How do I keep my Alkalinty stable? I’m still kinda new to all this.

ReefKeeper666 · Nov 17, 2020

So provided that my test results for alk are off what is making my encrusting corals loose color? Notices the purple patches.

DivingTheWorld · Nov 17, 2020

I know there are a million threads out there saying which test kits are best, but I thought I'd throw out what I use and trust. IMO, if you're serious about keeping sps, it pays to have some quality test kits.

Alk - Hanna Alk
Cal - Salifert
Mag - Salifert
Phosphate - Hanna ULR Phosphorus
Nitrate - NYOS
Salinity - Tropic Marin Pro High Precision Hydrometer

Garf · Nov 17, 2020

ReefKeeper666 said:
No just the nopox

So your not using a pH buffer to maintain your pH of 8.2?

DivingTheWorld · Nov 17, 2020

ReefKeeper666 said:
So provided that my test results for alk are off what is making my encrusting corals loose color? Notices the purple patches.

Could really be a number of things and unfortunately we're mostly throwing darts. That said, here's a few things that could cause that:

Alk spike too high / too low
Alk too high while Nitrate/Phosphate too low
Nitrate/Phosphate too low
PAR too high (Setosa is a low PAR coral IMO)
Fish or other creature sampling.
Pest
Sting from another coral

ReefKeeper666 · Nov 17, 2020

Garf said:
So your not using a pH buffer to maintain your pH of 8.2?

No. Normally my ph is 8.0 this week it was a 8.2. Again, this is using an API kit so who knows maybe it was really 8.0 like usual

ReefKeeper666 · Nov 17, 2020

DivingTheWorld said:
Could really be a number of things and unfortunately we're mostly throwing darts. That said, here's a few things that could cause that:

Alk spike too high / too low
Alk too high while Nitrate/Phosphate too low
Nitrate/Phosphate too low
PAR too high (Setosa is a low PAR coral IMO)
Fish or other creature sampling.
Pest
Sting from another coral

Are all encrusting corals low par? even The encrusters on my sand bed are having those purple spots.

DivingTheWorld · Nov 17, 2020

ReefKeeper666 said:
Are all encrusting corals low par? even The encrusters on my sand bed are having those purple spots.

No, but I find in general encrusting Montis are. I run high PAR in my tank, so I can only keep them on the bottom in 250 or less PAR.

ReefKeeper666 · Nov 17, 2020

DivingTheWorld said:
No, but I find in general encrusting Montis are. I run high PAR in my tank, so I can only keep them on the bottom in 250 or less PAR.

Truly puzzled why it’s only my encrusting type having issues. Everyone told me favia was easy to keep and elegance was hard to keep. Well my elegance is thriving and my favia is dying. I’m at a loss.

DivingTheWorld · Nov 17, 2020

See anything like this on or around your montis?

Garf · Nov 17, 2020

Yeah, nudibranchs. I had some on Zoas. You can syphon them out.

ReefKeeper666 · Nov 17, 2020

No I do not.

Rogueaquariums · Nov 17, 2020

ReefKeeper666 said:
Hi. So I know my question is probably a broad subject. So I will start with some background. as well as what my issue is to see if someone can help me key in.
background: I’ve had my tank about a year and a half. It is my first tank. It’s a 55 gallon 2nd hand tank. I have a refugium style filter with live chaeto on one side and live rock and a carbon bag on the other. I have 2 jaebo wave makers one on each side of the tank. My lights have just been up graded to AI 32 HDs 2 months ago.
my tank is a mix of softies And LPS(mostly) 3 SPS corals(birds nest, burning banan, and a plante type one with a bunch of tiny lil polyps) and 4 encrusting type corals. All corals including the SPS corals are doing well. But my 4 encrusting corals are not(they are 2 favias, a montiporia, and one I don’t remember the name of but it’s a bright orange yellowish color). The problem is these 4 pieces are turning purple on 3 of them and the one favia has black spot at the top and white spots on other parts of it. I first thought my issue was phosphates but I changed from feeding frozen food and do weekly water changes. My phosphates now seem to be in check right around 0.025-0.030.
But my alkalinty seems to climb during the week.if I check my ALK about 24 hours after a water change On Saturday AM I’m getting 7 usually sometimes 8(Sunday AM).But if I check daily the number rises for 7/8 to up 10/11 by By Thursday. I’m really beginning to think this alkalinity upswing is what’s affecting my encrusting corals.
so the question is what can I do(what do I need to invest in) to keep my alkalinity consistently on one number?
thanks for listening.

I dose Brightwell’s two part Reef code A&B using my trident and my numbers have stayed relatively stable with swings of .5 - .75