New reefer stumped

[DustinPavlick]

I am A fairly new reefer i have a nano I started about 8 months ago and a 150 Gallon 6 weeks ago. Nano Is going awesome. Last week in the 150 g I checked my alk and it read 8.0. Over the weekend I added some vibrant for the first time to kind of combat the new tank algae syndrome. Then a few days later I added about a half dose of polyp labs one supplement. I noticed my coral were not opening all the way so I checked the alk last night and it read 5.2. Why would this new tank drop so much. I did about a 30 % water change on Thursday then added supplements after, I did the same in my nano and everything is reading good parameters. I heard it could be a CO2 thing could it be My tank is in the garage and have no wave makers just a 3000gph pump and a skimmer. Maybe the water is not getting enough movement? My nano is inside the house. Anyway How can I find out what is causing the alk to drop? Or does it even matter Just add some buffer? Anyway I am kind of stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance Dustin

 

[Manpeckz]

Vibrant is just an algaecide and will kill the good algae inside your corals as well.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

I am A fairly new reefer i have a nano I started about 8 months ago and a 150 Gallon 6 weeks ago. Nano Is going awesome. Last week in the 150 g I checked my alk and it read 8.0. Over the weekend I added some vibrant for the first time to kind of combat the new tank algae syndrome. Then a few days later I added about a half dose of polyp labs one supplement. I noticed my coral were not opening all the way so I checked the alk last night and it read 5.2. Why would this new tank drop so much. I did about a 30 % water change on Thursday then added supplements after, I did the same in my nano and everything is reading good parameters. I heard it could be a CO2 thing could it be My tank is in the garage and have no wave makers just a 3000gph pump and a skimmer. Maybe the water is not getting enough movement? My nano is inside the house. Anyway How can I find out what is causing the alk to drop? Or does it even matter Just add some buffer? Anyway I am kind of stumped. Any help would be greatly appreciated
Thanks in advance Dustin

So there are a lot of potential variables...

• Testing Error
  • What test kit are you using? Titration test kits results are depending on stopping at the same point and going close to the same speed when adding the reagents
• Salinity incorrect
  • Is your salinity too low? Refractometer not calibrated?
• Consumption
  • you mentioned corals, but as the 150 is 6 weeks old I'm going to assume no coralline algae
    • How heavily stocked is this tank?
  • sometimes Alk has been reported to bind with some sands

You are probably going to want powerheads/wave makers in that tank at some point to help even distribution of nutrients, providing flow/food to coral, but I wouldn't suspect that as your issue right now.

I am assuming you don't park in this garage? If not, then I would suspect your pH to be higher than your indoor tank do to the more rapid change over of fresh air.

 

[DustinPavlick]

So there are a lot of potential variables...

• Testing Error
  • What test kit are you using? Titration test kits results are depending on stopping at the same point and going close to the same speed when adding the reagents
• Salinity incorrect
  • Is your salinity too low? Refractometer not calibrated?
• Consumption
  • you mentioned corals, but as the 150 is 6 weeks old I'm going to assume no coralline algae
    • How heavily stocked is this tank?
  • sometimes Alk has been reported to bind with some sands

You are probably going to want powerheads/wave makers in that tank at some point to help even distribution of nutrients, providing flow/food to coral, but I wouldn't suspect that as your issue right now.

I am assuming you don't park in this garage? If not, then I would suspect your pH to be higher than your indoor tank do to the more rapid change over of fresh air.

A hanna new tester
The tank has about 8-10 baby frags
no coraline algae
I have (2) salt checkers 1 digital brand new and a optical one which I calibrated to the solution
I did not check salinity yesterday but two days ago it was about 1.023 which i thought was kind of low but I have a professional who comes every week to help me till i can get the hang of things and he stated it was fine

 

[DustinPavlick]

Vibrant is just an algaecide and will kill the good algae inside your corals as well.

I was skeptical to at first until i watched a video of the bulk reef supply dudes hyping this product up saying it will not affect coral

 

[Cthulukelele]

I was skeptical to at first until i watched a video of the bulk reef supply dudes hyping this product up saying it will not affect coral

Vibrant is an algaecide. There was a scandal about it a few years back. It will seriously affect your ability to reach tank stability. I would really dial down the dosing of random things in a 6 week old tank.

 

[sde1500]

I was skeptical to at first until i watched a video of the bulk reef supply dudes hyping this product up saying it will not affect coral

Salesmen hype things they sell. Vibrant lied about their product being special and containing a proprietary mix of bacteria, when it was just an algaecide. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/warning-use-vibrant-at-your-own-risk.894995/

For the ALK drop the first thing I always do when getting a very unexpected test result is ignore it and test again. Especially before making any changes. We use hobby grade kits, even Hannah checkers, there are variances to be expected.

 

[Js.Aqua.Project]

A hanna new tester
The tank has about 8-10 baby frags
no coraline algae
I have (2) salt checkers 1 digital brand new and a optical one which I calibrated to the solution
I did not check salinity yesterday but two days ago it was about 1.023 which i thought was kind of low but I have a professional who comes every week to help me till i can get the hang of things and he stated it was fine

So low salinity = low Alk, Ca, Mg unless your are dosing them up. Sayin 1.023 is "fine" is ok, but if you're doing water changes and that salinity is changing with each water change so too will the Alk, Ca, and Mg.

What brand of salt are you using?

I am inclined to lean towards a testing issue in either of the two tests over a dramatic drop like that with a tank that has so few corals. Like @sde1500 said, if you get a random drop like that test again to verify that the test was accurate.

 

[Lavey29]

You do realize that your first year will be filled with a variety of ugly phases right? If you add harsh chemicals to a new tank you are killing off what little biome has already started and opening the door to endless tank problems.

 

[Manpeckz]

I was skeptical to at first until i watched a video of the bulk reef supply dudes hyping this product up saying it will not affect coral

13 minute mark, took me a minute to find this but I remember hearing it from the same source as you.

 

[carol3]

I was skeptical to at first until i watched a video of the bulk reef supply dudes hyping this product up saying it will not affect coral

I hope that was an old video