My Two- Tone Gonipora will not open anymore.

[WinterHarkins]

If the jump was from a water change then I would change the salt (as you planned) or spread out the water changes. Often the salts that are NOT "reef" or "pro" have higher alks because they are intended to be used for fish only systems that do not likely supplement. This ensures that the acidity caused by nitrification can be dealt with through the alk.

As to manually dosing. I would highly suggest that you purchase dosing pumps. I can not tell you what gawd send this has been for me as a long time aquarist. I use dosing pumps for everything because spikes are my enemy. Being able to spread something out over an extended period is important to ensure stability. Sadly powder dosing isn't a thing (yet), so I dose the iron manually.

Also IME water changes are a source of quick change and I do not do as many as I used too. I do not recommend someone with a newer tank do this getting maturity and stability takes time and you will know when the water changes need to slow down.

So what would you recommend for dosing Alk?
Currently I’m using Aqua Vitro Eight.Four as it raises Alk and stabilizes my ph. I am running a CO2 scrubber before my skimmer which keeps me pretty stable at 8.15

 

[Tuan’s Reef]

I dose Kalk plus Red Sea CA,ALK,MAG foundation kit. I also dose Chaeto Gro which has iron among other trace elements. Red Sea AB+ at night time

 

[HuduVudu]

So what would you recommend for dosing Alk?
Currently I’m using Aqua Vitro Eight.Four as it raises Alk and stabilizes my ph. I am running a CO2 scrubber before my skimmer which keeps me pretty stable at 8.15

I really don't like proprietary blends especially if those blends don't list at least gross ingredients. The Eight.Four does not list ingredients and I wouldn't use it for this reason.

That said when you are dosing you are always dosing two ions, one positive one negative. So if you are you are dosing "alk", then for the most part you are dosing carbonate. This isn't the complete picture because carbonate is a negative ion so therefore there must be a positive ion in solution. Often in our hobby this ion will be sodium. So this will fulfill having both a positive and negative ion. Long story short you can not just dose "alk".

The difficult part is that "alk" and calcium in our tank are tied in that stony corals use them at a semi-fixed rate, but there are other processes that will use just alk. When we dose though we generally dose some form of calcium and some form of carbonate. Nerd stuff aside using a two part solution will provide better control over the semi-independent variables of calcium and carbonate ("alk"). The problem with this is that you are also introducing sodium and chloride into the tank using two part in proportions that can be out of balance. You will then need to use water changes to rebalance the sodium and chloride. How much you dose of these two part solutions and how well you can keep them in balance determines you water change intervals.

So, if your tank is low demand then your choices will be Kalk (no water changes) or Two part (water changes). Unfortunately CaRxs are not to the point that they can easily be employed on a low demand system.

Basicly there are pros and cons to everything and you have to decide what will work best for you. I would suggest if you do decide to use two part I would recommend the Randy Holmes-Farleys DIY solutions. They work better and are a cheaper solution to the fancy labeled brands.

Also to note, if you are running a CO2 scrubber you may want to spend the money to pick up a CO2 meter to watch your ambient CO2. Sometimes it is easier and better (for your own health) to deal with ambient CO2 problems than to band aid them with tank only solutions like scrubbers.

 

[Jbell370]

Some make it and some don't, I have multiple cuttings from the same colony and the odd time 1 dies and yes after being open. I would just move it to a lower light quiet place, has worked to bring back 1 sparkle goni and golden goni.

 

[WinterHarkins]

I’ve heard iodide dips arE good for Gonis. Any experience here?