. Wrong. They started to STN a few days later so are back on the rack to hopefully recover. So I'm now trying to figure that one out. Was it the rock? A pH spike from when we went out of town? Just stress from being handled? The phosphate dosing? I wish I knew hehe.