Alkalinity dropping in new tank?

[STEEZY]

Hello, I have just started a new tank and am surprised to see the alkalinity drops about .5 dkh a day. It’s a IM 20 gallon tank, so about ~15 gallons of water volume with live rock and everything and I have been dosing 3ml Red Sea alkalinity every day to keep it stable. But I am surprised because I was under the impression I wouldn’t need to dose for the first few months. Any insight into why this might be happening or is it normal?

 

[lapin]

As the tank matures a lot of things will use up nutrients and other chemicals in the water. It will stabilize after a while.

 

[Ultra Aquatics]

Do you have any corals in the tank yet?

 

[STEEZY]

No corals in there yet, so really surprised!

Do you have any corals in the tank yet?

 

[STEEZY]

As the tank is less than a month old, this is quite a surprise, unexpected, though isn’t it? I don’t understand why it’s dropping, there is nothing to use alkalinity yet?

As the tank matures a lot of things will use up nutrients and other chemicals in the water. It will stabilize after a while.

 

[Vested]

As the tank is less than a month old, this is quite a surprise, unexpected, though isn’t it? I don’t understand why it’s dropping, there is nothing to use alkalinity yet?

totally normal

 

[Rmckoy]

With no corals .
there is really nothing that requires the addition of alkalinity .

I wouldn’t dose but maintain levels with water changes .
Starting to dose this early is not necessary

 

[lapin]

As the tank is less than a month old, this is quite a surprise, unexpected, though isn’t it? I don’t understand why it’s dropping, there is nothing to use alkalinity yet?

You can learn something new every day.
Its back to school time
lesson #8

Lesson 8: Nitrification and Denitrification

 

[Dj A-Ron]

This exact thing happened to my tank. My tank is now 1 year old this week and is just now starting to not require as much alkalinity supplement. My tank is a 65 gallon system and was at times requiring 120ml of soda ash per day! It would drop from 8dkh to 6.5 in a day. If I left it alone it would stabilize around 5.5 or so. I did have some corals so was trying my darnedest to keep the levels up. I thought that was crazy so asked the same question as you. Some explained it as part of the nitrogen cycle. Some others claimed that it was because I used dry rock and sand and the rock and sand were absorbing it.

When I would test Calcium and Magnesium those levels were fine so I wasn’t really dosing them much because some other reefers said that it was okay to only dose for Alkalinity and not the others to keep proper parameters. However, I decided to just dose calcium and magnesium anyway even though levels seemed fine. Then I finally noticed that the Alkalinity wasn’t absorbed nearly as quickly. Maybe try dosing some Calcium and Magnesium just to see what happens to your Alk consumption.

After about 5-6 months I ended up getting a Trident and that really changed everything for me. I know can keep my dosing super dialed in. I’m now dosing about 60ml of Alk and Cal per day. I do have quite a few corals now.

Again, I’m still new to the hobby so take my advice with a grain a salt but just thought I’d throw my experiences out there to ya. Good luck and have fun

 

[STEEZY]

You can learn something new every day.
Its back to school time
lesson #8

Lesson 8: Nitrification and Denitrification

ok so what I understand from this article is that the nitrification process consumes alkalinity….

so I guess I’ll keep dosing as it is consuming alkalinity faster than weekly water changes would replenish.

 

[STEEZY]

This exact thing happened to my tank. My tank is now 1 year old this week and is just now starting to not require as much alkalinity supplement. My tank is a 65 gallon system and was at times requiring 120ml of soda ash per day! It would drop from 8dkh to 6.5 in a day. If I left it alone it would stabilize around 5.5 or so. I did have some corals so was trying my darnedest to keep the levels up. I thought that was crazy so asked the same question as you. Some explained it as part of the nitrogen cycle. Some others claimed that it was because I used dry rock and sand and the rock and sand were absorbing it.

When I would test Calcium and Magnesium those levels were fine so I wasn’t really dosing them much because some other reefers said that it was okay to only dose for Alkalinity and not the others to keep proper parameters. However, I decided to just dose calcium and magnesium anyway even though levels seemed fine. Then I finally noticed that the Alkalinity wasn’t absorbed nearly as quickly. Maybe try dosing some Calcium and Magnesium just to see what happens to your Alk consumption.

After about 5-6 months I ended up getting a Trident and that really changed everything for me. I know can keep my dosing super dialed in. I’m now dosing about 60ml of Alk and Cal per day. I do have quite a few corals now.

Again, I’m still new to the hobby so take my advice with a grain a salt but just thought I’d throw my experiences out there to ya. Good luck and have fun

Thank you, this is very helpful and I appreciate your response. I might get some all for reef since my tank isn’t too large to simplify dosing everything.

 

[KGV]

Abiotic precipitation, snails and other life use alk for building shells, and nitrification process.