Automated alk testing and adjusted dosing

BAMatter · Mar 7, 2024

For those who automate alk testing- do you let your controller adjust alkalinity, or just observe for trends and dose equally over 24/7? I have an X10 on one of my systems, and a Kamoer KH Carer on another. The more I test and observe the dosing amounts adjusted, the more I want to pull back from letting the controller adjust the alk amount dosed, and just test 2 times a day and observe upward/downward trends… seems like a lot is on the line when relying on something like a hobby grade PH , but I could be alone here…

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 7, 2024

There are folks who do each. :)

BAMatter · Mar 7, 2024

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
There are folks who do each. :)

I would assume successful both ways… guess what I’m interested in looking at is, does a “swing” of .5-.75dkh daily inhibit growth? Or can that be considered a fairly stable environment, due to the availability of elements that the corals need? I’m looking for less headaches and reliance on some of the more advanced tech reef keeping methods out there. Preferably to dose a set amount evenly over 24 hours as long as dkh doesn’t dramatically increase or decrease on a day to day basis given testing times are the same.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 7, 2024

BAMatter said:
I would assume successful both ways… guess what I’m interested in looking at is, does a “swing” of .5-.75dkh daily inhibit growth? Or can that be considered a fairly stable environment, due to the availability of elements that the corals need? I’m looking for less headaches and reliance on some of the more advanced tech reef keeping methods out there. Preferably to dose a set amount evenly over 24 hours as long as dkh doesn’t dramatically increase or decrease on a day to day basis given testing times are the same.

As best I can tell from folks comments (without any real testing), is that range of alk change is borderline.