Where should Alk be?

[Ernie C]

Hi,

I've always strived to keep alk at about 8.3-8.5ish thinking it was a safe spot since my nutrients tend to be on the low side and have an sps dominant system. I had things get a little out of balance with dosing due to what I believe was low mag 1260 (both alk and cal dropped a bit to like 7.9 and 360) . Things have stabilized but my alk has drifted closer to 9.0 as I've slowly brought up the mag. I haven't noticed any major impacts but did notice my Jason Fox Flam acro, has some yellow tips turned white and outer edges of encrusting growth at the base has also receded/turned white. Looks like could be alk burn but not sure. Below are my parameters at the moment. I just wanted some feedback as there seems to be a lot of different opinions about Alk levels.

Salinity - 1.025
PH - 8.1-8.4
NO3 - 4ppm
PO4 - .05ppm
Cal - 450
Mag - 1380
Alk - 8.7-9.0
Temp - 77

 

[Silent]

Heavily debated topic but I believe it is safer to keep more natural seawater levels with a low nutrient system.

 

[Ernie C]

Heavily debated topic but I believe it is safer to keep more natural seawater levels with a low nutrient system.

So closer to 7dKh ?

 

[Silent]

I like to keep 7-7.5 as I run a modified zeovit system. All low nutrient zeovit systems are recommended to stay in the lower alk ranges. I assume even if you do not use zeo products it is still wise to keep lower alk if maintaining lower nutrients.

 

[vetteguy53081]

8-9 depending on number of coral and type of coral

 

[Ernie C]

8-9 depending on number of coral and type of coral

I have a 140 display, with some large acro clonies and a few lps that i've had for years and won't part with. So perhaps it would make sense to adjust my dosing to come down a bit as my nutrients do struggle to be above what i mentioned for the most part.

 

[Miller535]

So closer to 7dKh ?

Mid to upper 7's seem to be what a large number of low nutrient sps keepers aim for. I am not a stick keeper, but I do have some sps. I had an incident like you and my birdsnest got some burnt tips too.

 

[Ernie C]

So I’m seeing more issues with unhappy sps. Have a few pieces with what I’m guessing are burnt tips. Also red monti caps speckled with white as if they have sand On them. I’ve brought down my Alk to 7.5 but corals aren’t happy and look dull. I know effects can take a while to show on corals so trying to just keep things stable. I also reduced lighting by 20% in acclimation mode. Just wondering if I should be looking at anything other thank Alk as the issue? Any thoughts?

 

[Miller535]

So I’m seeing more issues with unhappy sps. Have a few pieces with what I’m guessing are burnt tips. Also red monti caps speckled with white as if they have sand On them. I’ve brought down my Alk to 7.5 but corals aren’t happy and look dull. I know effects can take a while to show on corals so trying to just keep things stable. I also reduced lighting by 20% in acclimation mode. Just wondering if I should be looking at anything other thank Alk as the issue? Any thoughts?

If your alk and nutrients are in line and stable, then my only other two suggestions would be an ICP test, and if that came back ok then rent a par meter.

 

[Ernie C]

I've done an ICP test and didn't show anything out of the ordinary, mostly low trace, I've attached recent results. I do have a par meter but haven't changed lighting, but still lowered lights a bit to try and reduce any stress.

 

[X-37B]

I run 7-7.5.
Po4 .02-.04
No3< 5.
If I go higher up to say 8.5 certain acros dont like it from my experience in my tank.
That said po4 went to .09 and no3 to 10 and colors look better.
This was from feeding pellets for a few days.
Normaly feed frozen.
Still run 7-7.5 alk range.

 

[EMeyer]

The closer to 7 the better in my experience (regardless of nutrient levels)

 

[Miller535]

I've done an ICP test and didn't show anything out of the ordinary, mostly low trace, I've attached recent results. I do have a par meter but haven't changed lighting, but still lowered lights a bit to try and reduce any stress.

Maybe your aluminum and Lithium?

 

[Ernie C]

Maybe your aluminum and Lithium?

I've questioned those numbers before in the past, but if i remember correctly, Randy said they weren't at a concerning level, but i could be wrong.

 

[Millwright]

As I’m new to SPS (about 1 year) don’t have as a lot of experience with SPS to provide much help. With that said my thought process when something changes for the negative when ithere have been no issues is to find out what changed. You said you things got a little out of balance possibly due to low mag and. things have slowly stabilized as you’ve increased your mag.
Over what period of time did your Alk drop from 8.4 to 7.9? How much time elapsed from the low of 7.9 till you hit 9? You also said you brought your Alk iback down to 7.5. How long did it take to get there? My best guess with everything I’ve read about SPS is the change in Parameters was a little to fast. I’m leaning more towards the increase as the factor that started the problem and the reduction back to “normal” that amplified the issues. The initial dip in Alk does not seem that drastic.
Why did you adjust your lighting? Did you see any changes in some of your other corals?
As you stated I would just do your best to keep things stable.

 

[Ernie C]

The changes all occurred slowly over 1- 3 weeks in either direction. I don't dose large amounts to make corrections instantly but rather reduce dosing by small amounts, 1-2mls at a time and then test in 12-24hrs. the only thing that was increased over 5 days was mag from 1260 - 1380. My assumption, due to symptoms, is that it was Alk drifting upward overtime and low nutrients. I've just never experienced alk burn before so just trying to make sure that is what i am seeing, but the burnt tips i think is a good indication that this is whats going on. Not all of the sps reacted this way but a few did, and the monti cap looking pale with white sand like spots sprinkled throughout i've also never seen before in my tank.