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ReefKeeper666
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Yeah might as well buy it tonight
How do I keep my Alkalinty stable? I’m still kinda new to all this.
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ReefKeeper666
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could the issue with these encrusting type corals be something else?
Smite
2500 Club Member
Hanna is great but takes too much time for how often I test (sps dominant) so I use salifert for alk. its super quick and the color change is drastic.
IF there is a swing/spike as large as you're experiencing I would think you'd be having issues will all sps but that's just based off my experience, a 2 point jump in 24 hours would tick my whole tank off. If it happened every week I think my tank would have RTN'd a few weeks in.
The only time I've had trouble with montis and birdsnest were with low nutrients, I'd loose all color thought not turn purple.
Wish I could be of more help. I'll be taggin along to see what the cause was.
If you have rapid nitrate depreciation it might cause alk to increase.
www.reef2reef.com
Alkalinity rising from dosing nitrate?
Testing my water last night after work, I noticed my dKH had gone from 8 to 9.1 without a rise in anything else in 3 days. I had tested Sat. at an 8 which where I try to keep it. I started dosing nitrate and have been checking that daily as everything else usually runs pretty stable. My wife...
www.reef2reef.com
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ReefKeeper666
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Birds nest is ok. It’s the monti 2 favias and one other coral, all of which are encrusting type corals that are having this issue.
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ReefKeeper666
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Ah- HA. And nopox removes both phosphates and nitrates.If you have rapid nitrate depreciation it might cause alk to increase.
Alkalinity rising from dosing nitrate?
Testing my water last night after work, I noticed my dKH had gone from 8 to 9.1 without a rise in anything else in 3 days. I had tested Sat. at an 8 which where I try to keep it. I started dosing nitrate and have been checking that daily as everything else usually runs pretty stable. My wife...
Before I would make additional changes I would get a reliable/consistent test kit to confirm that Alk is actually moving like the test is showing. I like the idea of the Hanna. Have been using one for years. Can test Alk in a matter of a minute or two.
Sounds like your not using freshwater to top the tank off during the week, and then using a very weak salt solution for your water change to make up for it. Or using saltwater to top off and a thin water change. Are you testing salinity throughout the week?
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ReefKeeper666
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No just the nopox
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ReefKeeper666
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I am indeed using freshwater(RO water) in my top off. Salinity is stable 1.025
Have you checked the TDS of your RO?
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ReefKeeper666
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Yes I have a tds meter inline on my RO maker. i Just run the ro water line on my deck until it reads zero before I start filling my water jug for the top off
sbazain
Active Member
am having the same problem stopped douser and my all is going up but mine is at 14 right now only a few softies was adding amino acids and replenish had a Dino outbreak mag 1410 cal 460 ph 8.1 doh 14.7 they told me if you have a drop in nitrates all goes up
There are definitely some odd results here and the only thing I can come up with is errors in testing. The only way Alk can increase is if it's being dosed either through water changes or directly. 24 hours after a water change is a great time to test because everything should be mixed up by then. If your tests then start going up from there with no water changes and no dosing, something is off in testing.
Note: I am NOT a chemist. But my understanding is yes, corals like nitrates and if they drop too low, your corals will be unhappy and slow Alk consumption causing it to rise. But AFAIK this can only occur while consistently dosing Alk at the same time. I'm not aware of any direct correlation between a drop in Nitrates and an increase in Alk without any Alk dosing.
You are Rinsing out your test vials after each use, I assume.
My favorite Alk tester. Up front cost, but in the long run it's inexpensive and simple to test:
Alkalinity DKH Colorimeter HI772 Hanna Checker - Marine Water
Why does BRS recommend this? The Hanna Alkalinity checker is an awesome little tool that now will give results in DKH values that are much more common in the aquarium hobby. It will also give you accurate easy to read results with the large LCD display. We like the repeatable results and ability...
www.bulkreefsupply.com
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ReefKeeper666
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Yes of course. Even with clean dry tubes I’ve gotten some crazy results from the API kits and had the rinse and repeate. I’m defiantly gonna ditch the API alk tester.
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