4.8 ALK = SPS Thriving... Say what!?

[BantyRooster97]

So I set up a biocube 32 in my office not too long ago to be a nem tank, well I'm addicted to SPS, so of course I dropped a couple in. It's a basic set-up, with the RapidLED upgrade in the lid, but no dosing, no Apex, nothing special. 1 gallon water change per week, and RODI top off water as needed.

I have a miyagi tort, a mystic sunset monti & a couple of Pocillopora... and all are thriving!

Since everything has been doing so well I figured I'd test the water in my biocube, for the first time since I set it up and BAM! 4.8 ALK!!

How is it that everything is thriving, and I mean doing great, with the ALK that low?

 

[Crabs McJones]

So I set up a biocube 32 in my office not too long ago to be a nem tank, well I'm addicted to SPS, so of course I dropped a couple in. It's a basic set-up, with the RapidLED upgrade in the lid, but no dosing, no Apex, nothing special. 1 gallon water change per week, and RODI top off water as needed.

I have a miyagi tort, a mystic sunset monti & a couple of Pocillopora... and all are thriving!

Since everything has been doing so well I figured I'd test the water in my biocube, for the first time since I set it up and BAM! 4.8 ALK!!

How is it that everything is thriving, and I mean doing great, with the ALK that low?

Out of curiosity what are you using to test? It's all about stability, if your levels have consistently been low your corals may have adapted to surviving in the low levels. My uncle does something similar. Doesnt dose anything just does weekly water changes, puts a little sodium bicarbonate in his saltwater mix, and everything is growing amazingly.

 

[maroun.c]

Most probably it's a testing error.

 

[Flippers4pups]

Most probably it's a testing error.

I agree, error is highly probable. What test kit is it and how old is the test kit?

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Test again and double check against a different kets kit.

 

[Mattrg02]

Whoops, 8.4dkh?

 

[Flippers4pups]

Whoops, 8.4dkh?

8.4 dkh is very good for SPS corals. Just need to be consistent.

 

[Fishfinder]

My stuff is thriving 6.5 right now

 

[samnaz]

have you tested more than once? how old is the test kit?

 

[jda]

I keep mine in the 6s and have had it get probably to 4.8 before when I needed to turn the CaRx up. While everything was fine, it took weeks to get this low and it took weeks to raise it, so it was always stable. I do not want to be that low on purpose, but healthy acropora can handle it.

 

[BoomCorals]

I keep mine in the 6s and have had it get probably to 4.8 before when I needed to turn the CaRx up. While everything was fine, it took weeks to get this low and it took weeks to raise it, so it was always stable. I do not want to be that low on purpose, but healthy acropora can handle it.

I would agree I’ve had alk hit 5dkh before (slowly) and so long as I brought it up slowly it was fine.