Another Alk Q.

G Santana

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I recently measured my alk and found it to be really low. 6.0, my tank is 130 gal with a 30 gallon long sump. But I guesstimate that after displacement I have closer to closer to 110 if that, 100 at the low end in actual water volume.

I did a 30 gallon water change 5 days ago and started dosing the minimum dose of AFR 20 ml daily.

Today these were my numbers

HANNA
Alk 7.2
Cal. 420
P04 .040

Salifert

N03 2
PH. 8.15
Mg. 1410

Salinity 1.025


I looked at the BRS calculator and calculated that I need .5oz of baking soda to raise it to 8.2

My questions are:
Do I raise it all at once or wait longer to see if the AFR boosts it slowly

At what point can I start stocking a few test acros, I feel that after 8 months of patience and due diligence my tank has finally matured. It's been several weeks since I had any alge GHA rear its head and the tank looks great.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!!
 

dwest

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I recently measured my alk and found it to be really low. 6.0, my tank is 130 gal with a 30 gallon long sump. But I guesstimate that after displacement I have closer to closer to 110 if that, 100 at the low end in actual water volume.

I did a 30 gallon water change 5 days ago and started dosing the minimum dose of AFR 20 ml daily.

Today these were my numbers

HANNA
Alk 7.2
Cal. 420
P04 .040

Salifert

N03 2
PH. 8.15
Mg. 1410

Salinity 1.025


I looked at the BRS calculator and calculated that I need .5oz of baking soda to raise it to 8.2

My questions are:
Do I raise it all at once or wait longer to see if the AFR boosts it slowly

At what point can I start stocking a few test acros, I feel that after 8 months of patience and due diligence my tank has finally matured. It's been several weeks since I had any alge GHA rear its head and the tank looks great.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!!
I don’t use AFR but I would keep using that to maintain both alkalinity and calcium. If you start using baking soda to control alkalinity, you will need to also use calcium chloride for calcium. It seems easier to just do AFR.

If your tank is 8 months old and other corals are growing, I would try an acro. If it doesn’t grow, wait a few months for the next tester. Good luck.
 

brmc1985

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I recently measured my alk and found it to be really low. 6.0, my tank is 130 gal with a 30 gallon long sump. But I guesstimate that after displacement I have closer to closer to 110 if that, 100 at the low end in actual water volume.

I did a 30 gallon water change 5 days ago and started dosing the minimum dose of AFR 20 ml daily.

Today these were my numbers

HANNA
Alk 7.2
Cal. 420
P04 .040

Salifert

N03 2
PH. 8.15
Mg. 1410

Salinity 1.025


I looked at the BRS calculator and calculated that I need .5oz of baking soda to raise it to 8.2

My questions are:
Do I raise it all at once or wait longer to see if the AFR boosts it slowly

At what point can I start stocking a few test acros, I feel that after 8 months of patience and due diligence my tank has finally matured. It's been several weeks since I had any alge GHA rear its head and the tank looks great.

Any input is greatly appreciated!!!
Definitely increase the dose of AFR so that your alk stays stable from day to day. From there, it is suggested that you use something like a 2 part to increase your numbers to where you want them and, use AFR to maintain alk and calc and not “gain”. Oh and, 7.2 isn’t that low of a number. If your corals are growing still then there is no need to boost the alk quickly. Nothing good happens quickly in reefing. Also, check TM’s website for the calculator. 20mls a day is roughly .25 dkh for your tank. So if your corals use more alk than that your alk will keep dropping. You can estimate how many dkh your tank goes through a day(or better yet 3 days at the same time) and adjust your dose from there.
 
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Spieg

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I don't use AFR, but from what I've read, it can take several days after dosing for the Alk component to be released. Many have said they increased dose too early and ended up overshooting their goal.
 
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G Santana

G Santana

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I don't use AFR, but from what I've read, it can take several days after dosing for the Alk component to be released. Many have said they increased dose too early and ended up overshooting their goal.
That was something I had in mind, I'll wait another week or so before I try any adjustments and give the AFR time to find its level.
 

brmc1985

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That was something I had in mind, I'll wait another week or so before I try any adjustments and give the AFR time to find its level.
@Lou Ekus might know better but I think that 5 days would be enough time for the results to show. At least test how much your alk drops per day and adjust your dosing from there as that should be able to calculate your dose for maintenance.
 

Lou Ekus

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@Lou Ekus might know better but I think that 5 days would be enough time for the results to show. At least test how much your alk drops per day and adjust your dosing from there as that should be able to calculate your dose for maintenance.
Different tanks take different amounts of time for the alkalinity to show. The best approach is to maintain your alk values during the transition with some bicarbonate, and adjust the AFR as needed to stay there. You should certainly see things reacting by the 5 day point.
 
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