Dilemma to Carbon Dose or Keep High PH???

[Reef Crest Aquaculture]

SPS Dominant tank here. I've been following the published guide on carbon dosing for 8 weeks now and finding myself in a bit of a dilemma. Before carbon dosing, with a fully saturated kalk drip to replace all evaporated water, I was seeing a low PH of 8.2 and a high of 8.4. With the additional of carbon dosing via Vodka and retaining Kalk drip, I am at a low PH of 7.8 and high of 8.1.

I never really had much of an issue of elevated nutrients showing up in testing No3 8-12ppm and Po4 .04-.09ppm. But wanted to try carbon dosing for it's positive effects of bacterial growth and possibly coral growth via zooxanthellae. It is clear to me that carbon dosing has polished up my tank of many nuisance algae and even reduced film algae on the glass.

My dilemma, are the benefits of carbon dosing worth the suppressed pH in my reef system that didn't have significant issues with nutrient to begin with? I'm a big fan of what Kalkwasser has done for my SPS growth and pH. Should I reduce my carbon dose to allow my pH to elevate again?

Another idea I was playing around with is a controlled drip of Kalk slurry milk while still carbon dosing to try to boost that pH back up to my happy number. I know this is an advanced reefing concept. I have pH controllers in place to minimize that risk and a kalk stir to keep the calcium hydroxide suspended. Looking to know your thoughts on this topic if you chase pH like I do and have experience carbon dosing.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

SPS Dominant tank here. I've been following the published guide on carbon dosing for 8 weeks now and finding myself in a bit of a dilemma. Before carbon dosing, with a fully saturated kalk drip to replace all evaporated water, I was seeing a low PH of 8.2 and a high of 8.4. With the additional of carbon dosing via Vodka and retaining Kalk drip, I am at a low PH of 7.8 and high of 8.1.

I never really had much of an issue of elevated nutrients showing up in testing No3 8-12ppm and Po4 .04-.09ppm. But wanted to try carbon dosing for it's positive effects of bacterial growth and possibly coral growth via zooxanthellae. It is clear to me that carbon dosing has polished up my tank of many nuisance algae and even reduced film algae on the glass.

My dilemma, are the benefits of carbon dosing worth the suppressed pH in my reef system that didn't have significant issues with nutrient to begin with? I'm a big fan of what Kalkwasser has done for my SPS growth and pH. Should I reduce my carbon dose to allow my pH to elevate again?

Another idea I was playing around with is a controlled drip of Kalk slurry milk while still carbon dosing to try to boost that pH back up to my happy number. I know this is an advanced reefing concept. I have pH controllers in place to minimize that risk and a kalk stir to keep the calcium hydroxide suspended. Looking to know your thoughts on this topic if you chase pH like I do and have experience carbon dosing.

I agree it’s a dilemma, but if it were me and I saw that big of a pH drop (which seems unusually large to me), I’d stop the organic.

 

[Reef Crest Aquaculture]

I agree it’s a dilemma, but if it were me and I saw that big of a pH drop (which seems unusually large to me), I’d stop the organic.

Randy, what are your thoughts on Kalk slurry dosing?