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Constantly low alk


matt frizz

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Cliff Notes at bottom for those who skim:

 

 

At first I thought my alk levels wouldn't balance out because my Mg levels were low. Well they were low, they were at 1100ppm so I dosed a whole bottle of brightwell Magnision to raise my Mg to 1400 and my Calcium levels were at around 425ppm.

 

So after this I go back to monitoring my alk levels and they were in the high 8.0s but now they are right back to 6.7 where they were before. Shouldn't raising the Magnesium, Calcium and Alkalinity to balanced levels have maintained the alk numbers over the course of a week and a half?

 

I've been monitoring the levels and the alk always drops. I have even been adding baking soda mixtures (with calculated numbers) to my auto top off and even this does not maintain the level.

 

Also, I've done 20 gallons total in water changes (using tropic marin salt mix) in the past two days and I would have thought that even if my levels like to drop down that this would have maintained them at least in the mid 7.0s.

 

I've read that sometimes tank personalities just like to hang out in the lower range with no negative effects on corals. My corals all look great but I wonder if the low alk levels could stunt their growth.

 

Also I wonder if my pH test is getting too old (its over a year old and API) and that this is actually a pH problem. BUT wouldn't my corals or anemone look horrible if proper pH was not maintained? They all look great.

 

 

Cliff Notes:

 

-Alk was low last month

-Dosed alk to raise from mid/low 6.0s to mid/high 8.0s

-Alk then lowered back to 6.5 after a week

-Discovered Mg at 1100ppm, dosed to 1400ppm

-maintained Cal/Alk/Mg at 425/8.4/1400 respectively

-tested alk again after 20 gallon water change (over course of two days with tropic marin) and it was 6.4 again

-Now what? pH issue, my pH test is over a year old (corals/nem look fine though)? My tank just likes lower Alkalinity? If so, does this stunt coral growth? Where do i go from here?

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If your levels are in check now that you raised them like you say you need to be dosing a two part supplement every day to keep the parameters in check. Your coral are just using the alk up over a week and a half time. Try esv bionic or brs both make good two part dosing kits.

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FiRsT-aNd-LaSt

I have also the same issue, my tank just loves to sit at 6 for my alk, I've have tried many different things, including 4 different types of salts (RC, DD M+, RSCP, & Oceanic) and various products that claim to stabilize alkalinity, and no matter what they may raise my alk temporarily but after 2 or 3 days it will drop right back down to 6, like you I test everything, multiple times a day and my mag is always great and my calcium and PH are within fine parameters and always remain stable, no swings. I left my tank alone for a good period of time without dosing, and yes my corals did fine but as you said I do believe it may stunt there growth because I pretty much had none during that time frame. I've just excepted that I have to dose everyday, if I don't within 2-3 days time its back down to 6, like Byrdman suggested I've been using esv bionic and it works great, I dose about 3ml of component 1 every morning and that keeps my alk stable at about 8-9dkh, I never use calcium because it seems to not move and remains stable from my weekly water changes, sorry I dont have a one time fix it, maybe someone else can chime in with some ideas, but dosing may be your only answer.

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If you have growing stony corals then your alk (and Ca+Mg) will just constantly drop as the corals pull it out of the water to make new skeleton, you'll have to be constantly adding it somehow if you want to keep them growing. My tanks also stop dropping around 6 dKh, I think this is the point at which most corals stop being able to grow skeleton.

 

It just seems like alk drops a lot faster because there is less of it in the water; when the corals bring the dKh down a full point, for example from 9 to 8, the Ca will only drop ~7 ppm. This is less than the margin of error of most Ca test kits so it is much harder to measure the Ca dropping, even though it still is if alk is being consumed.

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why not find your total alk needs over the course of the week and divide it out so your dosing "X" amount daily to maintain your alk. use a dosing pump or go manual till you get tired of it then get a dosing pump.

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Thanks for the replies everyone. Glad to see I'm not the only one. I do have a fair amount of stony corals and they must just be sucking it all up. Time for kalkwasser and a strict dosing regiment i suppose.

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after finding my consumption rate of alk and my rough daily evap rate. I found that adding 20 ml of BRS alk solution per 1 gallon of my top off water keeps my alk at a steady 9 dkh

 

Without dosing my tank can drop 1 dkh a day

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I am still in the beginning stages of dosing a 2 part, but I am seeing a drop of about 1 dkh a day over the last week......it is nuts! I think cptbjorn's comment about how calcium will only drop a tiny bit compared to 1 dkh drop in Alk is right on the money. It seems like I am dumping Alk in and never touching the calcium.....

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Yeah I went out and picked up reef code a/b today and started dosing. Looks like I'm gonna have to stick to the dosing regiments outlined by brightwell pretty much exactly. Every other day dosing of 10ml Calcium/10ml Mg/15ml A/15ml B. I'll probably just put it in my ATO.

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Yeah I went out and picked up reef code a/b today and started dosing. Looks like I'm gonna have to stick to the dosing regiments outlined by brightwell pretty much exactly. Every other day dosing of 10ml Calcium/10ml Mg/15ml A/15ml B. I'll probably just put it in my ATO.

 

You can only pick one for your ato as you can not mix those together.

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You can only pick one for your ato as you can not mix those together.

 

 

Which ones can you not mix? The magnesium w/ the reef code a/b? What are the ill effects because I dosed my tank (not the ATO, I put it directly in) w/ Mg followed very closely w/ code a/b and it was a little cloudy for 10 mins but that was it.

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The A and B cannot be mixed, that's why they are in separate bottles in the first place. If you mix some together in a shot glass you'll see the calcium carbonate all precipitate out, and it can't dissolve again due to the basic pH of saltwater.

 

Mixing Mg+A or Mg+B is also not a good idea, as you can get precipitates from doing that too. Best to keep everything separate until it goes into the tank, and if you want to add one to your ATO then alkalinity is probably the best choice.

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The A and B cannot be mixed, that's why they are in separate bottles in the first place. If you mix some together in a shot glass you'll see the calcium carbonate all precipitate out, and it can't dissolve again due to the basic pH of saltwater.

 

Mixing Mg+A or Mg+B is also not a good idea, as you can get precipitates from doing that too. Best to keep everything separate until it goes into the tank, and if you want to add one to your ATO then alkalinity is probably the best choice.

 

Ok I understand that but I'm confused now how to go about dosing. Can you put it all into the tank directly and its not ok to let it sit together OR do you have to dose part A on one day, part B on another, and Mg on another?

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You can and should do it all on the same day, around the same time (within a few hours of each other at the longest). Your tank will dilute it enough to avoid the "do not mix" issues. It is only when you mix the two directly that you have issues. In a tank...not so much. I mean.....you could have issues in the tank, but nowhere near as much as if you mixed them outside the tank.

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My skimmer will never work right for like two days after I dose, is this normal? It just bubbles up A LOT and fills the tank w/ micro bubbles. After around 2 - 2 1/2 days it works normally. It's an SWC Xtreme 160 cone.

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