Alkalinity stabilization help

[saturn13]

Hi everyone,

I seem to have an issue with keeping my Alk stable. It seems to have to most movement. I tested on 11/11 before I went on vacation and it was at 9.6, the I tested yesterday when I got back and it was at 7.3 ppm. other parameters below. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

test on 11/22
salinity 1.026, 35ppt
temp 76.8
calcium 406 ppm same as 11/11
alkalinity 7.3 ppm, 9.6 on 11/11
phos 0.03 ppm, 0.04 on 11/11
nitrate 10 ppm, 10ppm on 11/11
ph 8.0- 8.2, 8.0 on 11/11
mag 1290, 1300 on 11/11

Thanks

 

[Macc]

I would be interested in some of the answers on this since I feel like I have the same problem.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'm confused. It sounds like alkalinity is decreasing, which is completely normal and why people dose alkalinity. Most reef tanks with growing hard corals and coralline algae need daily alkalinity additions.

 

[stanleo]

This helped me a lot to figure out how to stabilize my alkalinity.

Pharma Soda Ash 1-Gallon Mix (5 Pack)

Ultra-pure Grade Soda Ash for 2-part dosing in your reef tank! Bulk Reef Supply 2-part additives are the perfect solution to replenish the intake of calcium and alkalinity coral consumes when it grows. Using only pharmaceutical grade ingredients allows you to keep a cleaner reef with fewer...

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Read through the instructions and it will give you a clearer picture.

Basically, you need to raise your alk to the desired level. In my case it was 9 dkh. Once I did (over a few days because it is unsafe to raise alk by more than 1 dkh in a day). When you have it to desired level, test it, then test it again 24 hours later. That will tell you how much your tank is using in 24 hours. Then you use the BRS calculator that is linked on the page I posted to determine how much you need to dose daily to keep it stable. An auto doser is ideal for this. I love mine.



Doing this has worked wonders on my tank.

 

[Macc]

I'm confused. It sounds like alkalinity is decreasing, which is completely normal and why people dose alkalinity. Most reef tanks with growing hard corals and coralline algae need daily alkalinity additions.

What's the best way to dose that?

 

[stanleo]

What's the best way to dose that?

I use soda ash from BRS with an auto doser that doses soda ash 5 times a day to keep it stable. It works great for me. I included links to purchase the soda ash and the doser if you want to look into those in my previous post on this thread.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What's the best way to dose that?

There are many very good ways and no single best way. This article describes the pros and cons of the best ways:

The Many Methods for Supplementing Calcium and Alkalinity - REEFEDITION

 

[saturn13]

ok, I was more concerned over the 2.3ppm drop to 7.3

 

[saturn13]

It seemed like a lot over 10 days, i don't have hard corals, mostly soft and zoa's, some lps, acans doing well, blastos keep dying?, any other lps doing good but just a few frags in a 45 gallon frag tank. Thanks all for the info, I'll read into it.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It seemed like a lot over 10 days, i don't have hard corals, mostly soft and zoa's, some lps, acans doing well, blastos keep dying?, any other lps doing good but just a few frags in a 45 gallon frag tank. Thanks all for the info, I'll read into it.

Its not a lot. A soft coral tank can lose 2 dKH per day. Coralline uses a lot, as do a variety of other organisms (not just corals) and there is also abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate.

 

[stanleo]

It seemed like a lot over 10 days, i don't have hard corals, mostly soft and zoa's, some lps, acans doing well, blastos keep dying?, any other lps doing good but just a few frags in a 45 gallon frag tank. Thanks all for the info, I'll read into it.

My tank uses 0.5 dkh a day. So if yours uses 2.3 in 10 days that is just 0.23 dkh a day which is not a lot at all.

 

[saturn13]

Thanks everyone, this is helpful, I've been meaning on spending some money on doser, and monitoring, everything I do now is by hand.