Alk consumption

[Undertaker]

my tank seems to be consuming 1dkh more than normal almost overnight.
I have a reefer 350 85g total water. about 100lb live rock with a good bit of coralline,2 head hammer, 20 to 25 head duncan, 6head acan and a small cyphastrea, 6 head trumpet, with two colonies of zoas, and a few softies. I'm running to Hydra 26hds.
my parameters are as
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
nitrate 5
phosphate 0-.03
ph 8.0 -8.2
temp 75.1 - 75.7
dkh 8.5
cal 450
mag 1320
the only thing that has changed recently is I got rid of a tuxedo urchin two weeks ago. I have been dosing 60ml a day for months with no issues. keeping a steady 8.5. testing once a week. sunday i tested and it was at 6.4. normally if I test before dosing it its around 7.5. I dose 60ml manually alk in the pm after lights out and 60ml cal in the morning before work. Could the coralline and LPS corals be consuming that much more alk?

 

[Ocelaris]

That seems like a good big swing, any chance you're at the end of your test kit and it may have been fouled or left open to air a long time? What test kit are you using? I accidentally messed up a reagant bottle once, had to toss it. Can you cross reference with a lfs test?

 

[Undertaker]

That seems like a good big swing, any chance you're at the end of your test kit and it may have been fouled or left open to air a long time? What test kit are you using? I accidentally messed up a reagant bottle once, had to toss it. Can you cross reference with a lfs test?

Im using the Hanna Checker and actually it is a brand new bottle of reagent

 

[Undertaker]

Im using the Hanna Checker and actually it is a brand new bottle of reagent

the closest fish store is 1hr away. I buy all my products from BRS

 

[Brien]

With situations like that I like to do a big water change, test my water the next day and then again a week later. Get a fresh baseline and see where your at in a week.

 

[Undertaker]

With situations like that I like to do a big water change, test my water the next day and then again a week later. Get a fresh baseline and see where your at in a week.[/


Thanks I will try that

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

my tank seems to be consuming 1dkh more than normal almost overnight.
I have a reefer 350 85g total water. about 100lb live rock with a good bit of coralline,2 head hammer, 20 to 25 head duncan, 6head acan and a small cyphastrea, 6 head trumpet, with two colonies of zoas, and a few softies. I'm running to Hydra 26hds.
my parameters are as
nitrite 0
ammonia 0
nitrate 5
phosphate 0-.03
ph 8.0 -8.2
temp 75.1 - 75.7
dkh 8.5
cal 450
mag 1320
the only thing that has changed recently is I got rid of a tuxedo urchin two weeks ago. I have been dosing 60ml a day for months with no issues. keeping a steady 8.5. testing once a week. sunday i tested and it was at 6.4. normally if I test before dosing it its around 7.5. I dose 60ml manually alk in the pm after lights out and 60ml cal in the morning before work. Could the coralline and LPS corals be consuming that much more alk?

A soft coral tank with good coralline growth can consume 2 dKH per day, so increased coralline could explain the result.

 

[Brew12]

Especially with an urchin no longer consuming the coralline.