Alk at 10.6 without dosing

[jazonPartij]

My corals started looking rough and realized my Alk jumped up from 8.0 to 10.6. I recently did a fluconazole treatment on a algae problem that was getting out of hand, worked like a charm. Now the algae is gone but I can’t seem to get my water chemistry stable. Calcium is at 512 and Mag is at 1280. I have a dosing pump but doesn’t seem like I should be dosing anything. I just did a 30% water change. The tank is almost a year but zero coraline algae growth either. I went bare bottom so I don’t particularly want coraline algae but seems like a sign of an unhealthy tank if it’s not growing. Corals aren’t really growing either. I stick to my 10 to 20% water changes weekly

My tank is a nuvo 40. I use marine pure balls, filter floss, and a skimmer that isn’t doing much.

Any advice to get my tank stable ?

 

[ScottR]

What test kits are you using?

 

[jazonPartij]

Hanna

 

[dwest]

I would keep doing weekly 10% water changes and not add anything chemically to the water. It’s hard to be patient but your tank will come around

 

[melanotaenia]

Adding sand will help stabilize the tank. If you were dosing ALK and the corals started to reduce consumption due to adverse effects of the treatment, that is likely the cause for your increased levels. I would not change your water change schedule.

 

[jazonPartij]

How does Alk get so high without dosing though. Where is it coming from?

 

[spiraling]

What salt are you using?

 

[melanotaenia]

How does Alk get so high without dosing though. Where is it coming from?

If you are using a salt with a high DKH then your tank will register high as you change water and the corals are not taking in as much ALK as they were previously.

 

[jazonPartij]

I’m using Tropic Marine pro. Seems too high for a salt mix to have alk.

 

[rmurken]

Two out-of-the-box thoughts, mostly eliminating possible measurement issues—

- Try a different Alk test. Even an API dropper test could differentiate between 8 and 10 dkh, which could either confirm your Hanna checker or suggest a possible issue with it.

- Double check your salinity—if something’s way off with your refractometer or whatever you use, maybe your salinity, along with everything else in your salt mix, is off. Since your Alk and Ca are both kind of high, I wonder if this is possible. But it still seems like a long shot.

 

[motortrendz]

Adding sand will help stabilize the tank. If you were dosing ALK and the corals started to reduce consumption due to adverse effects of the treatment, that is likely the cause for your increased levels. I would not change your water change schedule.

+1 on this. Took the words right out of my mouth