ut6 Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 What does everyone keep there alk at? I have heard different things from all different people. Some say to keep them high at all times around 10-12 and others have told me to keep them around 8-10. Any advise from the experts..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+mcallahan Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My tank stays @ 6.5 dKH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JasonJones Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 There are several factors to consider. Corals generally show signs of distress when alk gets below 5.5 or 6 dkh. Many people base their alk level on providing some cushion above this level. If you run your tank at 10dkh, you have a much better cushion of time to dose before your level gets dangerously low versus running your alk around 7. Second, alk is one of the two components that affects pH in saltwater. The other is CO2. They work in an inverse relationship. As alk increases, pH rises. As CO2 increases, pH falls. You can use your alk level to maintain a pH you determine appropriate for your tank. Some people will need a higher alk to maintain a certain pH (say 8.2) than others because of a high CO2 content in the house. Third, your alk level also matters if you are dosing a carbon source. Higher alk levels have been known to cause burning of SPS tips when dosing a carbon source. For this reason, the general advice when carbon dosing is to keep the alk level around NSW (7 dkh or so) I tend to keep my alk around 9. I have found maintaining a constant dkh to be more important than the acheiving some magic number. Some people claim faster growth rates with higher alk, but I have only found this to be true with higher Ca. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juiceman Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 Mine is at 9-10 dkh. It had some burnt tips when I was running 12 And started bio pellets Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ut6 Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) That makes a lot of sense jason, I have never thought about it on a tank to tank basis. I was talking about for maximum growth for corals and like I said I had heard people come from both sides. Thats why I asked. Thanks for the explanation! Edited January 12, 2012 by ut6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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