Low Alkalinity

[Gaspipe]

My tank is young, just over 4 months. I have just 3 fish and now 21 coral frags. For the first 4 months I only tested salinity and temp. I now am testing once a week on Sat or Sunday Alk and Phosphates.

I have been doing a 2 gallon WC once a week (10%) on Wed. I "think" the tank is too young and has a minor bio load for me to begin dosing.

Week	Alk	Phosphates
Oct 30th	5.4 dKH	0.00
Nov 7th	5.2 dKH	0.03

My build tread can be found here: Basement Office w/ a View
BTW no skimmer, use TMP salt, Hanna testers.

Thanks in advance,
Gaspare

 

[Borat]

Whats the question here? Your A

My tank is young, just over 4 months. I have just 3 fish and now 21 coral frags. For the first 4 months I only tested salinity and temp. I now am testing once a week on Sat or Sunday Alk and Phosphates.

I have been doing a 2 gallon WC once a week (10%) on Wed. I "think" the tank is too young and has a minor bio load for me to begin dosing.

Week	Alk	Phosphates
Oct 30th	5.4 dKH	0.00
Nov 7th	5.2 dKH	0.03

My build tread can be found here: Basement Office w/ a View
BTW no skimmer, use TMP salt, Hanna testers.

Thanks in advance,
Gaspare

What's the question of this post?

 

[Rickybobby]

How big is the tank? Any live rock or substrate?

 

[Miami Reef]

What salt mix are you using?

Never mind, I see you use TM pro.

If I remember correctly, that salt mix has an alkalinity of 7dkh-8dkh. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that drop with 20 frags in a 20 gallon tank.

That being said, I would never allow my alkalinity to dip that low. I think the easiest option is to use kalkwasser (limewater) in your top off water. It elevates PH which increases calcification and supplies both calcium and alkalinity.

 

[Supa]

How are your coral responding to the alk being low? I’m new reefer and just curious.

 

[Gaspipe]

Whats the question here? Your A

What's the question of this post?

That's a great point... Said it in my head but not in the post...

1. Could this be from high CO2? it's a small basement office
2. Will 10% WC gradually get me there? I may monitor this for 2-3 months before looking into dosing

 

[Gaspipe]

How are your coral responding to the alk being low? I’m new reefer and just curious.

This is my first reef tank as well, so far they seem good.

 

[Gaspipe]

How big is the tank? Any live rock or substrate?

It's a Waterbox MP 25 (about 21 G water)
Barebottom
Rock: Branch LifeRock Dry Live Rock - CaribSea
LR: AquaBiomics: Live Reef Rubble

 

[Gaspipe]

What salt mix are you using?

Never mind, I see you use TM pro.

If I remember correctly, that salt mix has an alkalinity of 7dkh-8dkh. I think it’s perfectly reasonable to expect that drop with 20 frags in a 20 gallon tank.

That being said, I would never allow my alkalinity to dip that low. I think the easiest option is to use kalkwasser (limewater) in your top off water. It elevates PH which increases calcification and supplies both calcium and alkalinity.

I only started testing Alk and Phosphate last week. Tank is 4 months old. I don't think the frags are consuming that... 9 of the 21 are Zoas. But perhaps you are correct. I don't have much experience so don't want to be insistent.

 

[Supa]

I only started testing Alk and Phosphate last week. Tank is 4 months old. I don't think the frags are consuming that... 9 of the 21 are Zoas. But perhaps you are correct. I don't have much experience so don't want to be insistent.

I think WC will replenish it slowly (slowly is best also when changing alkalinity and stuff) also I think there are articles on adding kalkwasser or soda ash/baking soda to raise alkalinity etc… I would research it more before making a decision what you want to do to try to keep alk stable.(dose a 2 part if needed etc)

 

[MrMreef]

Given your system volume I would expect the alk to drop that much - my tank is also 4 months old, has fewer frags and consumes ~0.2 dKH per day.

You’re adding around 1 dKH a week with your water change if you’re at 5 and swapping in fresh 8.0 TM Pro.

I’d suggest supplementing kH (only that, if you like) at a set rate over the week and use your water change to bump up the rest - it’s the Big One to keep as steady as possible.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree. Supplementing alkalinity is the best plan.

High CO2 does not ever explain low alkalinity. All low pH (high CO2) can do is slow calcification, reducing demand for alkalinity.

 

[Gaspipe]

Perfect, I didn't know if CO2 and lack of fresh air effected alkalinity. I remember my members mentioning how important it is to have fresh air. I'm going to monitor my system for a few weeks. And see how my alk is affected before lookinging into dosing .

Thank you.

High CO2 does not ever explain low alkalinity. All low pH (high CO2) can do is slow calcification, reducing demand for alkalinity.

 

[Gaspipe]

Given your system volume I would expect the alk to drop that much - my tank is also 4 months old, has fewer frags and consumes ~0.2 dKH per day.

You’re adding around 1 dKH a week with your water change if you’re at 5 and swapping in fresh 8.0 TM Pro.

I’d suggest supplementing kH (only that, if you like) at a set rate over the week and use your water change to bump up the rest - it’s the Big One to keep as steady as possible.

That's good to know that with my system it could very well be consuming that much alk.

I'll monitor it in the coming weeks.

 

[Borat]

Perfect, I didn't know if CO2 and lack of fresh air effected alkalinity. I remember my members mentioning how important it is to have fresh air. I'm going to monitor my system for a few weeks. And see how my alk is affected before lookinging into dosing .

Thank you.

No, I think you mis-understood Randy's post, it's the opposite - CO2 does NOT generally affect alkalinity.