Does my alkalinity consumption make sense?

[thatindonesianreefer]

Hi all. I have a 12 gallon nano thats been running for 3 yrs and ive just added my second acro (i think its a millepora) and my tank’s alk consumption jumped from 0.8 dkh daily to 1.6 dkh! i currently have 4 sps frags (staghorn acro, acro mille, monti cap, and an anacro). As of right now my alk is sitting at 8 (it was 7.6 yesterday). Thanks in advance!
Parameters
Po4 0.24 ppm (added rowaphos)
No3 1.4 ppm (have been dosing)
Ca 450 ppm
Mg 1400 ppm
Alk 8.0 dkh
K 410 ppm



(first pic new acro id help would be appreciated!)

 

[thatindonesianreefer]

ill check again tmw and update u guys

 

[rishma]

Over what time period do you think alkalinity consumption doubled?

If that change occurred over a short time, I’d suspect test error and keep monitoring to see if the trend holds. Both 0.8 and 1.6 dKH per day are reasonable consumption rates, I just would not expect a big change like that over a short period of time.

 

[thatindonesianreefer]

over about 2 days

 

[twentyleagues]

Its really hard to say if that is weird or not, we have no frame of reference other than what you are saying. One big help I have in understanding my own tank is using the build thread its really like a journal. Looking back at previous pics of my tank on the build thread I can see how much growth has happened in the previous months. I at least kind of get a blind eye so to say to the coral growth I think huh that really isnt doing much after seeing the corals daily, looking back at the build thread from a few weeks ago or months i am typically astonished by how much growth has happened.

So do you typically keep your alk at 8.0? and the next day it goes down to 7.2-6.4? Or was this just a one off that was that low? as said above could be test error. I like to have two tests on hand typically hannah and redsea or even api if I get a weird test ill try it again and again if weird ill grab one of the other tests to see if it is the same. Then I will make a decision.

 

[thatindonesianreefer]

i usualy keep my alk at 8. yesterday i checked and even after dosing the day before alk was 7.6 (which means with out dosing it should be 6.8). My alk was stable at 8 for a couple weeks (sometimes it goes down and up but only by about 0.3 dkh)
and the uptake only increased after the new acro was added (although i doubt it was bcs of that). I test daily at 9 am with the af kit (i cross check with hanna sometimes) and my doser goes on at night.

 

[thatindonesianreefer]

If it is a test error ill recheck tomorrow and update this thread with the new results. My hanna and aquaforest seem to
agree with eachother (both were at 7.6 yesterday and 8 today).

 

[rishma]

Could be dosing error too. If I get a surprising result on an alkalinity test, I usually do the following:

Wait until next test or test again.
Test with a different kit.
If that odd reading is confirmed I then double check my dosing to make sure what I expect to dose is actually happening.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree it seems high, but I'd just keep monitoring and dosing as needed, and whether it is real or test error, that will work itself out.

Bear in mind that one frag in a 12 gallon total volume is the same in alk demand as twenty of those frags in my tank (120 display with about 240 gallons total water volume).

 

[thatindonesianreefer]

Thanks for all ur help and rplys! ill check alk again tomorrow and maybe tonight.