Alkalinity is up - Biohome Media

[BetteMidler]

Curious about my Alkalinity. I neglected the tank for quite a while, many months of just filling up the ATO, feeding a single fish, cleaning the glass. I have done a few water changes over the last month to clean up a pretty bad Caulerpa sp. explosion that was ripped out if the rockwork. I'm using Nyos salt.

40g breeder tank with 75lbs of live rock & 40lbs of special Grade sand that was originally Rinsed.

No skimmer, using a canister, UV, & Algae Reactor.

The canister only has the pre filter that gets cleaned regularly & 5lbs of Biohome Ultimate Marine Media Saltwater in the remaining baskets.

It's been over 6 months since I tested parameters other than Temp/Salinity. I don't have any corals & little coralline algae. Salifert test used

Temp 77.8
Salinity 35ppt
PH 8.4
Alk 10.2
Calcium 380
Nitrates 2

I thought my Alkalinity test was messed up as it has never been that high & I don't dose anything. I checked a fresh batch of Nyos salt that was also 35ppt & it's Alkalinity was 7.3. I tested the tank again & it was still 10.2.

Would the lack of corals, plus the Bio-media keep my Alkalinity? I figured after so much neglect my parameters would be all out of wack, but everything was fine.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Could be a number of things, both adding and consuming alkalinity, but in general, trying to figure out the why of such complicated processes typically is not worthwhile. :)

 

[BetteMidler]

Could be a number of things, both adding and consuming alkalinity, but in general, trying to figure out the why of such complicated processes typically is not worthwhile. :)

I thought about removing the biomedia from the canister filter one basket at a time to assess its impact on the water quality. Not sure if it could be contributing to a problem or if it is beneficial.

I am frustrated after not having corals & for over a year with only a single fish. I want to ensure stability before investing in corals again. This has been a learning process.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I thought about removing the biomedia from the canister filter one basket at a time to assess its impact on the water quality. Not sure if it could be contributing to a problem or if it is beneficial.

I am frustrated after not having corals & for over a year with only a single fish. I want to ensure stability before investing in corals again. This has been a learning process.

What problem might it be causing? i see no reason to be worrying about it.

 

[BetteMidler]

What problem might it be causing? i see no reason to be worrying about it.

Back when I was researching canister filters, I believe the consensus was the biomedia was not needed in the filter.
At this point, I don't think the canister filter is the problem with my system. I am just not getting the success I thought I would with keeping corals. I just looked at what I paid for corals last year, it was $200 for a variety of 10 SPS corals. Defiantly was too early for that. I guess it could be in a lot worse.
When I come on here and see people start up and share their success, it is just a bit frustrating to struggle with my own tank.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Back when I was researching canister filters, I believe the consensus was the biomedia was not needed in the filter.
At this point, I don't think the canister filter is the problem with my system. I am just not getting the success I thought I would with keeping corals. I just looked at what I paid for corals last year, it was $200 for a variety of 10 SPS corals. Defiantly was too early for that. I guess it could be in a lot worse.
When I come on here and see people start up and share their success, it is just a bit frustrating to struggle with my own tank.

The biomedia may not be doing anything useful, but if nitrate is 2 ppm, rather than 200 ppm, it's also not hurting anything. :)

 

[dinojohn]

I thought about removing the biomedia from the canister filter one basket at a time to assess its impact on the water quality. Not sure if it could be contributing to a problem or if it is beneficial.

I am frustrated after not having corals & for over a year with only a single fish. I want to ensure stability before investing in corals again. This has been a learning process.

 

[dinojohn]

I would go to a sump, and get rid of the canister to keep things more stable