Red Sea NO3-PO4:X raising alkalinity?

[Odobenus rosmarus]

This is my first reef tank and from the beginning I'v been logging my levels for NO3, PO4, Ca, Alk, and Mg and I've logged how much I dose for NO3-PO4:X and ABC+. The first 4 days of dosing 1mL a day of NO3-PO4:X my Alk went from 9.5dKH to 10.5dKH. My nitrates were at 4ppm and my phosphates were at 0.36ppm so I increased the does to 2mL for 4 days and my NO3 went from 4 to 0 and PO4 didn't change and neither did my Alk? So for 14 days I increased my dosage to 3mL a day as I was adding livestock and I wanted my NO3 and PO4 to drop but on the 14th day I checked my levels and everything was fine but my Alk went up to 11dKH? So I noticed that the trend is that the more I dose NO3-PO4:X, my Alkalinity rises with it, but people are saying that 9dKH is what you want in a reef so how do I fix this? is the raised Alkalinity harming anything in my tank because things seem healthy and happy. Currently these are my levels:

NO3 - 0.00ppm

PO4 - 0.00ppm (this confuses me because my phosphates have always been high but suddenly dropped)

Ca - 460ppm

Mg - 1200ppm

Alk - 11.0dKH

I'm just starting to keep SPS and I don't think they like the higher dKH.

[nanolutionary]

...I've logged how much I dose for NO3-PO4:X and ABC+. The first 4 days of dosing ... my Alk went from 9.5dKH to 10.5dKH.

 

 

The NO3: PO4 X is unlikely to be the cause of your rising Alkalinity level as it is formulated as part of the Reef Care Program to affect levels of Nitrate and Phosphate, if you have been dosing Red Sea's ABC+ then this will be the source of you rising alkalinity levels.

 

...but people are saying that 9dKH is what you want in a reef so how do I fix this? is the raised Alkalinity harming anything in my tank...

 

 

 

It is true that a high dKH is beneficial to our closed system aquariums as dKH has a direct relationship with PH, the most important point to understand about this relatively complex relationship is that if dKH is higher, it will prevent your PH from 'swinging' from day to day (as PH tends to swing overnight due to changes in the ways our corals react to light). Keeping levels as stable as possible day-to-day and long term is what we want therefore high dKH = level PH which is why it is a good thing. Do not be too concerned about dKH drops at this infant stage in your tanks life as long as it stays above 7/8 and try to keep it as level as you can, I'll come back to dKH in a moment.

 

 

PO4 - 0.00ppm (this confuses me because my phosphates have always been high but suddenly dropped)

 

 

Assuming your tank is still very young it is not uncommon for levels to be more erratic - possibly than at any other time in your tanks life - it is most likely because of the amount of NO3: PO4X you have been adding to the system that your Phosphate levels have dropped off. I would advise you to focus more on your Nitrate levels and not worry about Phosphate at this stage until you have achieved the desired growth and want to move to enhanced colouration as part of Red Sea's Reef Care Program..

 

I advise you to focus on nitrate because that is what Red Sea advise for new tanks which will be requiring accelerated growth, it is only once desired growth has been achieved that levels of phosphates should be fine-tuned the hobbyist because that is how we can move from accelerated growth to enhanced colouration. To get a better idea for all of this information, how it interrelates and what it means I would advise watching Red Sea's Reef Care Prograam videos - many times - until you understand them.

 

 

I'm just starting to keep SPS and I don't think they like the higher dKH.

 

SPS like higher dKH, around 12.1 dKH is perfect especially when running the Red Sea Reef Care Program. Oe thing to bear in mind is that SPS don't like great changes to happen all at once, small changes in parameters are best. Remember your tank is still young, best to wait till your readings have stabilised and you understand the interrelationships between the different elements and how they can be maintained in conjunction with the Reef Care Program before trying to keep SPS.

 

Another factor which would be raising your dKH is if you use Red Sea Coral Pro salt. This mixes at a high dKH suitable for accelerating SPS coral growth.