Alk consumption

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

So looking for a little feedback as I am new to corals in general and only kept FOWLR

Brief backstory: 3/2 I picked up 4 SPS at a CMAS fund raiser that were not in the best of shape when I got them home. They were pretty chunky frags. Well same night I kind of went a little wild and bought 8 frag seeds in the JF live sale. Well I decided..hmm maybe I should check my Alk and discovered my Alk was at 4.035. and my Cal was not even turning Blue on my New Red Sea Pro test which was due to being very high. So immediately grabbed my Triton test box pulled water and sent it out. So over the last few weeks I have been slowly rising my Alk up to where it is currently tonight.

So the facts currently:
Alk: 8.6 dkh(hanna)
Calc: 469ppm (triton results came back as high been creeping down very slowly). This number was measured with a Hanna checker
Mag: 1325ppm (need to adjust up to 1450)
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 34ppm ( will adjust on water change)
temp: 78*
lights: are 2x Maxspect Ethereal, Shifted light to the blue side. Was running the BRS AB+ setting for them and was not pulling enough par even below the surface (measured by my Apogee sq-520 sensor connected to my laptop). Frag rack with the JF stuff is sitting at 253 Par, the others 4 are anywhere from 150 to 221 par ( first lesson I learned is no never glue to my live-rock directly again. Will attach to rock rubble going forward)

Observations:

The 4 frags that I picked up at the fund raiser are bouncing back and I think are going to be pretty cool looking.
I will say.. my Coralline Algae is taking off like crazy again.

So question: I am noticing though that I am blowing through 0.5 DKH a day for 4 chunky size frags and JF 8 frag seeds. Does that sound right? I am using for my tank (about 90 Gal total volume) 13ml of Red Sea Foundation part B a day to hold in the 8.5-8.6 range. Once my Cal drops below 450 I will start to add part A.

Thanks
Tom

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

DARN.. Consumption BAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! learn to spellz

WallysWorld · Mar 20, 2019

scriptmonkey said:
So looking for a little feedback as I am new to corals in general and only kept FOWLR

Brief backstory: 3/2 I picked up 4 SPS at a CMAS fund raiser that were not in the best of shape when I got them home. They were pretty chunky frags. Well same night I kind of went a little wild and bought 8 frag seeds in the JF live sale. Well I decided..hmm maybe I should check my Alk and discovered my Alk was at 4.035. and my Cal was not even turning Blue on my New Red Sea Pro test which was due to being very high. So immediately grabbed my Triton test box pulled water and sent it out. So over the last few weeks I have been slowly rising my Alk up to where it is currently tonight.

So the facts currently:
Alk: 8.6 dkh(hanna)
Calc: 469ppm (triton results came back as high been creeping down very slowly). This number was measured with a Hanna checker
Mag: 1325ppm (need to adjust up to 1450)
PH: 8.2
Salinity: 34ppm ( will adjust on water change)
temp: 78*
lights: are 2x Maxspect Ethereal, Shifted light to the blue side. Was running the BRS AB+ setting for them and was not pulling enough par even below the surface (measured by my Apogee sq-520 sensor connected to my laptop). Frag rack with the JF stuff is sitting at 253 Par, the others 4 are anywhere from 150 to 221 par ( first lesson I learned is no never glue to my live-rock directly again. Will attach to rock rubble going forward)

Observations:

The 4 frags that I picked up at the fund raiser are bouncing back and I think are going to be pretty cool looking.

I will say.. my Coralline Algae is taking off like crazy again.

So question: I am noticing though that I am blowing through 0.5 DKH a day for 4 chunky size frags and JF 8 frag seeds. Does that sound right? I am using for my tank (about 90 Gal total volume) 13ml of Red Sea Foundation part B a day to hold in the 8.5-8.6 range. Once my Cal drops below 450 I will start to add part A.

Thanks
Tom

I'd check for any precipitate in your tank or sump. Pay particular attention to your heater or pump housing that may be slightly warmer. Are you getting significant growth yet, or are the frags just looking better?

How often are you dosing your Part B? I used up a lot of the stuff when I was dosing once/day. My Alk didn't stabilize and hold until I used a dosing pump and dosed 6-8 times per 24 hour. Once I did that the amount of Part B needed to hold the Alk on target dramatically reduced.

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

I am dosing part B once nightly in the sump. I pour it in over about 20-30 seconds but what you are saying makes sense.

On a few I see some growth.

I see nothing on the heaters or pump that would indicate precipitation.

TMB · Mar 20, 2019

13 ml really isn’t that much. Depending on the size of your tank and the amount of coralline, and how fast it’s growing, coralline could easily be consuming that.

Just continue to supply what your tank is asking you for. Do your best to keep things stable, and don’t chase numbers. Rapid changes will do more damage than 1 parameter being a little high or low.

KrisReef · Mar 20, 2019

When the frags are growing they will remove their weight in new skeleton growth each day from the water.
Someone on here can do the math to tell you how much .5dKH/90gallons weighs, but I'll just say it sounds like your coral is growing nicely.
Reminds me that I need to go measure my tanks dKH, Gl

jsker · Mar 20, 2019

scriptmonkey said:
DARN.. Consumption BAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! learn to spellz

LOL

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, I really appreciate it. The plan going forward:

Keep dosing and measuring.
Build a reef safe mini front end loader to remove the coralline off my glass.
Watch for precipitation
Do not chase numbers
Proof read subject before hitting create thread.

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

jsker said:
LOL

Hey...might not be able to spellz or make Aquamaxx products work, but I can provide comic relief. Should get a Reef Jester title.

KrisReef · Mar 20, 2019

scriptmonkey said:
DARN.. Consumption BAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! learn to spellz

We'll see about this

scriptmonkey · Mar 20, 2019

Aww... @jsker fixed it for me, thank you!

jsker · Mar 21, 2019

scriptmonkey said:
Aww... @jsker fixed it for me, thank you!

I cannot not take credit for the correction. I am in the same boat as you, in regards to spelling. The credit goes to @HotRocks

jda · Mar 21, 2019

Coralline will use more than frags - you might find that your consumption slows and quickens during coralline spurts. Just keep up with it and everything will be fine. Clams can use a ton too. Even worm and snails will can use up a bit making skeletons and shells.

HotRocks · Mar 21, 2019

jsker said:
I cannot not take credit for the correction. I am in the same boat as you, in regards to spelling. The credit goes to @HotRocks

markalot · Mar 21, 2019

I don't see a need to wait for part A, other than that get used to it.

Might want to look into Bulk Reef Supply 2 part, I buy the pre-measured packets to add to a gallon of RODI. My current daily consumption in a mature tank is aprox 150ml each part.