How much ALK are you dosing? Mine seems high...

[LDog74]

I ask this question because my ALK & CA usage has skyrocketed! I am currently dosing 400ml a day of each to maintain ALK at 7.8-8.0 & CA 415-420.
Now that could be average for a tank this size which is why I ask the question.
I am slowly increasing the levels daily, sometimes multiple times per day to stay at those levels. Target of 8 DKH & 420 Calcium.
Slowly meaning 10ml-20ml adjustments. But within two months I have gone from 100ml of each to 400ml of each daily via Neptune DOS being dosed automatic over 24 hours.

Background: 225gallon display / 240 total water volume SPS dominant.
Tank is a year old & testing is via Neptune Trident 6 times per day. Trident is calibrated every time reagents are replaced.
Neptune DOS gets calibrated monthly.
I keep PO4 .02-.10. I have to dose PO4 almost daily based on results via Hanna to keep from bottoming out.
NO3 12-25 via Nyos Test kit tested every other day.
MG 1250-1270 via Trident
Dosing: ESV Bionic 2 part never used anything else.
ESV Magnesium by hand as needed
Corals have good color & are growing fast. New growth on all...


I have 58 SPS frags throughout with Marco rock scape. Some frags 3“-4”in size. Rock is 100% covered in coralline.
I decided to install a CO2 scrubber two months ago and my coral growth & ALK/CA consumption took off.
PH was 8.0-8.2 prior to CO2 scrubber. PH with CO2 scrubber installed is 8.3-8.45 changing out the media weekly. I run my fuge light 5.5 hours per night to keep night low PH of 8.3-8.35.

Do these dose levels seem normal for this size tank with SPS frags?

I am not complaining I just want to make sure something isn’t off and I am not over dosing.
If this keeps up I will be switching over to a calcium reactor. Already looking at the Deltec CRTT 1500 as an option if needed. Open to other suggestions but I like the automated as I travel often.

Thank you
Lance

 

[saltwaterjunkie12]

Everything sounds like your on the right track. My assumption is the coralline algae is absorbing the alkalinity. Have you manually tested to verify trident is operating properly? I run a DOS with trident as well and works quite well.

 

[LDog74]

Everything sounds like your on the right track. My assumption is the coralline algae is absorbing the alkalinity. Have you manually tested to verify trident is operating properly? I run a DOS with trident as well and works quite well.

The Trident has been calibrated & I recalibrate each time I replace the reagents. Very pleased with the Trident. I am not using the Trident to automatically dose.
I use / set my DOS based off my Trident readings to does ALk & CA. I have a Neptune DOS container which only holds 2000ml. So I am having to fill every 5 days or so.

 

[blasterman]

Dosing P04 can make SPS like montipora and birdsnests grow stupid fast. I guarantee if you stop with P04 dosing things will slow down.

 

[monkeyCmonkeyDo]

Sounds expensive. Lol
D

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I ask this question because my ALK & CA usage has skyrocketed! I am currently dosing 400ml a day of each to maintain ALK at 7.8-8.0 & CA 415-420.
Now that could be average for a tank this size which is why I ask the question.
I am slowly increasing the levels daily, sometimes multiple times per day to stay at those levels. Target of 8 DKH & 420 Calcium.
Slowly meaning 10ml-20ml adjustments. But within two months I have gone from 100ml of each to 400ml of each daily via Neptune DOS being dosed automatic over 24 hours.

Background: 225gallon display / 240 total water volume SPS dominant.
Tank is a year old & testing is via Neptune Trident 6 times per day. Trident is calibrated every time reagents are replaced.
Neptune DOS gets calibrated monthly.
I keep PO4 .02-.10. I have to dose PO4 almost daily based on results via Hanna to keep from bottoming out.
NO3 12-25 via Nyos Test kit tested every other day.
MG 1250-1270 via Trident
Dosing: ESV Bionic 2 part never used anything else.
ESV Magnesium by hand as needed
Corals have good color & are growing fast. New growth on all...


I have 58 SPS frags throughout with Marco rock scape. Some frags 3“-4”in size. Rock is 100% covered in coralline.
I decided to install a CO2 scrubber two months ago and my coral growth & ALK/CA consumption took off.
PH was 8.0-8.2 prior to CO2 scrubber. PH with CO2 scrubber installed is 8.3-8.45 changing out the media weekly. I run my fuge light 5.5 hours per night to keep night low PH of 8.3-8.35.

Do these dose levels seem normal for this size tank with SPS frags?

I am not complaining I just want to make sure something isn’t off and I am not over dosing.
If this keeps up I will be switching over to a calcium reactor. Already looking at the Deltec CRTT 1500 as an option if needed. Open to other suggestions but I like the automated as I travel often.

Thank you
Lance

FWIW, it is always far better to ask about alk dosing in dKH per day, not mL per day.

After converting 400 mL of B-ionic to dKH, it's about 3.5 dKH per day.

That is definitely on the high end, but you do have a lot of corals and coralline. I'd just check for excessive abiotic precipitation on pumps and heaters, and by checking to see if the sand is hardening.

 

[DaneGer21]

Depends how stocked that tank is. Does seem high.

 

[Pntbll687]

Got any pics of the tank?

Dosage does seem high. I would try to measure your 24hr alk drop again to double check you're using the correct dose.

As Randy said above, check for precipitate on pumps and heaters, and check the sand to see if it's hardening. Are you by chance using soda ash for alk?

 

[arking_mark]

Just another thing to note. High pH usually equals high demand. At the basic level, as I understand it, as pH rises your CO3 concentration increases making it easier for CaCO3 to form both abiotically and for coral growth (easier to pump out H ions).

 

[LDog74]

Thanks everyone! Sand is not hardening, I clean it often so I am confident it’s not. A little perception on top of one pump as it’s right below the ALK dose line. I will clean it today but as I mention it’s minor. I did do a through cleaning of my return pumps a month ago. They still look new. No build up on heater.

I will post some pictures when the lights ramp up.
I have noticed as my PH drops below 8.3 my ALK consumption drops. That’s how I figured out to change the CO2 media. It’s supposed to change color but it doesn’t always. I swapped out the media & PH was back up to 8.4 within 2 hours and four hours later my ALK drops according to the Trident. Corals appear to want more ALK at a PH of 8.3+.

Note: The 17h ALk spike was a Trident calibration. I replaced the reagents & calibrated with their solution.

 

[LDog74]

Here are a few tank shots. My wife noticed a sand clump this week. I was traveling and she was kind enough to clean the sand while I was gone.
You can see some growth on a few corals.

 

[TheDragonsReef]

What products are you using?

I have a 260g system filled with coral mostly sps with a few large colonies and lots of mini colonies. i dose brs 2 part. 125ml alk, 260ml cal and 240ml mg every day. Also are you dosing them separately? If not they could be precipitating out

 

[LDog74]

What products are you using?

I have a 260g system filled with coral mostly sps with a few large colonies and lots of mini colonies. i dose brs 2 part. 125ml alk, 260ml cal and 240ml mg every day. Also are you dosing them separately? If not they could be precipitating out

I am using ESV Bionic 2 part
I am dosing them separately via Neptune DOS over a period of 24 hours. I only need to add 30ml of MG per week which I hand dose.