No alkalinity consumption in over a month

[danieyella]

I dose the same 2 part BRS calcium chloride, never affected my alk. Mag will affect alk but theirs seems fine. What is your ph

Not as perfectly stable as I'd like it to be, but the daily range is 7.9 at the lowest to 8.2. monitored by a seneye I recalibrate with each new slide against a hanna pH checker.

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

What salt are you using? Instant ocean reef crystals has hi alk. Have you considered that your salt is what is replacing some low consumption in the tank?

 

[danieyella]

What salt are you using? Instant ocean reef crystals has hi alk. Have you considered that your salt is what is replacing some low consumption in the tank?

Fritz rpm blue which reads as 8-9 on their site, I've tested each batch in case that was it. Tested at 8.5ish with very slight variance.

 

[Mystersynyster]

Try giving your tank some fresh air, open some windows or try a scrubber. Is your skimmer working good? Any break in surface tension helps with gas exchange, i.e good flow on surface of display, skimmer bubbles. Good gas exchange helps raise ph and that should help your coral process the carbonate from your Alk better. Alway heard 7.8 ph is survival zone, 8.3 - 8.5 grow zone

 

[danieyella]

Yeah I've been through all of that. Part of the issue is we have a tap in the house and the CO2 canister has a minor leak. But we are moving soon and will be replacing all of that completely then.

You don't open windows in Florida even at 8:00 a.m. this time of year :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

But skimmer is good, I adjusted the way everything is at the surface of the tank to make sure that's good years ago. PH actually used to be lower and used to spike and decline all over the place. This has been a non-issue in tank growth and consumption for at least the last year. I don't think it would suddenly become a problem again when it has stayed consistent.

 

[Mystersynyster]

Yeah I've been through all of that. Part of the issue is we have a tap in the house and the CO2 canister has a minor leak. But we are moving soon and will be replacing all of that completely then.

You don't open windows in Florida even at 8:00 a.m. this time of year :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

But skimmer is good, I adjusted the way everything is at the surface of the tank to make sure that's good 8 years ago. PH actually used to be lower and used to spike and decline all over the place. This has been a non-issue in tank growth and consumption for at least the last year. I don't think it would suddenly become a problem again when it has stayed consistent.

True, it is weird to suddenly happen, maybe take out leaking co2 and monitor

 

[danieyella]

True, it is weird to suddenly happen, maybe take out leaking co2 and monitor

Should note, I have another smaller tank which is having zero issues. I don't think it would affect one and not the other? But IDK

 

[Mystersynyster]

Should note, I have another smaller tank which is having zero issues. I don't think it would affect one and not the other? But IDK

True, I would think so, the smaller would be affected first I believe

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Are we just trying to explain why the apparent alk demand declined?

You mentioned coral and clam issues. Anything that irritates calcifying organisms can deter them from calcifying.

Declining nitrate will add alk.

 

[danieyella]

Are we just trying to explain why the apparent alk demand declined?

You mentioned coral and clam issues. Anything that irritates calcifying organisms can deter them from calcifying.

Declining nitrate will add alk.

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.

 

[Wasabiroot]

Perhaps you are experiencing a slowdown due to the recent fluctuations still as Randy suggested? From what I've read and seen, it can take several weeks before corals start thriving again after a large swing.

Also is your phosphate numbers as listed (asked by several people) or not? Jw

 

[danieyella]

Perhaps you are experiencing a slowdown due to the recent fluctuations still as Randy suggested? From what I've read and seen, it can take several weeks before corals start thriving again after a large swing.

Also is your phosphate numbers as listed (asked by several people) or not? Jw

So that was per ati icp, got new reagents in. Tested at .613ppm on my hanna - BUT that's the max it can test to so I'm not confident it's not higher

 

[danieyella]

Also, only thing that's been dosed this entire time is calcium, I've been testing every 2-3 days because that's how long it registers a swing for me to dose it (and a small one at that).

Alk tested at 11.9 today.

Maybe nitrates have dropped, trying to find my tester for that if I have valid reagents.

 

[araziza]

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.

 

[Wasabiroot]

So that was per ati icp, got new reagents in. Tested at .613ppm on my hanna - BUT that's the max it can test to so I'm not confident it's not higher

If you're getting a number that high, I usually assume test error first. Maybe a scratch on the vial or expired reagent? Just throwing things at the wall

 

[danieyella]

If you're getting a number that high, I usually assume test error first. Maybe a scratch on the vial or expired reagent? Just throwing things at the wall

I have an adult engineer goby who's been in heavy renovation mode since about May, which is when I started noticing the climb on the icp tests. He's making what was inch deep sand up to 4 inches in areas and nonexistent in others, I think he's kicking up a lot of old gross. My roller mat has been consuming a lot higher since he started that up as well, and the skimmer has been a lot more gross more frequently. It's not for lack of me trying to clean it up, I swear. I even have an ats running.

 

[danieyella]

If you're getting a number that high, I usually assume test error first. Maybe a scratch on the vial or expired reagent? Just throwing things at the wall

Also, ran the same vial for my 4g tank and that one tests .02 so it's not an error with that :(

 

[Wasabiroot]

Also, ran the same vial for my 4g tank and that one tests .02 so it's not an error with that :(

Hmmmmmm. Maybe they really are that high. It would explain the slow in growth for sure

 

[Wasabiroot]

I have an adult engineer goby who's been in heavy renovation mode since about May, which is when I started noticing the climb on the icp tests. He's making what was inch deep sand up to 4 inches in areas and nonexistent in others, I think he's kicking up a lot of old gross. My roller mat has been consuming a lot higher since he started that up as well, and the skimmer has been a lot more gross more frequently. It's not for lack of me trying to clean it up, I swear. I even have an ats running.

I believe you, haha. Nutrients can be challenging to keep balanced sometimes

 

[danieyella]

Hmmmmmm. Maybe they really are that high. It would explain the slow in growth for sure

The thing is, when the stunner was in there it was growing like crazy, I had to dose like crazy. It must have been one of those special exceptions to the rule lol.

I'm temporarily downsizing for a little while until my move (moving a stocked 64g cube is easier than moving a stocked 115g rectangle). I'm not taking the engineer with, plan is to fill & cycle the cube and then move over the rocks & corals I plan to keep (run a few weeks with nudis to clear out any aiptasia). Then move over the fish I want to keep and sell off any other livestock & break the bigger one down for storage. I'm hoping the move sets everything back to normal.

Been behind on setup because we had 2 nearly back to back vacations, then I came home with covid & it kicked me hard - still recouping. I really need to get it going asap though.