something to reef on Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Wondering what other people maintain their alkalinity at. The first dosing supplements I bought was the red sea foundation abc which recommends a dkh of 12 for a lps tank which mine mostly is, but it seems most people from what I've read are closer to 8-9 dkh. I switched to mixing my own solutions of Ca, Alk, and Mg because the red sea was too expensive, buying from foster and smith. I've been maintaining my parameters at about 440 Ca, 12 dkh, and 1350 Mg and everything seems good. Does my Alk need to be this high though? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dean Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 The main thing with alkalinity is stability. I have quite a lot of lps and they do great in the 8-9 range. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 I hover around 8 dKh. Clownfitch has a great point in that stability is the key. I'd look into BRS bulk solutions for Ca, Mg, and Alk and see if they are any cheaper than DFS. Just another option and it might save you money. Sent via Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Nate - I keep my alk around 8.5 and limit the swing as much as possible. Since I do like to get frags from other folks I try to be aware of what they target in order to minimize shock for new frags. I know SAM keeps his around 8.5 and Ty around 8. I use the BRS 2 part and like it for cost and ease of use. This link is aging but a pretty good reference still: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 My tanks stay between 4.5 dKH and 12 dKH. Small changes like 7 - 8 may happen without bothering anything but larger changes usually will upset somebody. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wryknow Posted September 30, 2014 Share Posted September 30, 2014 Kalk dosing with your top-off water is another cost effective way to maintin Alk and Ca. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something to reef on Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 I've been having pretty good luck where my alk is at so I'm hesitant to lower it. I do dose it with my top off everynight. The foster and smith additives are comparable in price to BRS but BRS does not have free shipping. I do use the BRS MgCl and Mg sulfate though as F&S does not carry Mg sulfate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something to reef on Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 Should have said they did not have it at the time I placed my last order... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reburn Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I am currently running my alk at 10. I have been as high as 11 and as low as 9. I try to keep my Mg 3x my calcium. Right now I'm in the 520's Ca and mid 1500's Mg. I dose kalk in my ATO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I maintained my alk a little low for a couple years (6.7-7.0) area. I was running biopellets for a while during that time and I understood you were supposed to run alk a little low. I'm running a higher nutrient tank now with higher light (and more algae as one would imagine), so I still maintain ca & alk through 2 part automated dosing, but alk runs substantially higher nowadays from around 9.8-10.0 dkh or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Oops, as I speak, my alk snuck up to 9.0 dKh during the week. Nothing seems ticked so I'll just let it go back down slowly and maybe hold 8.5 dKh now that I've stopped carbon dosing. Sent via Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nori4dori Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I was going to ask this on my build thread, but it's relevant here. My tank is 6 months old. I've had my alk at 11, and have kept it pretty steady. After reading about how most other reefers here keep their alks around 8-9 I decided to slowly lower it. I dose seachem calcium and alk daily. Over the last 1-2 weeks, I reduced my alk dosage to slowly lower my alk. I was out of town for last 2 days and didn't dose. During that period alk dropped from 10 to 8-9, and calc dropped from 400 to 360ppm. Today I noticed STN on two of my acros: rainbow nasuta and tri-color valida. Do you think the swing in alk was the reason for the STN? Whats the best thing to do now to rescue these acros? Should I up my alk dosing to bring it back up to 10 or 11? Here are my other parameters: nitrate: 0-5ppm (api kit) phos: 0.3ppm (salifert) calc: 360ppm (api) alk: 8 dkh mag: 1300 ppm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
something to reef on Posted October 1, 2014 Author Share Posted October 1, 2014 JeeperTy, what do you mean when you say you were carbon dosing? Does that mean running carbon in a reactor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jolt Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 Furam28 I have heard that a rapid >0.5 drop can cause STN. I have not personally experienced that tho ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 You might be ok in the 0.5-1 range of a swing, but if you get above one it has been my experience that you start to have issues, especially if you're sps heavy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 JeeperTy, what do you mean when you say you were carbon dosing? Does that mean running carbon in a reactor? It means adding a source of carbon (i.e. vodka, sugar, vinegar, biopellets, etc) to promote bacterial growth to consume nitrates, carbon, and some phosphates from the system. Afterwards, you skim out the bacteria to remove it from the system. The carbon in the reactor is activated carbon and is different from the carbon dosing I was mentioning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted October 1, 2014 Share Posted October 1, 2014 I was going to ask this on my build thread, but it's relevant here. My tank is 6 months old. I've had my alk at 11, and have kept it pretty steady. After reading about how most other reefers here keep their alks around 8-9 I decided to slowly lower it. I dose seachem calcium and alk daily. Over the last 1-2 weeks, I reduced my alk dosage to slowly lower my alk. I was out of town for last 2 days and didn't dose. During that period alk dropped from 10 to 8-9, and calc dropped from 400 to 360ppm. Today I noticed STN on two of my acros: rainbow nasuta and tri-color valida. Do you think the swing in alk was the reason for the STN? Whats the best thing to do now to rescue these acros? Should I up my alk dosing to bring it back up to 10 or 11? Here are my other parameters: nitrate: 0-5ppm (api kit) phos: 0.3ppm (salifert) calc: 360ppm (api) alk: 8 dkh mag: 1300 ppm I'd take it right back if possible Furam but do it slowly. I go with the idea of if your coral are happy, don't bother chasing numbers. It's definitely the alk that caused the STN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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