Algae growth affecting alkalinity?

[Stephan Bitterwolf]

Hi all and thank you for your help.

I just did the math on how many moles of Alk and Ca I am dosing into the tank. Surprisingly it is not a 1 to 1 ratio. I find that for every mole of Calcium that I add, 3 moles of Carbonate are needed.

I thought this might be because the algae are using Bicarbonate in the water since CO2 is in short supply in my tank (SPS mainly, 1 fish, and a clean up crew).

Any ideas? Has anyone else seen this?

Thanks for your help,

Stephan

 

[AlgaeBarn]

What is your pH in the tank?

And what is your magnesium?

 

[Stephan Bitterwolf]

What is your pH in the tank?

And what is your magnesium?

pH is around 8.3. magnesium is 1395.

Stephan

 

[AlgaeBarn]

pH is around 8.3. magnesium is 1395.

Stephan

Your pH does push the equilibrium of bicarbonate/CO2 more to the bicarbonate side.

Most algaes will use bicarbonate when CO2 is in short supply. But in your case, are you talking about macroalgae, microalgae, or nuisance algae?

 

[Stephan Bitterwolf]

I'm growing some red macro algae from your company! Haha. Thanks for your help.