Alk not dropping, SPS not growing

[Bbio]

My alk is completely stable at 9.
pH fluctuates between 7.7-8 night to day
Calcium is completely stable at 450
Mag is completely stable at 1290
Nitrate fluctuates between 3-5
Phosphate fluctuates between 0.02-0.05

I never see a drop in alk/Ca/Mg. Testing all 3 with hanna.

I run a protein skimmer who’s cup only needs to be emptied once a month or so and a chaeto fuge with a photo period of 6 hours at night for pods for my mated mandarins.

I only change my filter socks when they completely clog and overflow (about 1.5 weeks) and only do 10% water changes once a month to maintain N/P.

190 system, 150 display with 8 fish, 30 inverts, and 25 corals/frags getting 100-250 PAR

All my corals look healthy and colorful but only the zoas, pipe organ, gorgonian and mushrooms are growing, LPS open big and bulbous but are not growing and I’ve had them for about 5-6 months. SPS I’ve had for about a month and have seen no growth at all. They look the same as when I got them, some even look worse.

 

[Saltyreef]

I assume you are not dosing but how about water changes?

 

[RedReefer]

Tank looks kinda new. I don't really see coraline algae? Once you get the coraline growing good your sps will grow too. What salt are you using? What is your feeding routine? Looks like you need more nutrients.

 

[winxp_man]

Just recently my buddies two Hanna alk readers where reading 9. And this alk was at 8.5 tops. I told him to get calibration solution. He did and the readers where reading 8.3-8.5 and solution was set at 7.8 or 7.9, can’t remember which one, either way both where off.

I recommend icp test once a month.

 

[Bbio]

I assume you are not dosing but how about water changes?

Not dosing anything. Just doing 10% water changes every month.

 

[Bbio]

Tank looks kinda new. I don't really see coraline algae? Once you get the coraline growing good your sps will grow too. What salt are you using? What is your feeding routine? Looks like you need more nutrients.

Tank is 10 months young. The overflow is completely covered in coraline with some spots on the back glass and rocks. This is an older pic so there is a little more on the back glass. I’m doing 10% water changes with Red Sea Coral pro which bumps my alk up to 9.1-9.2 after a water change but over a month is goes back to around 9 (could be testing errors) but I haven’t seen it go lower.

 

[Bbio]

Just recently my buddies two Hanna alk readers where reading 9. And this alk was at 8.5 tops. I told him to get calibration solution. He did and the readers where reading 8.3-8.5 and solution was set at 7.8 or 7.9, can’t remember which one, either way both where off.

I recommend icp test once a month.

I got my water tested at my LFS about 6 months ago with their aqua spin and it was pretty spot on to what u was getting at home. But I haven’t had my water tested any other time by anyone but myself. My wife’s lab does ICP testing for soil and said they can do my tank water also.

 

[exnisstech]

I don't see anything in the tank that would be a big consumer of alk so maybe WCs are enough to keep up. Some SPS are slow to start growing. I've had some stagnate for months after being added. 100 - 250 par is on the low side for many SPS. My SPS tank was getting 300 on the bottom and 500+ up high.

 

[Bbio]

I don't see anything in the tank that would be a big consumer of alk so maybe WCs are enough to keep up. Some SPS are slow to start growing. I've had some stagnate for months after being added. 100 - 250 par is on the low side for many SPS. My SPS tank was getting 300 on the bottom and 500+ up high.

What about the hand sized Monti plate and the regulation football sized pipe organ? I also have 2 small branching montis and an encrusting Monti frag. Would all that still be quite marginal in a 150g tank?

 

[Saltyreef]

Tank is 10 months young. The overflow is completely covered in coraline with some spots on the back glass and rocks. This is an older pic so there is a little more on the back glass. I’m doing 10% water changes with Red Sea Coral pro which bumps my alk up to 9.1-9.2 after a water change but over a month is goes back to around 9 (could be testing errors) but I haven’t seen it go lower.

Coral pro is a niche salt product.
I would advise switching to blue bucket if you are going to stick with redsea.
i have a rule of thumb to keep salt mix and tank around the same parameters. It makes it much easier to manage and keeps swings to a minimum.

 

[exnisstech]

I don't think pipe organs are large consumers of alk but I could be wrong. Monti can be when they are large. I run this 330g tank using IO purple and I'm only dosing 20ml of ESV two part daily. I mean I'm dosing but it isn't much and there's quite a few coral. My tanks don't really come together until at least a year running usually longer and every one is different as far as coral growth. Sometimes I'll move stuff that is stagnant and it will take off in the new tank. It's weird but they all seem have differences.