So I left home for two weeks and had my parents help with watching the parameters of the tank. I have a Red Sea Reefer Deluxe XXL that’s a mixed reef with large LPS colonies and tons of high-end acro mini colonies.
I immediately tested my parameters the moment I came home and I found my levels at:
Calcium-505ppm (Hanna) 510ppm (Salifert)
Alkalinity-4dkh (Hanna) 4.5dkh (Salifert)
Magnesium-1350 (Salifert)
pH-8.2
Nitrate-5ppm
Phosphate-0.02
Salinity:1.026
I understand the dynamics between calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity, but I’ve always been told to never go below 6dkh for alkalinity or ill start seeing RTN or stressed-related symptoms. So when I saw that my alk measurements were at 4-4.5 I thought my test results were inaccurate since my corals had full polyp-extension and had no signs of stress. I’m planning to gradually bringing the alkalinity back to 8-9dkh but I wanted to ask why my corals didn’t RTN under such low alk levels and how can I find out the consumption rate of calcium/alkalinity when my levels are always high but I’m still seeing growth?
My weekly water changes have kept the parameters stable and high (calcium and alkalinity are always high) but I’ve seen tanks where calcium and alkalinity are dosed daily with two-part or with Kalkwasser and consumed at such a fast rate. What am I doing wrong and why aren’t my calcium/alk levels dropping like everyone else’s tank?
Thank you so much!
I immediately tested my parameters the moment I came home and I found my levels at:
Calcium-505ppm (Hanna) 510ppm (Salifert)
Alkalinity-4dkh (Hanna) 4.5dkh (Salifert)
Magnesium-1350 (Salifert)
pH-8.2
Nitrate-5ppm
Phosphate-0.02
Salinity:1.026
I understand the dynamics between calcium, magnesium, and alkalinity, but I’ve always been told to never go below 6dkh for alkalinity or ill start seeing RTN or stressed-related symptoms. So when I saw that my alk measurements were at 4-4.5 I thought my test results were inaccurate since my corals had full polyp-extension and had no signs of stress. I’m planning to gradually bringing the alkalinity back to 8-9dkh but I wanted to ask why my corals didn’t RTN under such low alk levels and how can I find out the consumption rate of calcium/alkalinity when my levels are always high but I’m still seeing growth?
My weekly water changes have kept the parameters stable and high (calcium and alkalinity are always high) but I’ve seen tanks where calcium and alkalinity are dosed daily with two-part or with Kalkwasser and consumed at such a fast rate. What am I doing wrong and why aren’t my calcium/alk levels dropping like everyone else’s tank?
Thank you so much!