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- Feb 19, 2020
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Is my alkalinity stable? What is considered a "swing"? What is reasonable changes in values to consider it "stable"?
What about moving between 7 - 6.6?
I have a 38 gallon (total water volume) system. I've recently added first corals (9 days ago and then 3 days ago), there's 5 frags in there, though one is perhaps not a frag and more of a birds nest small colony (about 2.75" all around, quite a few little branches). SPS (no acropora), monti, and a cyphastria.
At the time I added corals, alkalinity was 7.0
It's slowly drifted down I guess, reading just now was 6.6. I noticed my weekly 10% water change bumped it from 6.8 to 6.9 (this was 4 days ago).
I'm aware it's on the low side. But for this small a tank with so little coral in it (plus 4 small fish), I'm wondering if I should do anything yet (two part, etc.). I would have guessed that water changes would sustain the tank for at least 6 months before I would have to start adjusting. Then the question is if I try to keep it at (say) 7.
Note: wasn't measuring alk until adding coral and still haven't tested calcium, have to get over the activation energy to use that complicated Red Sea measuring kit! My alk kit is the Hanna.
What about moving between 7 - 6.6?
I have a 38 gallon (total water volume) system. I've recently added first corals (9 days ago and then 3 days ago), there's 5 frags in there, though one is perhaps not a frag and more of a birds nest small colony (about 2.75" all around, quite a few little branches). SPS (no acropora), monti, and a cyphastria.
At the time I added corals, alkalinity was 7.0
It's slowly drifted down I guess, reading just now was 6.6. I noticed my weekly 10% water change bumped it from 6.8 to 6.9 (this was 4 days ago).
I'm aware it's on the low side. But for this small a tank with so little coral in it (plus 4 small fish), I'm wondering if I should do anything yet (two part, etc.). I would have guessed that water changes would sustain the tank for at least 6 months before I would have to start adjusting. Then the question is if I try to keep it at (say) 7.
Note: wasn't measuring alk until adding coral and still haven't tested calcium, have to get over the activation energy to use that complicated Red Sea measuring kit! My alk kit is the Hanna.
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