why am i loosing so much alk?

leveldrummer · 06-10-2007, 10:21 PM

i havent dosed any calcium in about 2 months. it stays at around 425-450, i do regular water changes every other week, with IO. but my alk is fluctuating, ill dose it up to 2.7 meq/l, in a week or so it will slide back down to 1.7, im dosing alk pretty much every week. i just cant believe my tank is burning through that much alk, and not using any cal. is it the salt? or are my readings junk and im about to cause a huge problem with my chemistry? i use seachem test kits (i know) its what i have right now. im getting better ones soon. even if they are the most accurate, they have been steady. any help TRT?

Wiskey · 06-10-2007, 10:24 PM

Bacteria use Alk too, even in an unlit FO tank Alk will still be consumed.

My 125G SPS tank drops from 9 Dkh to 6 Dkh in a single day,.. and I use up around 15PPM CA daily too,.. I'm really loving my CA reactor

HTH,
Whiskey

Hop · 06-10-2007, 10:29 PM

Ok, silly question, or so it might seem, but I'm doing some homework for you... Where does your pH fall on average during the day?

Wiskey · 06-10-2007, 10:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hop

Ok, silly question, or so it might seem, but I'm doing some homework for you... Where does your pH fall on average during the day?

I assume your asking Leveldrummer?

Whiskey

Hop · 06-10-2007, 10:51 PM

Yeah, I just dug up an old article on alk, ca and how pH can relate to precipitating calcium carbonate and alk imbalances. Not sure I'm on the right track or not, but hey, it's education for myself

leveldrummer · 06-10-2007, 10:52 PM

i fun roughly at 8.2 consistantly, i never really check at night, though i know it probably drops.

do you guys think im just freaking over nothing? how do you dial in a cal. reactor if your running through way more alk than cal.??

leveldrummer · 06-10-2007, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hop

Yeah, I just dug up an old article on alk, ca and how pH can relate to precipitating calcium carbonate and alk imbalances. Not sure I'm on the right track or not, but hey, it's education for myself

wouldnt i notice precipitation in some fashion? either cloudy ness, or something along those lines?

Wiskey · 06-10-2007, 10:56 PM

I wouldn't get a CA reactor just yet,.. your not using enough to really justify one, I would continue doing just what your doing.

My tanks that are not SPS dominated always seemed to use more Alk than CA, in fact before I got any SPS I was doing Alk only to my 50 just like you are.

I think what your seeing is fairly normal.
Whiskey

Hop · 06-10-2007, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leveldrummer

wouldnt i notice precipitation in some fashion? either cloudy ness, or something along those lines?

Maybe, let me do some more reading

The article says that instances like this are very rare

Likely nothing to get excited about though...

Hop · 06-10-2007, 11:12 PM

Well that article was a dead end really as far as locating anything else to look for. With where your pH is and where you alk is falling, the only recomenddation was to keep doing what your doing, raising the alk to target range. They stated that the most common reason things fall into this area is due to "overdosing calcium RELATIVE to alkalinity" but obviously this is not the reason in your case.

Sorry, I couldn't find anything else.

tdwyatt · 06-10-2007, 11:39 PM

I will look at this thread this week, sorry, just got back into town, and it looks like after this trip, I will NOT be going to the ARC club meeting Tuesday nite (I pretty much blew my coral acquisition budget for the next month...

)

tdwyatt · 06-10-2007, 11:42 PM

BTW, post your pH at 8am, 12n, 4p, and 8p, and tell us how you determine your pH. Give us your calcium and alkalinity, as well as your salinity and Mag levels from this Monday evening. Depending on how this comes out, I may have more questions for you.

leveldrummer · 06-11-2007, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

BTW, post your pH at 8am, 12n, 4p, and 8p, and tell us how you determine your pH. Give us your calcium and alkalinity, as well as your salinity and Mag levels from this Monday evening. Depending on how this comes out, I may have more questions for you.

... gonna have to wait for the weekend tom. lol, im a working man! are you posting those times to go along with the lights? if so it will need some adjustments.

leveldrummer · 06-11-2007, 04:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wiskey

I wouldn't get a CA reactor just yet,.. your not using enough to really justify one, I would continue doing just what your doing.

ive removed pretty much all lps, very few softies are left. (zoo's, ricordea, and some shrooms from hell) everything else is sps, with frags spaced roughly every 5 inchs. not much room for additions if i hope to have any grow out. so im trying to acquire a reactor soon, even though i can dose and keep everything in order. id like to get something lined up to automate my tank a little.

as for the over dosing cal. that is a possibility. altough i havent dosed in a while, i was dosing pretty decently before i ran into this problem. but i wonder if the water changes are keeping up with cal. demand now.

leveldrummer · 06-11-2007, 04:16 PM

im starting to guess that alk fluctuations are slowing sps growth (ive noticed alot of growth tips getting smaller, or vanishing) if they slow, it also slows the uptake of cal. right?