Daily Alk Thread

[Scottiemac]

200g Tank/Sump. Moderate mix of SPS and LPS frags. Maybe 20 total, but they're almost all small.

Right now I'm doing Fauna Marin Balling Light for Alkalinity and not doing the magnesium or calcium parts of it. My Alkalinity keeps dropping. It had been steady from 11-12, but now it's in the mid 8 range.

A few weeks ago I went through a period where the alkalinity and pH was getting absorbed in some newly added rocks. Turned off all dosing and overfed in an attempt to stop that, and it appeared to work. I was able to get my Alk up to the mid-9 range after that.

Now it's getting out of control again. I'm continually adjusting my alkalinity, starting at 50ml to now it's at around 100ml. Yet this doesn't seem to make much difference. At 6:00 this morning I was at 8.18 dKH. After a 50ml dose a new test showed 8.85 at 8:30. Then at 9:00 it tested at 8.62.

I had wanted to switch over to All For Reef, but not until I get things stabilized, and the FM Alk doesn't seem to be working. Granted, this is an old mixture; might be that it's past its prime. I have some old Soda Ash from BRS that I can mix up. I also have the 800g All For Reef powder, but I don't want to waste that on experimenting.

Any suggestions on the direction to go?

 

[KrisReef]

Getting it right using one product and then moving to another is probably going to destabilize the parameters.

Having Mg elevated can help keep Alk and Ca from moving about if the Mg is low. It works with the others in balancing concentrations.

 

[exnisstech]

I used esv 2 part to stabilize my alk and calcium before switching to AFR a year ago. I'm running my alk where your not happy tho mid 8s.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The only normal scenario that I think needs to be fixed before starting AFR is high alk with low calcium.

 

[Scottiemac]

Ok, it looks as though my mix was too old. Found a tub of FM alk and mixed it up fresh. Saw an improvement after one dose and then one test.