Alk parameters for lps

[nycxdinorex]

Hi. I know this is a pretty vague question and has many answer, but i was wondering what is a good parameter for alk in a mixed reef of lps and softies? Im just curious at what parameters you guys keep it at. Thanks for the info

 

[Magic031707]

Hi. I know this is a pretty vague question and has many answer, but i was wondering what is a good parameter for alk in a mixed reef of lps and softies? Im just curious at what parameters you guys keep it at. Thanks for the info

IMO, between 7-9. I think natural sea is between those numbers, I could be wrong

 

[caddnima_reef]

The key i believe is stability, pick a number, and go with it. What I believe is happening, is you are actually trying to find your consumption. Once you levelled it to the number you decided, you also figured out your consumption. For reference, I am at 8.5 dkh

 

[Tiki_Reef]

My tank is mixed with a clam and I keep mine at 9.5, as stated stability is the key pick a number and peg it there.

 

[UnderseaOddities]

Probably 8.2 to 8.6 is where you would wanna try yo keep it as that is prime for growth although you can keep it 7 on low end(close to natural seawater) but 8.9 to 9 seems to be the threshold in which other things begin to change and fluctuate with the alk,


The main thing first is finding a good 3 part weather you mix your own,buy bottle or run ca reactor and dose mag and all seperate,

Consumption is key you need to figure out how much you tank swings at what time and adjust accordingly buy you also have to dose calcium to keep levels in balance then mag 3rd


Io reef crystal and fritz rpm and tropic marin all mix at around 8 to 8.6 at a salinity of 1.025

So imo those are the base salts ive tried and liked each has pros and cons reef Crystal's cheap mixes consistent but mixes dirty sometimes leaving residuals fritz mixes well but is inconsistent in cal and mag and tropic marin is the best imo but is hard to import sometimes bc its german

Kent is also overlooked and is a very good salt used on the west coast since the 90s but is hard to come by and is locally available only sometimes


As far as 3 part I like brs powders, esv bionic 3 part bottles, aquaforest component abc and another good powder is tropic marins 3 part

I would avoid aio as imo they're snake oil as one of the big three will always drop before the others leaving an imbalance these are only good for beginners or nano tank keeper but anything over 20 gallons your gonna wanna keep ur eggs in seperate baskets

 

[UnderseaOddities]

The main thing is figuring out the sweet spot for you if your tank is small enough you might just get away with a 10 to 35% wc daily and end up dosing less depending on livestock


But like I said main thing is figuring out usage daily and then setting a dosing pump to dose accordingly to compensate for swings

 

[UnderseaOddities]

But to be honest with you if there are mo sps you can get away without dosing completely along as you keep salinty 1.025 alk 8.2 to 8.6 cal 420 to 450 mag 1400 to 1450

This can be achieved by weekly wc or wc 2x a week on systems under 40g
10 to 35%
System over 40g 35% wc a day


If you can 25 to 35% wc a day is optimum most marine wholesalers keep they're system on a daily wc even if your doing 10% a day it's like flushing the toilet that's how corals grow in the wild a surge comes through and sweeps away the waste and bring oxygen and 23 new trace minerals with the change in current

A waterchange replicates this phenomenon and is overlooked wee look at as a hassle to the coral it is vital in a closed system to have fresh water transported to them daily as chloride ions builds up over time without wc

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Here’s my recommendation and rationale from one of my articles:

Optimal Parameters for a Coral Reef Aquarium: By Randy Holmes-Farley

[note: edited on 5/29/2022 to update the nitrate and phosphate sections with higher recommended levels.] One of the main roles of an aquarist with a coral reef aquarium is to ensure that the conditions are right for their tank inhabitants. There are many different attributes of the aquarium...

www.reef2reef.com

Alkalinity

Like calcium, many corals also use "alkalinity" to form their skeletons, which are composed primarily of calcium carbonate. It is generally believed that corals take up bicarbonate, convert it into carbonate, and then use that carbonate to form calcium carbonate skeletons. That conversion process is shown as:

HCO3- → CO3-- + H+

Bicarbonate → Carbonate + proton (which is released from the coral)

To ensure that corals have an adequate supply of bicarbonate for calcification, aquarists could just measure bicarbonate directly. Designing a test kit for bicarbonate, however, is somewhat more complicated than for alkalinity. Consequently, the use of alkalinity as a surrogate measure for bicarbonate is deeply entrenched in the reef aquarium hobby.

So, what is alkalinity? Alkalinity in a marine aquarium is simply a measure of the amount of acid (H+) required to reduce the pH to about 4.5, where all bicarbonate is converted into carbonic acid as follows:

HCO3- + H+ → H2CO3

The amount of acid needed is equal to the amount of bicarbonate present, so when performing an alkalinity titration with a test kit, you are “counting†the number of bicarbonate ions present. It is not, however, quite that simple since some other ions also take up acid during the titration. Both borate and carbonate also contribute to the measurement of alkalinity, but the bicarbonate dominates these other ions since they are generally lower in concentration than bicarbonate. So knowing the total alkalinity is akin to, but not exactly the same as, knowing how much bicarbonate is available to corals. In any case, total alkalinity is the standard that aquarists use for this purpose.

Unlike the calcium concentration, it is widely believed that certain organisms calcify more quickly at alkalinity levels higher than those in normal seawater. This result has also been demonstrated in the scientific literature, which has shown that adding bicarbonate to seawater increases the rate of calcification in some corals. Uptake of bicarbonate can consequently become rate limiting in many corals. This may be partly due to the fact that the external bicarbonate concentration is not large to begin with (relative to, for example, the calcium concentration, which is effectively about 5 times higher).

For these reasons, alkalinity maintenance is a critical aspect of coral reef aquarium husbandry. In the absence of supplementation, alkalinity will rapidly drop as corals use up much of what is present in seawater. Water changes are not usually sufficient to maintain alkalinity unless there is very little calcification taking place. Most reef aquarists try to maintain alkalinity at levels at or slightly above those of normal seawater, although exactly what levels different aquarists target depends a bit on the goals of their aquaria.

Interestingly, because some corals may calcify faster at higher alkalinity levels, and because the abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation of calcium carbonate on heaters and pumps also rises as alkalinity rises, the demand for alkalinity (and calcium) rises as the alkalinity rises. So an aquarist generally must dose more calcium and alkalinity EVERY DAY to maintain a higher alkalinity (say, 11 dKH) than to maintain 7 dKH. It is not just a one-time boost that is needed to make up that difference. In fact, calcification gets so slow as the alkalinity drops below 6 dKH that reef aquaria rarely get much below that point, even with no dosing: natural calcification has nearly stopped at that level.

In general, I suggest that aquarists maintain alkalinity between about 7-11 dKH (2.5 and 4 meq/L; 125-200 ppm CaCO3 equivalents). Many aquarists growing SPS corals and using Ultra Low Nutrient Systems (ULNS) have found that the corals suffer from “burnt tips†if the alkalinity is too high or changes too much. It is not at all clear why this is the case, but such aquaria are better served by alkalinity in the 7-8 dKH range.
As mentioned above, alkalinity levels above those in natural seawater increase the abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate on warm objects such as heaters and pump impellers, or sometimes even in sand beds. This precipitation not only wastes calcium and alkalinity that aquarists are carefully adding, but it also increases equipment maintenance requirements and can “damage†a sand bed, hardening it into a chunk of limestone. When elevated alkalinity is driving this precipitation, it can also depress the calcium level. An excessively high alkalinity level can therefore create undesirable consequences.

I suggest that aquarists use a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive system of some sort for routine maintenance. The most popular of these balanced methods include limewater (kalkwasser), calcium carbonate/carbon dioxide reactors, and the two-part/three part additive systems.

For rapid alkalinity corrections, aquarists can simply use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) or washing soda (sodium carbonate; baked baking soda) to good effect. The latter raises pH as well as alkalinity while the former has a very small pH lowering effect. Mixtures can also be used, and are what many hobby chemical supply companies sell as “buffersâ€. Most often, sodium carbonate is preferred, however, since most tanks can be helped by a pH boost.