Alk question...

[djbetterly]

So I've always been under the impression that having alk between 8-9 is ideal for a mixed reef tank. I'm questioning this because I was at the manhattan frag swap yesterday and talking with some of the coral vendors and they were telling me the optimal range was 10-11. I was a bit baffled....Anyone care to chime in?

 

[twilliard]

Hi Dustin!
Imo its all about your available nutrients.
If you run in the 11 range with o nutrients you may see burnt tips and faded corals.

 

[djbetterly]

ok, and what if you run with nutrients, say .05 PO4 and 5ppm NO3? Just throwing some arbitrary numbers out there so I can get an understanding of this.

 

[twilliard]

Then you would be fine to push the ALK up :-)
The tissues will grow with the rate of calcification

 

[djbetterly]

Is there any advantage or disadvantage? What would you say is ideal for mixed reef?

 

[twilliard]

Growth is the only advantage to me. But honestly I am after color and not exploding growth so they don't outgrow my tank too fast.
I have a mixed reef and my ALK is 8 but optimal would be different for other tanks

 

[djbetterly]

OK. I know you run triton, as do I. I'm all about color, but I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more growth as well.

 

[twilliard]

Ya with your no3 and po4 numbers you can bump up your ALK slowly and not by too much and get more calcification.
Keep up with your feedings as to not pale out :-)

 

[djbetterly]

I feed the neptune crossover once a day and reefroids once a week. My nitrates are creeping back up a bit so I'm being careful. As of last night they were at around 8ppm. I suspect the culprit is my dsb. I wouldn't have one if weren't for my love of jawfish. I started dosing redsea nopox today and will run my fuge light 24/7 for a few days and see what happens.

 

[djbetterly]

Also, my fuge has chaeto and dragons breath. The dragons breath doesn't seem to be doing as well as the chaeto. Any other thoughts on what will eat nitrates up?

 

[twilliard]

Ya 8 is pushing the boundary
If you have a diverse macro farm the no3 should stay in check.
I have to dose no3 cause of my love for algaes :-)

 

[djbetterly]

Also, my fuge has chaeto and dragons breath. The dragons breath doesn't seem to be doing as well as the chaeto. Any other thoughts on what will eat nitrates up?

Did you see the above as well?

 

[twilliard]

Did you see the above as well?

Posted at the same time..
Jump on unique corals website.
They usually have the algaes that work great with Triton
Also skimming, I forget what skimmer you are using

 

[djbetterly]

It's a reef octopus 160 classic. Way overrated for my tank. Always have good sludge coming out of it.

 

[BW208]

I heard this also and was confused. I can not get my alk above 8 anyway. But I too run a mixed reef. I also always have zero n03. I am assuming because of my huge chaeto ball.

 

[twilliard]

I heard this also and was confused. I can not get my alk above 8 anyway. But I too run a mixed reef. I also always have zero n03. I am assuming because of my huge chaeto ball.

With 0 no3 I wouldn't go over 8DKH

 

[BW208]

Is there a reason I should try get my n03 up? I was always told 0 n03 was best?

 

[twilliard]

It's a reef octopus 160 classic. Way overrated for my tank. Always have good sludge coming out of it.

More algaes Dustin!
Cheato itself will not consume enough no3 to lower the tank.
I have about 8 different ones.. wish I knew the names of them lol

 

[twilliard]

Is there a reason I should try get my n03 up? I was always told 0 n03 was best?

0 no3 is ok as long as the ALK isn't pushed.
If you have somewhat pale corals then no3 and trace po4 will help the zooxanthellae

 

[BW208]

Yea it seems like my corals do. Get pale. I wonder if that's why. I recently started using acro power and also feeding coral frenzy and oyster feast thinking maybe it would help with the color. Maybe I need more n03?