Chase the alk?

[justingraham]

@saltyfilmfolks and I have been talking behind behind closed doors about this and I think I figured out what to do but I would still like some more thoughts on it esp people with continues alk monitoring now

yesterday I was determine to test alkalinity every hour I was at home on the ten i.e. 1:10 3:10 ... (I tested the water twice an hour at the same time and for the most part got the same dkh I used a Hannah ppm alk tester) and I found some info I found a little interesting but kinda already knew fromreading up on alk

So now onto the question I have a .39 diffence in dkh over 24 hours is it worth changing my doseing schedule so that I have a more straight line and try to get the dkh variance in a day down lower to the .1 range???

Yes I am happy with how my corals are growing and I know why change a thing that is working well and honestly I prolly won't as I don't feel like doing any more math. But has anyone tried to match the dkh consumption by the hour and is it worth it? Like is the growth that much better? Is my swing that bad?

I also found it interesting that alk was still being consumed almost four hours after lights out

Thanks

Justin

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Following

 

[hybridazn]

Alk consumption goes up and down throughout the day which is why you are seeing fluctuations in this. The .39 difference in 24 hrs wouldn't be enough for me to change anything. If the trend were to continue over a few days then I would take measures to adjust, but chasing a "flat line" of alk readings would be near impossible.

 

[HolisticBear]

For people that run an automated solution like KH guardian, what is normal and minimal swing that those users manage?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

@Rick.45cal @JimWelsh

 

[Myka]

So now onto the question I have a .39 diffence in dkh over 24 hours is it worth changing my doseing schedule so that I have a more straight line and try to get the dkh variance in a day down lower to the .1 range???

Give it a shot and report back!

 

[justingraham]

Give it a shot and report back!

Like I said don't feel like doing math right now I mean I just became excellent not perfect

But in all seriousness I could figure it out but is it worth the time and aggravation? I guess that's why I'm asking cause if there is a benifit I could and prolly would do this

 

[revhtree]

Cool man! What is your target DKH?

 

[HolisticBear]

So looking at the specs, you might be within the margin of error of the Hanna? My Hanna seems consistent in back to back tests, but they list a pretty large range.

Precision: ±0.3 dKH ±5% of reading

 

[justingraham]

Rev thanks for finally posting on one of my threads

Well I'm doing the triton method and as I'm sure u know they say 8 is the target range. But looking into that further U actually find out that the target range of 8 is used because that is where there is the most leway for mistakes in either testing or accuracy of the machine you are using.

Triton actually recommends to be at 7 dkh for the best growth.

So I figured that if I shoot for around 7.5 I will be ok to account for the precision of the Hannah +- .3 dkh as mrmichael has said above. So that gives me from 7.2-7.8 dkh

I believe I have a routine down With the Hannah dkh checker and can do the same test multiple times with the same results. I have even left water in a shot glass and checked It three days later and have gotten the same dkh so the only thing I worry about is the +-.3 dkh.

I test every night at 10:10 and have been consistant at 7.56 dkh at doseing 22ml of the core base elements.

The only thing that throw me for a loop is when I change regents sometimes the numbers do not match up so as of late I have been loading up on the same lot regents to take that loop away.

I just sent my first triton test away so I should be able to see exactly where my dkh is at within two weeks.

 

[creas]

Fascinating... I'll be following along.

 

[JimFuller]

I am sorry, but to try to get within a .1 with a test kit that has a .3 variance seems foolish to me. Your test kit does not allow you to to test to the variance you would be attempting to achieve.

Further, In my understanding of how things in the ocean work, there would be a small variance as the day changed. I think you are good at your present level and testing. Growth results are a good indicator your testing is good, too

 

[justingraham]

I am sorry, but to try to get within a .1 with a test kit that has a .3 variance seems foolish to me. Your test kit does not allow you to to test to the variance you would be attempting to achieve.

Further, In my understanding of how things in the ocean work, there would be a small variance as the day changed. I think you are good at your present level and testing. Growth results are a good indicator your testing is good, too

Although I agree I think the .3 variance means that it could be 8.2 instead of me testing at 8.5

Not that if I test it the same way everytime I could get a .3 variance i.e. Testing back to back the same way would result in 8.2 and them 8.5

Well all this talk about consistancy being key I just wanted to know with the rich people who have the guardian cough cough @Rick.45cal if they saw any benifit from doseing with the trend instead of dosing the daily uptake

 

[Flippers4pups]

I think that given the known variance of carbonate hardness measured on the oceans reefs around the world, the standard of 1dkh swing is sufficient information for us reef keepers to target.

Any scientific research beyond that suggests that we need to control dhk to a tighter swing of 1dkh, I'm all eyes and ears!

 

[JimWelsh]

FWIW, I know that with constant dosing 24/7, my tank has a daily alk swing of 0.2-0.3 dKH that lags behind the photoperiod by about two hours. It basically swings from a high of around two hours after "lights on" to a low of about two hours after "lights out" (due to consumption), then swings back up all night (due to dosing when consumption is basically zero). I changed my dosing schedule to dose twice the rate as the 24/7 rate, but only during the period starting two hours after "lights on" until two hours after "lights off", and my alk readings leveled out quite nicely. Not perfectly flat, but just about.

 

[Mal11224]

@justingraham how often do you dose daily for alk? This topic is very interesting to me. I know my doser can do 4, 8 or 12 times a day. I use the 12/day program. I definitely wonder what effects I would have if I changed it to 4 or 8 times a day and would I be able to have the same dkh consistency as I have with 12/day. Would my growth be better or worse....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I don't know how much of an improvement it would be to growth, but the more doses per day the more stable it would be. I can't see any reason to use less than the max.

 

[justingraham]

@justingraham how often do you dose daily for alk? This topic is very interesting to me. I know my doser can do 4, 8 or 12 times a day. I use the 12/day program. I definitely wonder what effects I would have if I changed it to 4 or 8 times a day and would I be able to have the same dkh consistency as I have with 12/day. Would my growth be better or worse....

Once an hour every 24 hrs I dose
X:00- triton base elements one magnesium
X:15- elements two calcium
X:30- elements three alk
X:45- elements four alk

 

[justingraham]

FWIW, I know that with constant dosing 24/7, my tank has a daily alk swing of 0.2-0.3 dKH that lags behind the photoperiod by about two hours. It basically swings from a high of around two hours after "lights on" to a low of about two hours after "lights out" (due to consumption), then swings back up all night (due to dosing when consumption is basically zero). I changed my dosing schedule to dose twice the rate as the 24/7 rate, but only during the period starting two hours after "lights on" until two hours after "lights off", and my alk readings leveled out quite nicely. Not perfectly flat, but just about.

Sweet thanks for tagging along
So ur saying that u doubled ur daily dose from two hours after lights on until two hours after ur lights go out?

So for easy math u dose 10ml a day and your lights come on at 8am till 8pm:

So u would dose 20ml between 10am and ten pm?

 

[justingraham]

I don't know how much of an improvement it would be to growth, but the more doses per day the more stable it would be. I can't see any reason to use less than the max.

Unless ur a baller and bought a 400 dollar doser to dose once everyday because that's what u used to do before the doser.