Can't maintain ALK

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

My tank is 305g total volume, and Im dosing 120ml of Alk and Cal each day. Alk is dosed midnight to 11am, and Ca is dosed noon to 11pm. The last couple weeks I have been having to add an extra 100ml of Alk each day or two to even keep the level around 7. It keeps dropping to 6.5. Could my tank really be using that much Alk? Mag is reading 1410 today.

 

[Saltyreef]

Whats your calcium level?
Are you @ a balanced schedule for cal and alk?

My mushroom dominant 40g tank consumes 10ml per day of alk/cal.
So for a mixed reef at 305 gallons 120ml per day isnt unheard of....

 

[MartinM]

My system with less water volume uses about 140ml of c-balance per day. 120 doesn’t see, unusually high, sounds like you need to increase the daily dosage actually. Also try dosing every hour (30 minute offset) to keep levels more stable.

 

[Jekyl]

Time for a reactor it sounds like

 

[Uncle99]

It can take quite a bit of product in the beginning to get it up to and stay, then may level off.
Iam 180 gallon and mine moved up to 60ml in the first 6 months, then, back down to 30ml, it’s been their for 6 months.
If you trust your test, get her up.
If you suspect error, get a second reading on that.
I just match CA dose to Alk dose.

 

[LovesDogs_CatsRokay]

120ml was my daily dosing previously and was maintaining levels just fine but now all of a sudden im having to dose 200ml a day. That just seems like a huge jump? Should I increase my calcium just as much?

 

[MartinM]

Time for a check from another test kit IMO, as others have suggested, especially if nothing occurred to trigger a jump (such as an increase in lighting, or addition of new livestock, etc)

 

[arking_mark]

My tank is 305g total volume, and Im dosing 120ml of Alk and Cal each day. Alk is dosed midnight to 11am, and Ca is dosed noon to 11pm. The last couple weeks I have been having to add an extra 100ml of Alk each day or two to even keep the level around 7. It keeps dropping to 6.5. Could my tank really be using that much Alk? Mag is reading 1410 today.

What product(s) are you dosing with?

120ml of BRS 2-part would only be about ~0.55dKH for a 305gal tank, which would be expected for a low consumption system. Adding and extra 100ml would bring you up to ~1dKH, which again isn't high consumption.

Additionally, your Ca is being consumed almost equally, so this unbalanced dosing will lower you Ca over time and slightly increase sodium. Neither of these is a problem as both Ca and Na are very plentiful in our tanks. Long term, this could become an issue.