High Alk consumption - All for Reef

[NeutronMan]

Hi everyone,

I have a 30-30g (net) system (Reefer 170) and have been dosing AFR for years.

I recently lost all of my sps and started over so my system demand should be very low (8 very small frags right now).

About two weeks ago, I noticed my Alk began dropping so I naturally upped my AFR dosing. I’ve been testing each day now and see that I am constantly having to increase my AFR. I’m now up to 14.5mL per day…

I also noticed that my pH has increased quite a bit. It used to max at 8.3 and now it’s hitting 8.6. I have a c02 scrubber and recently changed media from IceCap to BRS (they had a sale).

My frags are definitely growing but very slowly. Not to the extent that I’d expect such a rise (8mL per day to 14.5mL) due to growth. Coralline is also starting to come back but very slowly…

I don’t see any obvious signs of precipitation, so where could it be going?

Previously my system (before the crash from moving it) was covered in coralline and the sps were rapidly growing. AFR daily use was around 9mL per day.

What could be the explanation for this? Sudden test kit failure? Faulty AFR?

-Matt

 

[Jamie9]

In my 40 gallon, I'm at about 9mL per day, which is mostly coralline algae, which is rapidly growing in a new tank with only one SPS, and some small LPS and soft corals. I wonder if its the coralline coming back that is sucking it down?

 

[NeutronMan]

In my 40 gallon, I'm at about 9mL per day, which is mostly coralline algae, which is rapidly growing in a new tank with only one SPS, and some small LPS and soft corals. I wonder if its the coralline coming back that is sucking it down?

Right now it’s just a few small spots here and there.

Can AFR even precipitate? I know it releases Alk very differently than 2 part for example.

Could high pH be mucking something up? I’ll probably disconnect the scrubber to see if it drops back down…

 

[Jamie9]

If you are overdosing by a large amount it could perhaps precipitate, but as far as I'm aware that shouldn't be an issue at more low doses. I like to give my dosing chamber a squirt with the turkey baster every couple of days just in case...but it's probably not precipitation.

If anything I would have thought AFR would slightly drop pH, so yeah it's interesting that yours has climbed (when most people struggle to reach 8.3 it seems). Might be worth a ping to Randy on this one.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Coralline is the biggest alk user in many tanks. Do you have a lot of that?

 

[Kooma]

Before my nano crashed I had about 75% sps and I was using 18ml a day in a 30 gallon. Growth was strong and I kept my alk at 8.3.

 

[NeutronMan]

Coralline is the biggest alk user in many tanks. Do you have a lot of that?

Not that I can see. There’s a few small spots showing up.

I’ve also checked the line to be sure that it’s not clogged. I probably should check on calibration to make sure that 1mL is actually dispensing 1mL…

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Not that I can see. There’s a few small spots showing up.

I’ve also checked the line to be sure that it’s not clogged. I probably should check on calibration to make sure that 1mL is actually dispensing 1mL…

That’s reasonable to check. 14.5 mL is adding about 0.8 dKH to 30 gallons. That’s a middling dose, so it may not be excessive.

 

[rishma]

I went down a similar road of an inexplicable increase in alkalinity consumption and increasing my dose. Ultimately I determine my alkalinity reagent had gone bad. When I got a new reagent I found my alkalinity very high. I suggest double checking your alkalinity result.