My alk keeps dropping with afr

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I have the same issue. I am adding approximately 10mL AFR daily to a 47g to keep the Cal and Mg at 410 and 1340, respectively. Alk is now down at 6.1. I was previously supplementing with 10 mL daily of Brightwell alkalin8.3 to keep alk separately at 8.5. Alkalin8.3 apparently is a bicarbonate solution but has some other ions like borate that I didn’t want to keep adding. Once I stopped, alk dropped about 0.1 units daily until it stabilized at 6.1. I’m now considering slowly raising alk again to 8.5 using a sodium hydroxide solution dosed at night to also flatten out the pH swing.

Dose more. Always dose enough AFR to maintain alk, IMO. You will hardly even detect the calcium change and definitely not any magnesium change.

 

[Notsolostfish]

Dose more. Always dose enough AFR to maintain alk, IMO. You will hardly even detect the calcium change and definitely not any magnesium change.

So dose over 100ml. I guess i might have to

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

So dose over 100ml. I guess i might have to

It may be costly, but otherwise, one can always dose enough to maintain alk. :)

 

[cdemoss01]

Did u ask chatgpt to write an answer and u copy and pasted it? Seriously?

mb your thread was unanswered + complicated question.

 

[Reefering1]

mb your thread was unanswered + complicated question.

It had been 9 minutes...

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

I have heard that over the long run you can get yourself into trouble dosing AFR and Kalk. I do not know the chemistry of it, but maybe @Randy Holmes-Farley can explain.
On another note. I personally use ESV two part and AFR, W/weekly-ish 10% water changes and that works for my SPS dominant tank.

 

[draj]

following.

 

[Miami Reef]

I have heard that over the long run you can get yourself into trouble dosing AFR and Kalk. I do not know the chemistry of it, but maybe @Randy Holmes-Farley can explain.
On another note. I personally use ESV two part and AFR, W/weekly-ish 10% water changes and that works for my SPS dominant tank.

You can mix and match any alk dosing system.

All for reef and kalkwasser are both calcium-heavy, meaning they can cause an increase in calcium overtime when using either to maintain alkalinity.

Changing water with a low-calcium salt is one way to combat this. Another way is to simply switch to sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, or hydroxide and only use it to maintain alkalinity until the calcium drops back down through consumption.

 

[exnisstech]

mb your thread was unanswered + complicated question.

I don't use AI past a Google search so maybe i have no idea what im talking about. But if a person wanted an AI answer wouldn't it be easy enough to do that on their own vs posting here hoping a real person will have some input?

 

[exnisstech]

All for reef and kalkwasser are both calcium-heavy, meaning they can cause an increase in calcium overtime when using either to maintain alkalinity.

Hey Miami not challenging but do you know what causes exceptions to the rise in calcium? I dosed kalk for years in one tank and have been dosing AFR for well over a year in one tank and I have never seen a rise in calcium on either tank, or at least not enough of a rise to require action. I've never seen close 500 calcium in a tank ever. Just trying to learn.
This is 13 months dosing AFR tested using salifert. I'm currently dosing 30ml daiiy with 65g TV

 

[Notsolostfish]

You can mix and match any alk dosing system.

All for reef and kalkwasser are both calcium-heavy, meaning they can cause an increase in calcium overtime when using either to maintain alkalinity.

Changing water with a low-calcium salt is one way to combat this. Another way is to simply switch to sodium carbonate, bicarbonate, or hydroxide and only use it to maintain alkalinity until the calcium drops back down through consumption.

Okay this is weird bought new hanna reagent and my alk is 8.8 glad i didnt dose. This is concerning. New reagent showing higher

 

[Science/G]

I use a small amount of Balling B to maintain my alkalinity using AFR. Really, just to really buy me some time and maintain stability as I increase the AFR dosage.

 

[Miami Reef]

Hey Miami not challenging but do you know what causes exceptions to the rise in calcium? I dosed kalk for years in one tank and have been dosing AFR for well over a year in one tank and I have never seen a rise in calcium on either tank, or at least not enough of a rise to require action. I've never seen close 500 calcium in a tank ever. Just trying to learn.
This is 13 months dosing AFR tested using salifert. I'm currently dosing 30ml daiiy with 65g TV

Some magnesium displaces calcium during calcification. If you change water, this effect might not be noticeable.

Okay this is weird bought new hanna reagent and my alk is 8.8 glad i didnt dose. This is concerning. New reagent showing higher

Nice. :)

 

[Notsolostfish]

Some magnesium displaces calcium during calcification. If you change water, this effect might not be noticeable.

Nice. :)

I just did couple of testing with the salifert alk, it showed 9.4 alk tested that twice to confirm. Also did another test with hanna and its 8.7. I read somewhere here that when hanna regeant gets low inside the bottle results starts getting inaccurate. Also apex showing 8.3 alk. So 8.7 hanna, salifert 9.4, and apex 8.3

 

[exnisstech]

Some magnesium displaces calcium during calcification. If you change water, this effect might not be noticeable.

Water changes are very minimal on 65g volume. Is this small amount enough to prevent the rise in calcium?

I just did couple of testing with the salifert alk, it showed 9.4 alk tested that twice to confirm. Also did another test with hanna and its 8.7. I read somewhere here that when hanna regeant gets low inside the bottle results starts getting inaccurate. Also apex showing 8.3 alk. So 8.7 hanna, salifert 9.4, and apex 8.3

Not sure if this matters but I store my alk reagent in the fridge and shake before each use. I've never noticed more than a 0.2 difference between old and new reagent. I always test my new bottle and compare it to my old before the old is empty. I actually dump the remaining old reagent into the new bottle when it's close to empty after comparing the two. Im never close to the expiration date.

 

[cdemoss01]

It had been 9 minutes...

still trying to do my job.

 

[cdemoss01]

I don't use AI past a Google search so maybe i have no idea what im talking about. But if a person wanted an AI answer wouldn't it be easy enough to do that on their own vs posting here hoping a real person will have some input?

Sorry trying to help people.

 

[Reefering1]

still trying to do my job.

 

[cdemoss01]

 

[Jrhunter0000]

Sounds like you need to find other ways to dose ALK. Maybe investing in a kalk stirrer with ATO water would help!