ALK being absorbed fast

[Noobreefer84]

Hello all

I’m fairly new to keeping sps and curious if my alk consumption seems normal.

I currently 6 sps frags that have all started to encrust mixed with some LPS and a monti cap.

I was getting Alk drop by about 0.2 a day and was manually dosing 5ml of Two Little Fish 2 part to keep up. I’ve added a a couple frags and 2 hammers (5 heads total).

I am now dropping Alk quite a bit faster. Today I tested at 1pm and it was 8.4 and tested again at 730pm and it was 7.8.

I just bumped up my 2 part dosing to 12.5ml over 24 hours (I have an auto doser now).

2.5ml of Two Little Fish 2 part to keep = 0.1 Alk for my tank.

I also run the lights from 12pm to 11pm with a 1.5hr ramp up and down included in that. I know Alk gets consumed faster during the day.

Does this seem like an odd amount given the take stock?

 

[Cichlid Dad]

What are you testing with

 

[Noobreefer84]

What are you testing with

Hannah tester

 

[Cichlid Dad]

Hannah tester

Do you have another test kit like salufert to see if it's a testing error?

 

[Flux Capacitor]

Test the same time each day. My ALK consumption is highest during light period. If I test twice a day I get the same type of results you are, which I see as normal. When I test the same time each day my ALK is little changed from the day before.

 

[SliceGolfer]

Also check nitrate and see if it is rising. As nitrate rises, a small bit of Alk is consumed.

 

[Noobreefer84]

No sadly it’s the only tester I have

 

[Noobreefer84]

Thanks. I’ll go back to my 10ml a day and test daily for the next 3 to 4 days and see what the drop is and adjust if needed. Was more curious if the alk consumption seemed normal for the stock on a 33g tank. Probably 25g after rock and sand

 

[Flux Capacitor]

I don’t think your consumption is that big of a change. I had a tank in the past that had around 8 small frags in it, and I was consuming 1.5 dkh a day. Is there a lot of coralline growth? That could be a factor.

 

[Noobreefer84]

I don’t think your consumption is that big of a change. I had a tank in the past that had around 8 small frags in it, and I was consuming 1.5 dkh a day. Is there a lot of coralline growth? That could be a factor.

No coralline currently other than the snails that are covered in it. Rock is Caribsea life rock so if it’s staters on the rock I can’t tell lol.

My assumption is that as the frags settled in and are now encrusting they are absorbing more. Compared to when they first went in and needed to adjust to being cut and recover.