Alk and Calc uptake ceased?

[wesman42]

What would cause coral to stop consuming alk and calc? I've had my tank set up for almost 4 months, and I've been dosing for 2 of them....testing and checking every 3 days.

My current parameters are:

SG: 1.025
Alk: 9.8
Calc: 560
Mg: 1300
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15ppm
Phosphate: 0.23

For a solid 2 months, I've been dosing 24ml of each alk and calc. The tank is 75 and w/sump is a total of ~100 gallons.

I've heard of magnesium limiting them, but I don't quite understand why or if mag is limiting in this situation.

For now, I have cut dosing in half on each...I'll be testing every day to see if it decreases.

 

[Gareth elliott]

What were your alkalinity and calcium before the issue?
If its above normal i would stop dosing all together till its back to normal values.

Phosphate is a little high, maybe a few days of running phosgaurd in a bag to get back to .1ppm

 

[Scubabum]

What would cause coral to stop consuming alk and calc? I've had my tank set up for almost 4 months, and I've been dosing for 2 of them....testing and checking every 3 days.

My current parameters are:

SG: 1.025
Alk: 9.8
Calc: 560
Mg: 1300
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 15ppm
Phosphate: 0.23

For a solid 2 months, I've been dosing 24ml of each alk and calc. The tank is 75 and w/sump is a total of ~100 gallons.

I've heard of magnesium limiting them, but I don't quite understand why or if mag is limiting in this situation.

For now, I have cut dosing in half on each...I'll be testing every day to see if it decreases.

Hey Wesman, This happened to me several months back. I was dosing 46ml of Aquaforest Comp 1 2 3 daily then I started to notice my alk was rising. I eventually shut off my doser as the corals were not consuming anything. I checked every other day and I had Zero Consumption for 4-5 months. Everyone said I was crazy and it was not possible. None of my coral died but they were just sitting. I finally did several large water changes and about a week later I saw a drop in alk and introduced the dosing pump again. After that the corals TOOK OFF! I'm up to 150ml today and my tank it thriving. Good luck.

 

[wesman42]

Hey Wesman, This happened to me several months back. I was dosing 46ml of Aquaforest Comp 1 2 3 daily then I started to notice my alk was rising. I eventually shut off my doser as the corals were not consuming anything. I checked every other day and I had Zero Consumption for 4-5 months. Everyone said I was crazy and it was not possible. None of my coral died but they were just sitting. I finally did several large water changes and about a week later I saw a drop in alk and introduced the dosing pump again. After that the corals TOOK OFF! I'm up to 150ml today and my tank it thriving. Good luck.

I think I will cease all dosing for now. Thank you!

What were your alkalinity and calcium before the issue?
If its above normal i would stop dosing all together till its back to normal values.

Phosphate is a little high, maybe a few days of running phosgaurd in a bag to get back to .1ppm

Alk was 8.4, Calcium was 420 on the dot.

Phosphates were also lower but I haven't been feeding nearly as much so the raise seems a little disproportionate.

 

[Super Fly]

Hey Wesman, This happened to me several months back. I was dosing 46ml of Aquaforest Comp 1 2 3 daily then I started to notice my alk was rising. I eventually shut off my doser as the corals were not consuming anything. I checked every other day and I had Zero Consumption for 4-5 months. Everyone said I was crazy and it was not possible. None of my coral died but they were just sitting. I finally did several large water changes and about a week later I saw a drop in alk and introduced the dosing pump again. After that the corals TOOK OFF! I'm up to 150ml today and my tank it thriving. Good luck.

very interesting... amazing tank BTW

 

[Scubabum]

very interesting... amazing tank BTW

Thank you. One thing I forgot to mention was I treated the tank with Fluconozole for a mild case of Bryopsis and noticed the zero consumption shortly after the treatment was over. Not sure if something in the Flucon caused something to get out of balance or wack. It did work for the bryopsis though. Just worth mentioning.

 

[wesman42]

Thank you. One thing I forgot to mention was I treated the tank with Fluconozole for a mild case of Bryopsis and noticed the zero consumption shortly after the treatment was over. Not sure if something in the Flucon caused something to get out of balance or wack. It did work for the bryopsis though. Just worth mentioning.

Hmm okay...well I am considering running GFO or PhosGuard. I have disconnected my doser for the time being. I'd it possible for Phosphates to be a limiting factor here?

I have a bubble algae problem and I was going to consider vibrant but here's no way I'm doing that without running either gfo or PhosGuard. The PhosGuard I already have so I might try running it.

 

[Scubabum]

Hmm okay...well I am considering running GFO or PhosGuard. I have disconnected my doser for the time being. I'd it possible for Phosphates to be a limiting factor here?

I have a bubble algae problem and I was going to consider vibrant but here's no way I'm doing that without running either gfo or PhosGuard. The PhosGuard I already have so I might try running it.

Sounds like a solid plan. I just went back to your Original post. I didn't see your Phosphate levels before. The highest my Phosphate got while doing the Flucon treatment was .12. I had to remove my Algae Turf scrubber which normally keeps my tanks phosphate and nitrate relatively low. Just to throw another thing out there, since you brought up Vibrant. I used it a couple of times for Bubble Algae and it worked. Took a ton of doses. After every time I've used it, I wound up with Cyano. Always seem to be some kind of side effect for me but the products work.

 

[wesman42]

Sounds like a solid plan. I just went back to your Original post. I didn't see your Phosphate levels before. The highest my Phosphate got while doing the Flucon treatment was .12. I had to remove my Algae Turf scrubber which normally keeps my tanks phosphate and nitrate relatively low. Just to throw another thing out there, since you brought up Vibrant. I used it a couple of times for Bubble Algae and it worked. Took a ton of doses. After every time I've used it, I wound up with Cyano. Always seem to be some kind of side effect for me but the products work.

Well then it looks like I'll be using PhosGuard in a reactor for a while I'm not sure I have enough room for a Turf Scrubber...unless it can go in my fuge. There's a lot going on and it's all packed in there lol. Did you have reoccuring bubble algae?

 

[Scubabum]

Well then it looks like I'll be using PhosGuard in a reactor for a while I'm not sure I have enough room for a Turf Scrubber...unless it can go in my fuge. There's a lot going on and it's all packed in there lol. Did you have reoccuring bubble algae?

If you're running a fuge, A Scrubber would not be necessary. I wish I had room in the Reefer sump for a fuge over the turf scrubber. I did have reoccurring bubble algae. I did not go long enough on the first treatment of Vibrant. After the 2nd treatment the Bubble algae turned clear and I haven't seen it since.

 

[reefwiser]

That treatment will stop corals in their track for a few months. I find that watching what I do to the aquarium and then watching the alk take up gives me a good judge of how the coral react to adjustments or changes I make in the aquarium.

 

[miPapareef]

I’m sure pH has a big impact on Alk consumption. If I seal up the house or have a lot of people over Alk consumption goes to down significantly. This is the reason I look at pH. It’s a real time indicator that leads, or predicts, Alk consumption.

Here’s a post I made earlier today with some data to show what I mean.
Battlecorals Snipes Blue Discussion Thread

 

[wesman42]

I’m sure pH has a big impact on Alk consumption. If I seal up the house or have a lot of people over Alk consumption goes to down significantly. This is the reason I look at pH. It’s a real time indicator that leads, or predicts, Alk consumption.

Here’s a post I made earlier today with some data to show what I mean.
Battlecorals Snipes Blue Discussion Thread

I run a fuge with chaeto, have an air-line from my skimmer drilled through the house to outside, and I run an opposite 12hr light period in DT and fuge. My pH doesn't really fluctuate that much....I haven't tested it recently but when I first started dosing I was testing it several times a day.

We have all gas appliances so I noticed my pH was dropping significantly when cooking, doing laundry etc. That's why I have the skimmer like e outside.

 

[wesman42]

So a quick update....I ran 1/2 the recommended PhosGuard in a reactor for a few days. To my utter surprise....Phosphates are down to 0.05 only 2 full days into running it.

Alk is coming down slowly....I really.think phosphate was limiting in my situation!

Thanks for everyone's help.

 

[Reefpro]

That treatment will stop corals in their track for a few months. I find that watching what I do to the aquarium and then watching the alk take up gives me a good judge of how the coral react to adjustments or changes I make in the aquarium.

So your saying vibrant caused the corals to stop uptakinn KH and Alk?

 

[reefwiser]

There are many things that cause corals to stop growing. Any time you changing the environment that corals live in they will stop and adjust till things are to their liking.

 

[Katrina71]

Thanks for posting this. I'm about to start dosing soon. This gave me food for thought.

 

[mdbronco]

Interesting as I’m in about 2 months of a similar issue and the start coincided with me dosing AlgaeFix for stubborn dictyota. AlgaeFix def worked for me, but I always wondered what it was doing to micro algae and how that might affect my corals. All corals did fine and seemed unaffected, but right around that point stopped consuming Calc, alk etc.

I also had/have a few things underway so could be a complete coincidence.