Alk/Ca consumption doubled

[Formulator]

Its been a long time since I rebooted a tank with no coralline… I’m 6 months into an overhaul of my previously crashed system and coralline is finally starting to take off, along with my coral growth. This is a good thing of course! I expected to see my Alk and Calcium consumption go up, but it seems like it is a bit fast and I want to make sure nothing is going awry.

Is it reasonable to see near doubling consumption within a few days?

 

[Uncle99]

Its been a long time since I rebooted a tank with no coralline… I’m 6 months into an overhaul of my previously crashed system and coralline is finally starting to take off, along with my coral growth. This is a good thing of course! I expected to see my Alk and Calcium consumption go up, but it seems like it is a bit fast and I want to make sure nothing is going awry.

Is it reasonable to see near doubling consumption within a few days?

Doesn’t seem reasonable, that much, that fast.
If my tests showed that much, I’d be skeptical and recheck.

 

[Formulator]

Doesn’t seem reasonable, that much, that fast.
If my tests showed that much, I’d be skeptical and recheck.

Ok, I will do some investigating. The thing is, I use trident and there is an obvious trend. Yesterday I increased my auto-dosing amount and you can see it start to come up. Ignore the up/down oscillation at every test point, there is an issue with the valve I’m trying to get Neptune to fix. But at the macro level you can see the trend.

Perhaps noteworthy, by doubling I’m only talking about an increase from ~0.1 dKH to ~0.2 dKH if my math is correct.

 

[Lavey29]

Ok, I will do some investigating. The thing is, I use trident and there is an obvious trend. Yesterday I increased my auto-dosing amount and you can see it start to come up. Ignore the up/down oscillation at every test point, there is an issue with the valve I’m trying to get Neptune to fix. But at the macro level you can see the trend.

Perhaps noteworthy, by doubling I’m only talking about an increase from ~0.1 dKH to ~0.2 dKH if my math is correct.

Verify salinity to because that can throw alk numbers off as well.

 

[Formulator]

Verify salinity to because that can throw alk numbers off as well.

Good suggestion, but I’m all good there at 1.026.

 

[Lavey29]

Good suggestion, but I’m all good there at 1.026.

I've had big alk and cal increases here and there as things hit the right groove.

 

[Formulator]

I've had big alk and cal increases here and there as things hit the right groove.

That’s kind of what I’m hoping is the case… The coralline explosion and coral growth rates seem to suggest it. Just seemed like a lot so I was skeptical…

 

[Lavey29]

That’s kind of what I’m hoping is the case… The coralline explosion and coral growth rates seem to suggest it. Just seemed like a lot so I was skeptical…

I would just verify test results and make adjustments accordingly.

 

[Uncle99]

Ok, I will do some investigating. The thing is, I use trident and there is an obvious trend. Yesterday I increased my auto-dosing amount and you can see it start to come up. Ignore the up/down oscillation at every test point, there is an issue with the valve I’m trying to get Neptune to fix. But at the macro level you can see the trend.

Perhaps noteworthy, by doubling I’m only talking about an increase from ~0.1 dKH to ~0.2 dKH if my math is correct.

Ok ok, I see, but not doubling in consumption, that’s what I thought which is not possible.

What I see is almost 10 on Jul 6 and around 9.5 on the 12th.

So the consumption is about .1 per day which is very small, but is increasing.

I test alk daily with Hanna, that change would not get my attention.

All seems normal to me.

No need to investigate further

 

[Formulator]

Ok ok, I see, but not doubling in consumption, that’s what I thought which is not possible.

What I see is almost 10 on Jul 6 and around 9.5 on the 12th.

So the consumption is about .1 per day which is very small, but is increasing.

I test alk daily with Hanna, that change would not get my attention.

All seems normal to me.

No need to investigate further

Well it is decreasing 0.1 per day while continuously dosing enough to add 0.1 per day, so that’s where I got doubling from. Previously it was stable at a 0.1 dKH dose per day.

 

[Uncle99]

Well it is decreasing 0.1 per day while continuously dosing enough to add 0.1 per day, so that’s where I got doubling from. Previously it was stable at a 0.1 dKH dose per day.

Got it.
If it constantly drops, then time for a tiny boost in dose.
I consume 1dkh per day as a reference point.

 

[Formulator]

Got it.
If it constantly drops, then time for a tiny boost in dose.
I consume 1dkh per day as a reference point.

Yep, I should have been more clear about the absolute values in the first post. Very small increase, but relative to what it was, it is double. My alk solution (Randy’s DIY, unbaked baking soda) is only 2800 dKH, so the dosing amount also seemed like a lot to me since I had to bump it to 40 mL/day. I think I will go for the baked version next prep and get it more concentrated.

 

[Uncle99]

Yep, I should have been more clear about the absolute values in the first post. Very small increase, but relative to what it was, it is double. My alk solution (Randy’s DIY, unbaked baking soda) is only 2800 dKH, so the dosing amount also seemed like a lot to me since I had to bump it to 40 mL/day. I think I will go for the baked version next prep and get it more concentrated.

Great, for sure you’ll want to dial that in as close as possible, the demand of course will increase over time.

I found I was terrible at mixing my own brew with a consistent output so I moved to a pre-mix to eliminate that variable.

While that’s a more expensive route, the surprise benefit in my case is my Doser no longer gets jammed. When I used my own mix, every 6-8 months it would jam and required a vinegar flush.

Since pre-mix the Doser now running clean for 5 years.

My thinking is you’ll have to pin down your concentration to one level, then, only an adjustment to your dose is required as the system develops.

It’s great to hear that things are moving forward in your system…..good luck!

 

[Lavey29]

For what it's worth I've gone from dosing 5ml each of alk and calcium up to 45ml of each and now currently at 30ml of each over the last 3.5 years. Tanks go through evolutions as they mature. If conditions are favorable then corals will thrive and grow like plants in the garden. This growth can be slow and steady for the most part but some corals grow faster then others so it looks more like growth spurts and then you combine coralline and you have major and minor element consumption to varying degrees. This is why weekly alk tests are important. Kind of gives you the health report for everything else to some degree. Alk and calcium typically get consumed proportionally but not always. Magnesium is 1/10th consumption compared to alk and calcium.