successful high alk SPS tanks

[mcarroll]

You are correct. A good friend ran her 240 zeo tank with a Dkh of 7-8 and anything higher would cause her corals to get alk burn fast. I could get a frag from her though, and drop it right into my tank with a Dkh of 11 and the coral would be fine. I never could figure that out. Even when she ran zeo free with low alk her corals would not tolerate anything above about 8.5.

Alkalinity levels and requirements are not this mysterious.

Read (or re-read) some of Randy's work on the topic to alleviate that mystery! [emoji41][emoji106]

The folks running carbon dosing have some strange chemistry going on in their tanks-it's as simple as that.

For the rest of us, alkalinity stability (above 2.5 mEq/L) is the only real concern.

There doesn't seem to be a "harmful" upper limit. You don't really find it done anymore but if you look back through the history of reefing there are examples of successful tanks with astronomically high alkalinity. No "alk burn".

 

[Tahoe61]

No carbon dosing other than some Nano Zeovite products. My acropora and other sps seem to show better polyp extension at 7-8.5. I really make an effort not to drive up the alk.

 

[mcarroll]

No carbon dosing other than some Nano Zeovite products. [...]

Could just be your wording, but doesn't that mean there *is* carbon dosing in your tank? (I have no idea what constitutes "nano zeovite"...)

 

[Tahoe61]

Could just be your wording, but doesn't that mean there *is* carbon dosing in your tank? (I have no idea what constitutes "nano zeovite"...)

For clarification yes I am sure I am adding carbon with the Nano Zeovite products. Actual ingredients listing are vague, other than Amino Acids.

http://www.marinedepot.com/Korallen...ements-Korallen_Zucht-VX5321-FIADSACS-vi.html

I am not however running bio-pellets or adding concentrated carbons such as ETOH.......

With that said, prior to adding any Zeo products the acropora in my system still appeared to grow faster and show increased PE at alk values below 9. In my endeavor to promote color and growth I used to attempt to run alk at 10-11 with ca greater than 400 and mag greater then 1300. My conclusion was that I saw no significant positive result from running a higher alk. Nor do I purposely try to run a ULNS.

 

[Mattweets]

I run my DKH pretty high!

 

[Ashish Patel]

My Nitrates stay close to .2PPM and Phosphates 10ppb.. After seeing many posts its clear that ALK around 8DKH is better for my nutrients. Matching the ALK to nutrient level and lighting is the balancing act every hobbyist has to master in their own aquarium. I wish I could run higher nutrient, high ALK, and high light but with my strong flow, skimming, and biological filter its just not really possible. Perhaps as my tank matures and contains more nutrients I'll adjust the alk and light gradually

 

[stylaster]

I run my system around 9 dkh and it was tank of the month awhile back. Dont know if you consider 9 high though

 

[Flippers4pups]

The correlation with nutrients, alkalinity and light seems, at least in my system, to be hand in hand.

I have alkalinity at 9.6-9.9 consistently, N03 at 10-15 and pars around 200-250 at my SPS.

Growth and color is exceptional. I'm seeing new growth everyday now.
Definitely hit a sweet spot in my system. Now to get them to colony size is my next goal. Lol

 

[Ashish Patel]

The correlation with nutrients, alkalinity and light seems, at least in my system, to be hand in hand.

I have alkalinity at 9.6-9.9 consistently, N03 at 10-15 and pars around 200-250 at my SPS.

Growth and color is exceptional. I'm seeing new growth everyday now.
Definitely hit a sweet spot in my system. Now to get them to colony size is my next goal. Lol

Agree!
It took me awhile to figure out how to balance my ALK/Lighting with nutrients. If I could go back and give myself advice id say. "Start your tank, Stock your tank, determine what your nutrients are naturally and adjust only with natural means (flow, Rock/bacteria, feeding, and skimming). Too often we try overstock with fish (stressing fish out, dont forget they grow fast), and adding excess nutrients(nitrates and phosphates) or removing nutrients to fast (using GFO, pellets, carbon dosing) - which can just throw chemistry into wack. When simplest and safest bet is just to adjust 2 relatively easy parameters (light and alk). I added nutrients which caused bleaching and algae problems so that was a failed project.

I think a bulb clicked when studying sanjays parameters and watching Jason fox comment on "Par not being important since once par depends on once nutrients".
Lesson being learning - Your ALK and nutrients don't have to be the same as anyone and if you try to match theirs you will get some serious problem! lol

 

[Flippers4pups]

It took me awhile to figure out how to balance my Alk with nutrients. If I could go back and give myself advice id say. "Start your tank, Stock your tank, keep nutrient as high as your tank will allow without algae problems, and adjust your photoperiod or intensity and ALK based on nutrients. Too often we try overstocking with fish and adding excess nutrients. I added nutrients which caused bleaching and algae problems. I think a bulb clicked when I watched Jason fox comment on "Par not being important since it once par depends on once nutrients". Good stuff.. Hope this made sense

I brought this up with Dana Riddle once about alkalinity, nutrients and par. He believed that one could run higher alkalinity, nutrients and par to accelerate growth, but there would be a limit. Of course flow was important.

Sanjay surely has that down with his system. Lol

 

[Ashish Patel]

I brought this up with Dana Riddle once about alkalinity, nutrients and par. He believed that one could run higher alkalinity, nutrients and par to accelerate growth, but there would be a limit. Of course flow was important.

Sanjay surely has that down with his system. Lol

Yeah, I wish I could run my tank as sanjays from day 1,,,his growth rate is legendary.. I think nutrients increase in once tank as it matures regardless of the testable values. my nutrients have been the same from day 1 but its clear my tank is much more nutrient rich after 9 months. I would say a good range for anyone starting a tank is start on lower range for alk (8DKH) and lighting (150-250PAR) since your nutrients will naturally be on the lower side. To many new tanks seem to be following numbers of tanks that have been up and running for 2+ years or trying too hard to get their tank matures by forcing nutrients up. I did it and this is my only mistake i've done thus far that took 2 days to cause and 2 months to fix.