How important is stability, really?

[Dave-T]

I have a two and a half year old 240 gallon mixed reef that is doing quite well. It's densely packed with a mix of acros, euphyllia, gonis, softies, etc. Everything is growing and thriving. I try to keep everything stable, because everyone says you should, but I'm not sure my chemistry is really all that stable. My alk will swing from the low 8s to the high 9s on a daily basis (I measure with a GHL KH Director). Nitrate swings from around 10 to 25 over the course of a month, and phosphate from .1 to .2 (I use GFO and replenish it when it gets to 0.2).

Is this what people mean by stability? It doesn't seem that stable to me, but everything is doing great.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a two and a half year old 240 gallon mixed reef that is doing quite well. It's densely packed with a mix of acros, euphyllia, gonis, softies, etc. Everything is growing and thriving. I try to keep everything stable, because everyone says you should, but I'm not sure my chemistry is really all that stable. My alk will swing from the low 8s to the high 9s on a daily basis (I measure with a GHL KH Director). Nitrate swings from around 10 to 25 over the course of a month, and phosphate from .1 to .2 (I use GFO and replenish it when it gets to 0.2).

Is this what people mean by stability? It doesn't seem that stable to me, but everything is doing great.

Everyone will have their own version of stability. My best answer is to aim for ranges and not certain numbers as you will then be in essence chasing values and sending the water into unwarranted changes. When you can ignore the tanks an take the time to enjoy it rather than to maintain it- you are in the area of stability which applies not only to water but to lighting, dosing and water flow

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I dont think there’s a lot of good info on the effects of stability, and there are different kinds of instability. Alk that varies in the same way every 24 h may not be a concern. Alk that is steady at, say, 10 dKH then suddenly drops to 7 dKH may be a bigger concern.

 

[rishma]

I aim for stability in a range for key parameters that change quickly in my tank such as phosphate and alkalinity. My ranges are not super tight.

I honestly have no idea if it’s really important but I do enjoy tweaking my dosing and feeding to find a stable range. It’s a multi variable puzzle that I find fun to solve.

 

[Dan_P]

I have a two and a half year old 240 gallon mixed reef that is doing quite well. It's densely packed with a mix of acros, euphyllia, gonis, softies, etc. Everything is growing and thriving. I try to keep everything stable, because everyone says you should, but I'm not sure my chemistry is really all that stable. My alk will swing from the low 8s to the high 9s on a daily basis (I measure with a GHL KH Director). Nitrate swings from around 10 to 25 over the course of a month, and phosphate from .1 to .2 (I use GFO and replenish it when it gets to 0.2).

Is this what people mean by stability? It doesn't seem that stable to me, but everything is doing great.

“Stability” is the type of admonition that belongs in the category with “good advice” from your parents. You can’t go wrong following it but you can lose the joy of living if you follow it religiously.

The extended version of this admonition might be “get over yourself and pay attention to the needs of the living organisms imprisoned in your glass box, the conditions of which will never reproduce the environment it evolved to deal with”.