Stabilising ALK

[DJC]

Hey all

So have been playing around and monitoring my chemistry for the last few months and I’ve struck a win before Cal & Mag was very unstable but have now stabilised these parameters permanently

So happy about this

However I’m now battling ALK it just does not seem to stabilise and even when topping up it rapidly decreases within a week

Last Monday it was 9.1 dkh
Topped up 10ml 2 days ago = 1.0 dkh of LH Red Sea bottle rise however this was not confirmed
Did a full parameter check today (weekly parameter check) every Monday and I’m now 7.0

Is there a way I can work out how much I need to top up for a 160ltr tank each week to keep stable


My corals are gating the cranky it’s not stablizing and I’m having troubles working this one out

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The only way to know how much to dose is by trial and error, or no dosing for a couple of days and measure the alk drop, then you’ll need to do the trial and error anyway but may have a closer starting point.

 

[DJC]

The only way to know how much to dose is by trial and error, or no dosing for a couple of days and measure the alk drop, then you’ll need to do the trial and error anyway but may have a closer starting point.

This is what I did with cal and mag

However alk just seems to drop way quicker in a rapid way

Is this normal ? Or can i
Manipulate the levels with certain rocks that give natural hardness to the tank

This was my next thought ?

 

[Luminous74]

Du kannst rechnen. Ich verwende Tropicmarin allfor reef. 5 ml davon erhöhen den dKH um 0,28 dKH pro 30 Gallonen. Ich habe gestern 7,8 und heute 7,4 gemessen (was wichtig ist, ungefähr zur gleichen Zeit). Ich berechne 5/0,28*0,4=7,14 ml / 30 Gallonen. Mein Tank hat ein Nettowasservolumen von 60 Gallonen, also 7,14 ml * 2 = 14,28 ml pro Tag. Wenn Informationen zu Ihrer Dosierung vorliegen, können Sie diese berechnen.

 

[DJC]

Du kannst rechnen. Ich verwende Tropicmarin allfor reef. 5 ml davon erhöhen den dKH um 0,28 dKH pro 30 Gallonen. Ich habe gestern 7,8 und heute 7,4 gemessen (was wichtig ist, ungefähr zur gleichen Zeit). Ich berechne 5/0,28*0,4=7,14 ml / 30 Gallonen. Mein Tank hat ein Nettowasservolumen von 60 Gallonen, also 7,14 ml * 2 = 14,28 ml pro Tag. Wenn Informationen zu Ihrer Dosierung vorliegen, können Sie diese berechnen.

Vielen Dank, ich werde es versuchen, aber ich denke, dass dies in den nächsten Wochen eine große Frustration für mich sein wird

 

[RockBox13]

Sí.

 

[RockBox13]

What is your Mag sitting at? Did you possibly use dolomite for Mag in a calcium reactor?

 

[DJC]

What is your Mag sitting at? Did you possibly use dolomite for Mag in a calcium reactor?

My mag is sitting at 1294

Again I use Red Sea to dose but honestly I’ve not needed to dose any mag in few was weeks since the stability was measured

I use foundation C magnesium by Red Sea

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is what I did with cal and mag

However alk just seems to drop way quicker in a rapid way

Is this normal ? Or can i
Manipulate the levels with certain rocks that give natural hardness to the tank

This was my next thought ?

Yes, alk does drop faster.. Magnesium barely moves at all, and calcium is in between.

No, there are no rocks that will usefully add or stabilize alkalinity.