No alkalinity consumption in over a month

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Heh, I’m having the opposite issues right now. I can’t keep my alk up, despite not having much in the way of corals, and no SPS. Can’t figure out where it’s all going. Sand is soft, no real growth or coralline… but alk is rock bottom, and drops again nearly as soon as I add more. I wish you all the best figuring it out, I can sympathize with how frustrating it is.

Rising nitrate depletes alk and not calcium.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

No clam issues, just the one big stunner issue. Trying to figure out why I apparently have zero consumption even though I have corals that are still growing. I don't know if it's just that he was the biggest consumer in the tank and his absence really made that big of a difference, or if something else is going on. At this point I'm starting to think that it's just that the stunner isn't there anymore and it was doing all the lifting.

This is what I meant by a clam issue:

Edit. I also have a clam. He used to be a big consumer but while on vacation once my urchin knocked his hammock from it's high location and he scooted and anchored in lower in the main rockwork so growth slowed down with lower light (I assume)

 

[danieyella]

This is what I meant by a clam issue:

Edit. I also have a clam. He used to be a big consumer but while on vacation once my urchin knocked his hammock from it's high location and he scooted and anchored in lower in the main rockwork so growth slowed down with lower light (I assume)

I got you, that happened quite awhile before any of this though, his fall and relatching lower was during a vacation in 2021 - long enough ago to not be an impact on the more recent problems. At least... I think

 

[danieyella]

This is what I meant by a clam issue:

Edit. I also have a clam. He used to be a big consumer but while on vacation once my urchin knocked his hammock from it's high location and he scooted and anchored in lower in the main rockwork so growth slowed down with lower light (I assume)

Was more to note that it's not just a tank of softies & lps, I have some montipora, stylopora, & the clam, etc - though he doesn't do as much as he did.

 

[chipchipbro]

ever checked your RO water for alkalinity?
I once had my membrane installed not correct and my RODI had 3.5 Alk in it.. means my ATO dosed Alk :/

 

[danieyella]

ever checked your RO water for alkalinity?
I once had my membrane installed not correct and my RODI had 3.5 Alk in it.. means my ATO dosed Alk :/

No but going to check that stat. I know that they no longer run those numbers in the ati icp because people were abusing it and sending different tanks info in the ro test vial...

We'll find out.

 

[Lost in the Sauce]

No but going to check that stat. I know that they no longer run those numbers in the ati icp because people were abusing it and sending different tanks info in the ro test vial...

We'll find out.

Wouldn't that be appearing in increases dkh of the newly mixed water as well?

 

[danieyella]

Wouldn't that be appearing in increases dkh of the newly mixed water as well?

Probably yes.

Tested 0 on ro anyway.

 

[chipchipbro]

ok.. was just an idea
My new mixed salt had 10.9 alk instead of 7.7.. was kinda crazy.. and I filled my new tank with that :/

 

[danieyella]

ok.. was just an idea
My new mixed salt had 10.9 alk instead of 7.7.. was kinda crazy.. and I filled my new tank with that :/

It was worth a shot, thanks for the idea

 

[dieselkeeper]

High alkalinity could slow growth. How long did it take for alk to go to 11 dkh? A day or two, a week or two? How many water changes did you do? I would do 25 percent daily water changes until alk is where you want it. Of course watching nitrates and phosphates don't bottom out.

 

[danieyella]

High alkalinity could slow growth. How long did it take for alk to go to 11 dkh? A day or two, a week or two? How many water changes did you do? I would do 25 percent daily water changes until alk is where you want it. Of course watching nitrates and phosphates don't bottom out.

I don't recall the timeframe, this has been a battle for a couple months though. I did a bunch of wc to pull it from over 12 to 11.3 then it seemed to just stagnate there and climb back up on its own. I went on vacation for a week, came back and tested positive for covid the very next day and was in very rough shape for the following week. This week has been my first week semi-normal but still feeling rough, winded easily, etc and as ridiculous as it sounds, the water change I did on my 4g w/ no heavy lifting today did me in.

I was going to try to do a wc on this tank today but realized I don't have enough salt to make it worthwhile, and the box that came w/ my cube is apparently supposed to pull 10-12 dkh anyway. Since I'm moving all the livestock I'm keeping into that tank once it's cycled I guess there's no point trying to sort it back out to what they were used to.

 

[araziza]

Rising nitrate depletes alk and not calcium.

Thanks. My nitrates are reading 4.4 on the Hanna checker though, and still under 10 with salifert, so I’m thinking it’s probably not rising nitrates.