Alk testing time of day

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I always hear to test at the same time of day, but I wonder if its that big of a deal where I dose 4 or 5 ml of all for reef throughout the day. Where all for reef isn't an immediate adjustment but takes a few days, I wonder if it'd all level out and if I wanted to test earlier in the day than I'd be fine? Thoughts?

 

[Catawba_Valley_Reef]

I think you would be fine to test earlier. You may get a little bit higher reading earlier in the photo period.

My trident tests alk three times a day. At 10 am when lights come on, at 4 pm halfway through photo period and at 10 pm when lights go off. The alk reading is always lowest at the 4 pm test. This also coincides with the pH being at its highest point….so corals are utilizing more alk during this period.

If I tested manually at 10 am one day and 4 pm the next my readings would be different based on alk consumption…so I believe this is why it’s best to do the same time each day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don’t think it typically takes several days for AFR alk to become detectable.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

I don’t think it typically takes several days for AFR alk to become detectable.

Is it just the initial doses take time to become measurable until the bacteria that break down AFR become established then? Or only the calcium that takes a few days? I know i was told that I needed to wait a few days to test my water and adjust my AFR doses.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Is it just the initial doses take time to become measurable until the bacteria that break down AFR become established then? Or only the calcium that takes a few days? I know i was told that I needed to wait a few days to test my water and adjust my AFR doses.

Still takes time, but yes, the initial doses can be longer. Most folks monitoring think that once up and running, the time is hours, not days.

 

[Nor'easter Reefer]

Still takes time, but yes, the initial doses can be longer. Most folks monitoring think that once up and running, the time is hours, not days.

Oh ok! Well thats an interesting development. I manually test vs a trident or any of the other automation options and if my alk was dropping I'd wait to retest till day 2 or 3 assuming it took that long to break the AFR down.