High Alkalinity-HELP

[lakejoery1]

I started dosing my LPS reef about 1 or 2 weeks ago. I now realize that in the last couple days I added too much, leading to my alk to be high. I also just ran out of test kits in the middle of doing this test. It is around 12-14dkh at maximum, and I have since stopped dosing to let it go down with usage. The tank is euphyillia dominated.  Most of the euphyillia look happy, however a couple of them aren't fully extended or are opening or closing once in a while. I am just worried that I might have hurt my corals. The tank is just about a year old, and is 40g. I am planning to do a water change to lower it or is that needed? Will the euphys be okay? They havent lost any colour.

[A Little Blue]

They should be fine. I ran my Alk this high once b4. Few acros were pissed and caused few burned tips, Chalice was really pissed, euphilias didn’t care all that much. 

If you’re freakin out, you could do small WC but nothing drastic. Then, just let it come down on its own. 

[lakejoery1]

5 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

They should be fine. I ran my Alk this high once b4. Few acros were pissed and caused few burned tips, Chalice was really pissed, euphilias didn’t care all that much. 

If you’re freakin out, you could do small WC but nothing drastic. Then, just let it come down on its own. 

Would it make sense for this to be the reason that they are opening and closing?

[A Little Blue]

7 minutes ago, lakejoery1 said:

Would it make sense for this to be the reason that they are opening and closing?

It could be. I don’t remember if that was the behavior during my experiment. But possibly. Like I said small WC (%5-10) should be enough to bring it down by 1-1.5points. You can also try dimming your lights a bit if you can. If you can’t dim your lights, shorten your photoperiod by few hrs. Just don’t panic, you’ll be fine. 

[Clown79]

Running high is ok especially if you don't have low nutrients.

 

But the rising all at once can cause issues and really stability is key.

 

You want to dose to replenish what your corals consume daily but your target number is what your salt mixes at(your tank should be close to these numbers)

 

 

I wouldn't continue dosing at this point.

 

I would mix a batch of salt water and test it.

 

When you do a water change, test after. The results should be similar to what your new,salt water mixes at..

 

Then test every day to monitor the drop in ca and alk. 

 

Dose to maintain your target alk number.

 

 

There are online dosing calculators to help dose proper amounts.

 

 

[lakejoery1]

35 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Running high is ok especially if you don't have low nutrients.

 

But the rising all at once can cause issues and really stability is key.

 

You want to dose to replenish what your corals consume daily but your target number is what your salt mixes at(your tank should be close to these numbers)

 

 

I wouldn't continue dosing at this point.

 

I would mix a batch of salt water and test it.

 

When you do a water change, test after. The results should be similar to what your new,salt water mixes at..

 

Then test every day to monitor the drop in ca and alk. 

 

Dose to maintain your target alk number.

 

 

There are online dosing calculators to help dose proper amounts.

 

 

Yeah, im not sure what wrong. You think they should be ok?

[A Little Blue]

You need to get familiar with dosing principles, relationship between Alk/Ca/Mg and test your water often (at least at the beginning). There is no silver bulet or shortcut. It’s part of reefkeeping that we all hate but it is the essential part of this hobby that will determine your success or failure. 

[Clown79]

5 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

You need to get familiar with dosing principles, relationship between Alk/Ca/Mg and test your water often (at least at the beginning). There is no silver bulet or shortcut. It’s part of reefkeeping that we all hate but it is the essential part of this hobby that will determine your success or failure. 

Yup. I don't enjoy testing. Lol. Happy I'm at the point of only focusing on alk.

 

It's really important in the early stages to test weekly, get an understanding of what's going on in your tank.

 

Testing for a week will give you the knowledge you need to properly dose.

 

But remember as you get more stony corals or as they grow, you need to monitor from time to time as consumption changes. 

 

[A Little Blue]

29 minutes ago, Clown79 said:

Yup. I don't enjoy testing. Lol. Happy I'm at the point of only focusing on alk.

 

It's really important in the early stages to test weekly, get an understanding of what's going on in your tank.

 

Testing for a week will give you the knowledge you need to properly dose.

 

But remember as you get more stony corals or as they grow, you need to monitor from time to time as consumption changes. 

 

I thing what you’re are saying is, that both of us are just too exhausted to care. Lol

[Clown79]

8 hours ago, A Little Blue said:

I thing what you’re are saying is, that both of us are just too exhausted to care. Lol

Lol.

 

I got to a point of getting tired of testing parameters when the tank I don't test or dose is doing the best.

 

 

I test alk weekly because of its importance. But the rest monthly.

 

You get to know your tank once it becomes stable you can relax on stringent testing.

[A Little Blue]

1 hour ago, Clown79 said:

Lol.

 

I got to a point of getting tired of testing parameters when the tank I don't test or dose is doing the best.

 

 

I test alk weekly because of its importance. But the rest monthly.

 

You get to know your tank once it becomes stable you can relax on stringent testing.

True. The only thing I test is Alk every other day or so. 

I didn’t even bother testing frag tank when I set it up (except Alk). Tossed fish and corals in it within a week or two. 

Something I would NEVER promote to anyone unless they knew what they were doing. 

Hopefully this arrogance won’t bite us in the butt. 😏

[Clown79]

14 minutes ago, A Little Blue said:

True. The only thing I test is Alk every other day or so. 

I didn’t even bother testing frag tank when I set it up (except Alk). Tossed fish and corals in it within a week or two. 

Something I would NEVER promote to anyone unless they knew what they were doing. 

Hopefully this arrogance won’t bite us in the butt. 😏

I don't think its ignorance. A lot of hobbyists become more relaxed with testing as the tanks mature. 

 

Some of the nicest tanks out there are very simple systems with simple maintenance.

 

Sometimes less is more😁

 

I definitely recommend weekly testing for new hobbyists and new tanks.  Its part of learning and understanding.