Austyn's 125 Gal mixed reef...

[ahvrivera]

I also picked one of these up. Its growing fairly fast. Already down on the tile I mounted it to. I'm not seeing the green eyes like you are though.

Mine is not growing that fast but the colors are really starting to come in. What kind of lights do you have on your system?

 

[ThatGuy]

Mine is not growing that fast but the colors are really starting to come in. What kind of lights do you have on your system?

Right now a 6bulb 54watt t5ho

 

[kevin]

wow, beautiful tank!

 

[ahvrivera]

Alkalinity Drop!!

I was doing my weekly testing last night.

Calcium 460 (hanna)
Nitrites 0 Salifert
Nitrates 0 Salifert
Phosphates .01 (Hanna)
Magnesium 1400(salifert)
ALKALINITY 83ppm

What would cause Alkalinity to drop so drastically? I had to dose 18.5oz of ALK solution over the course of an hour to get it back up. It sustained at 185 five test later.

Corals and fish were all looking ok no major ill effects to the low ALK. But still would like to hear what your opinions and experiences are.

 

[hcker99]

With Alk that low, what was your PH?

 

[jgraz]

How long has it been since you last tested? I had a very similar drop a few months ago but just attributed it to growth. I started dosing to keep it around 7dkh. I tested this passed weekend and found it at 5 again. How long has it been since you adjusted you dosing regiment

 

[downbeach]

When was the last time you checked if before last night?

 

[ahvrivera]

With Alk that low, what was your PH?

Hmm good question i did not test PH. Skipped my mind.

How long has it been since you last tested? I had a very similar drop a few months ago but just attributed it to growth. I started dosing to keep it around 7dkh. I tested this passed weekend and found it at 5 again. How long has it been since you adjusted you dosing regiment

I tested last Sunday. everything was the same exept ALK and Cal. Alk was 180 and Cal 500. PH was 8.2 last week. Forgot to test it last night. Hmm it makes a bit of sense though. i have been adding a lot of SPS through trades in the past week or so.

When was the last time you checked if before last night?

Last sunday.

 

[downbeach]

Its very possible that it was just used by your livestock. The uptake of Alk to Ca by stoney corals, coraline algae is 5 parts of Alk to every 2 parts of Ca, and there is less Alk in reserve in your system, so it can go down quickly. Did you measure your Ca last night too? Allowing for a margin of error with test kits it should have followed that same ratio.

 

[ahvrivera]

Its very possible that it was just used by your livestock. The uptake of Alk to Ca by stoney corals, coraline algae is 5 parts of Alk to every 2 parts of Ca, and there is less Alk in reserve in your system, so it can go down quickly. Did you measure your Ca last night too? Allowing for a margin of error with test kits it should have followed that same ratio.

I did test Ca also it came in at 460. I always do 3 to 4 test each just in case there is a bad test. Once i see numbers become steady i will drop to 2 test. Its just such a drastic margin between Ca and ALK that it freaked me out.
My tank has been mostly LPS until recently. New additions are
Red PLanet
Pink Birdsnset (mini colony)
Green Birdsnest (Colony)
Tricolor acro
Setosa
Ponape Birdsnest
Purple Digi
Blue tip stag.

And all in the last 2 weeks. And more becasue i was to get a few of your frags also. So i can see last weeks test not really showing any major drops because the frags where just settling in. I guess this week they said im ready to grow cause im happy . Im going to do tests everyday this week and see what the new dosing regime will be. Hopefully i can catch it and not have it drastically drop on me again.

 

[ahvrivera]

OK second day of testing and my alkalinity dropped to 131 overnight from 185.
Ph is 8.1
CA 435
MAG 1420
salinity 1.026
What are your thoughts on adding ALK to the RO top off?
I think the combination of the corals intake and the top off RO water being only 92ppm might be a factor. ???

 

[downbeach]

What's in your RO/DI water? Are you certain of the accuracy of your test kit? Have you tried dosing kalk in your top off? If your Alk dropped about 50ppm, you should see your Ca drop about 20ppm, allowing for a certain amount of noise in your test kits.

[FONT=&amp]The uptake of Ca and Alk by "stoney" corals, coraline algae, etc. in a reef tank is 20 ppm Ca to 50ppm(2.8dKH) Alk(CaCO3), which is a ratio of 2 pts Ca to 5 pts Alk (2:5). Equal doses of two part supplements are designed to provide the same ratio's. Saturated kalkwasser also contains this same ratio, @ ~ 800 ppm Ca(2pts.) to 2,000 ppm Alk/CaCO3(5pts.). [/FONT]I would add some kalk to your top off, @ 2 tsp. per gallon, because it will provide a balance of both Ca and Alk. Kalk by itself may not keep up with your demand, since the amount you can add is going to be determined by your evaporation rate. I would get your param's where you want them, start using the kalk, and monitor your usage. If the kalk isn't keeping up, start a two part dosing schedule, using one of the carbonate/bicarbonate/calcium chloride recipe's.

 

[asonitez]

Lol ya man I told you those frags like to suck up nutrients lol. Take your time as long as nothing is stressing slowly raise your levels to desired values and test over the course of a week to see what your consumption is. Then adjust your dosing accordingly.

 

[ahvrivera]

For CAL and Alk i use the HANNA test. I just started using the Hanna testers. took a bit to get used to them with the conversion but getting the hang of them.
Cal was 460 on Monday. last night it was 435..-25ppm
ALK was 185 on Monday. last night it was 131.. -54ppm) added 100ml(3.5oz) of alk to bring it back up to 185
It looks like the ratio for the usage is about right?

For my RO water i have added no trace elements at all. stright RO/DI water. 4 GAL holding tank. Was going to add some ALK to it just to keep the swing to a minnimum. I currently dose BRS 2 part. Guess i have to fine tune the daily dosing OR pick up some KALK and try that also. Thanks for your help with this Jim Appreciate it.

What's in your RO/DI water? Are you certain of the accuracy of your test kit? Have you tried dosing kalk in your top off? If your Alk dropped about 50ppm, you should see your Ca drop about 20ppm, allowing for a certain amount of noise in your test kits.

[FONT=&]The uptake of Ca and Alk by "stoney" corals, coraline algae, etc. in a reef tank is 20 ppm Ca to 50ppm(2.8dKH) Alk(CaCO3), which is a ratio of 2 pts Ca to 5 pts Alk (2:5). Equal doses of two part supplements are designed to provide the same ratio's. Saturated kalkwasser also contains this same ratio, @ ~ 800 ppm Ca(2pts.) to 2,000 ppm Alk/CaCO3(5pts.). [/FONT]I would add some kalk to your top off, @ 2 tsp. per gallon, because it will provide a balance of both Ca and Alk. Kalk by itself may not keep up with your demand, since the amount you can add is going to be determined by your evaporation rate. I would get your param's where you want them, start using the kalk, and monitor your usage. If the kalk isn't keeping up, start a two part dosing schedule, using one of the carbonate/bicarbonate/calcium chloride recipe's.

 

[ahvrivera]

Lol ya man I told you those frags like to suck up nutrients lol. Take your time as long as nothing is stressing slowly raise your levels to desired values and test over the course of a week to see what your consumption is. Then adjust your dosing accordingly.

I hear ya. testing all this week.

 

[mnat]

Slow down with the dosing. You want to dose that amount over like 5 days. Rapid swings are worse then having low alk so bring it up slowly. I made that mistake so that is why I am telling you.

 

[Empire]

get yourself some aquavitro eight.four.

are you running carbon? if so, was it rinsed out sufficiently?

 

[kschweer]

I would have your levels checked by another reefer so you know the readings are correct. Especially with your calcium, those hanna calcium checkers have been known to give some incorrect readings.

 

[ahvrivera]

Slow down with the dosing. You want to dose that amount over like 5 days. Rapid swings are worse then having low alk so bring it up slowly. I made that mistake so that is why I am telling you.

Will do. Already seeing my lobo shrink a bit.
Thanks for your advise.

 

[ahvrivera]

Day 3
Cal 389 Tested 3 times 388,389,391
ALK 154 tested 3 times 154,155,154
ph 8.1



Everything looks good in the tank. all polyps out, fish eating, no hard breathing. So far calculations are telling me to add 100ml of Cal a day and 90ml of ALK.