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Just started adding some acro frags to my tank which has been running about 7 months now.
added them two weeks ago, look fine. Checked my alk today and it’s 6!
Used Hannah, and salifert. Instant ocean salt, I don’t have any coraline or many corals (10 frags ) in this 180.
not sure where all the alk is going. Chaeto, phosgard?
A fish only tank that has accumulated nitrate will necessarily have a lower alkalinity than the starting salt mix. For each 50 ppm of nitrate produced, alkalinity is depleted by 2.3 dKH.
Another way that alkalinity is depleted is by simple formation of calcium carbonate, by organisms, or on heaters and pumps and bare sand and rock surfaces.
6 dKH is OK, but slowly raising it to at least 7+ dKH may be better.
FWIW, I think normal IO is perfectly fine.