Red Sea Coral Pro Alk

[Panicked Reefer]

I am still VERY new to all of this. I am confused about the alk in my tank. I use coral pro salt. My fresh saltwater mixes to this on average
Ph: 8.6
Sal: 1.026
Kh: 12
Mg: 1460
Ca:450
I do weekly water changes of 10% of my 90g total vol.
When I do my weekly tests prior to my water change I average
Ph: 8.2
Kh: 8.5
Mg :1500
Ca: 435
If I understand correctly Coral Pro Alk naturally diminishes from about 12 down to 9 or 8 within a day or 2, even in a holding vessel. What is the reasoning behind this? How is one supposed to dose compensating for this? I have been monitoring my alk more closely and it appears I loose .1 alk per day. I only have a few zoa frags, sm duncan, med frogspawn, a few smaller candy canes. Overall a not what I would consider a demanding amount of corals by any means. Does this drop in alk seem normal with no more demand than I have? Is a loss of .7 over a week something I should be compensating for? Is the mag level of concern? Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[Rjmul]

You need to decide where you want to run your alkalinity at and buy a salt that mixes close. They're all different.

I keep my alkalinity between 7 and 8

for my purposes, coral pro salt is insane, and I would never use it

I use Red Sea salt, but the blue bucket. This batch I just got mixed at 7.7.

A lot of factors play into how you run your alkalinity but I don't know many folks running a tank at anything close to 12

 

[Panicked Reefer]

Thank you for the reply. I understand this and intend to switch. I don't understanding why it mixes at 12 and I'm testing at less than 1dkh higher than you with the lower alk mix. Yes, when it's mixed it is considerably high compared to what most are keeping their tank at but in the end its only a negligible amount higher. What is the benefit to staying with coral pro vs the blue bucket or vice versa other than the initial alk? The only thing I'm coming up with would be in the event I had to do a large water change it would raise my alk undesirably for a couple of days. Does the blue bucket contain all the trace elements at the same level or are they elevated in the coral pro as well?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If I understand correctly Coral Pro Alk naturally diminishes from about 12 down to 9 or 8 within a day or 2, even in a holding vessel.

That is not true, or at lest is not generally true.

IF you see a lot of precipitated calcium carbonate in the holding tank, alk and calcium are declining.

If you see no precipitate, or very little, it is not declining.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Thank you for the reply. I understand this and intend to switch. I don't understanding why it mixes at 12 and I'm testing at less than 1dkh higher than you with the lower alk mix. Yes, when it's mixed it is considerably high compared to what most are keeping their tank at but in the end its only a negligible amount higher. What is the benefit to staying with coral pro vs the blue bucket or vice versa other than the initial alk? The only thing I'm coming up with would be in the event I had to do a large water change it would raise my alk undesirably for a couple of days. Does the blue bucket contain all the trace elements at the same level or are they elevated in the coral pro as well?

Folks wanting to maintain high alk will want to use a high alk mix. Simple as that. If you want to keep the salt mix at high alk for an extended period, it is best to not heat it (even with a powerhead), and to not do anything to it to raise the pH. Leave it unstirred and unheated after initial mixing.

 

[Panicked Reefer]

Ahhh. I was under the impression it was fairly standard or atleast very common. So it would be reasonable to assume that, at least in part, the "snow globe" effect I have in my dt could be caused by this precipitation when considering I have an initial fast drop in alk?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Ahhh. I was under the impression it was fairly standard or atleast very common. So it would be reasonable to assume that, at least in part, the "snow globe" effect I have in my dt could be caused by this precipitation when considering I have an initial fast drop in alk?

Can you clarify the snow globe? Adding what exactly and how fast?

Red Sea coral pro makes certain claims about its high alk mix and what causes precipitation. One video claimed the heating from a stirrer WILL cause precipitation, but our member testing indicated that it may happen sometimes, but does not always happen:

Mixing time, Red Sea Coral Pro, and Precipitation Plausable? Mythbuster style

According to many, including Red Sea, you do NOT want to mix your Red Sea Coral Pro for more then a couple hours. In fact in this video by Red Sea the person mentions no need to mix for more then a couple minutes once the water clears up. Then the video goes on to what I want to test now, over...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Panicked Reefer]

Can you clarify the snow globe? Adding what exactly and how fast?

Red Sea coral pro makes certain claims about its high alk mix and what causes precipitation. One video claimed the heating from a stirrer WILL cause precipitation, but our member testing indicated that it may happen sometimes, but does not always happen:

Mixing time, Red Sea Coral Pro, and Precipitation Plausable? Mythbuster style

According to many, including Red Sea, you do NOT want to mix your Red Sea Coral Pro for more then a couple hours. In fact in this video by Red Sea the person mentions no need to mix for more then a couple minutes once the water clears up. Then the video goes on to what I want to test now, over...

www.reef2reef.com

I normally do my 10% WC on Friday evenings. I mix as per Red Sea's instructions although I am not always able to get the temp as low as they state to keep it at while mixing. I typically have it mix for 30mins to an 1hr and 30 mins. I then heat it to 78deg and preform WC. Typically start to finished in the dt I am about 1 to 3hrs. Within a few days of me doing the WC, typically around Monday or so I notice a fine particulate in my dt. I'm unsure what it is. It gives the DT a "snow globe" appearance. I assumed it was from the sand because it is very fine and white or close to white in color. After reading about Coral Pro more in depth, now keeping closer tabs on my ALK, and knowing no more than I do about this hobby I was wondering if it may be the ALK or something precipitating while in my dt. I am not really sure what is causing my fresh SW to go in at 12 and only having a low to mid 8 when I test the tank 7 days later. Worth reiterating that it appears I am using .1dkh per day. It may just be my corals responsible for the depletion but I only have about a dozen small frags in there, most of which are zoas. This may be a higher demand than I am giving it credit for and my WC is not enough to replenish it adequately. It precipitating and appearing this way may not even be possible, I am well out side of chartered territory with all of this.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I normally do my 10% WC on Friday evenings. I mix as per Red Sea's instructions although I am not always able to get the temp as low as they state to keep it at while mixing. I typically have it mix for 30mins to an 1hr and 30 mins. I then heat it to 78deg and preform WC. Typically start to finished in the dt I am about 1 to 3hrs. Within a few days of me doing the WC, typically around Monday or so I notice a fine particulate in my dt. I'm unsure what it is. It gives the DT a "snow globe" appearance. I assumed it was from the sand because it is very fine and white or close to white in color. After reading about Coral Pro more in depth, now keeping closer tabs on my ALK, and knowing no more than I do about this hobby I was wondering if it may be the ALK or something precipitating while in my dt. I am not really sure what is causing my fresh SW to go in at 12 and only having a low to mid 8 when I test the tank 7 days later. Worth reiterating that it appears I am using .1dkh per day. It may just be my corals responsible for the depletion but I only have about a dozen small frags in there, most of which are zoas. This may be a higher demand than I am giving it credit for and my WC is not enough to replenish it adequately. It precipitating and appearing this way may not even be possible, I am well out side of chartered territory with all of this.

Normal alk decline is up to 3-4 dKH per day, so your tiny 0.1 dKh per day decline is not anything unusual. Even a soft coral tank can lose 2 dKH per day due to coralline and other organisms (snails, urchins, bivalves, etc.). Rising nitrate also depletes alkalinity.

I'm not sure the particulates are precipitation from the water. When calcium carbonate precipitation is slow (you mention days), it is not usually in the bulk water, but on surfaces like heaters and pumps.