Alk dropping with one monti cap?

[flatreefer]

Hello again,

I don't know what's going on if it's my brand of salt or if somehow my tank is consuming 1.0 dkh alk in 2 days

All I have in the tank is one purple monti and minimal coraline algea,

I don't get how Monday after a water change I tested alk it was 8.68dkh and today I checked alk and it was 7.7dkh,

I noticed today my apex was sending me low ph alarms when Monday and Tuesday it was in range so I figured I test alk because there is some correlation between alk and ph

Salt: red sea blue bucket running 35ppt, I mix and heat it on Sunday and Monday after work I do a water change?

Possibly the elements are persipertating out?

Fish: 1 clown small 1 scopus tang small,
CuC: 5 ninja star snails and 2nblue hermits (havnt seen for a while now lol)

 

[Pntbll687]

Test again and see what you get. Also test the magnesium level to see where it's at if you have a test for it.

How big is the tank? And the coral?

I'm leaning towards testing error or 'testing miscalculations' as in the test want performed exactly the same both times.

 

[flatreefer]

Test again and see what you get. Also test the magnesium level to see where it's at if you have a test for it.

How big is the tank? And the coral?

I'm leaning towards testing error or 'testing miscalculations' as in the test want performed exactly the same both times.

Okay ill test again, and I'll test mag

Tank is redsea reefer 170 the Monti is like a 2-2.5inch circle I'd say

 

[Pntbll687]

Test again and see what you get. Also test the magnesium level to see where it's at if you have a test for it.

How big is the tank? And the coral?

I'm leaning towards testing error or 'testing miscalculations' as in the test want performed exactly the same both times.

And did you test the pre mixed same water before adding it

Okay ill test again, and I'll test mag

Tank is redsea reefer 170 the Monti is like a 2-2.5inch circle I'd say

I work in freedom units so I'm not sure how big a red sea reefer 170 is. 170 liters? About 50 gallons?

On either case I don't think the monti is using that much alk.

 

[flatreefer]

And did you test the pre mixed same water before adding it

I work in freedom units so I'm not sure how big a red sea reefer 170 is. 170 liters? About 50 gallons?

On either case I don't think the monti is using that much alk.

I tested again and I got 8.26dkh

Also note I'm using the red sea test kits for alk, mag and cal

And the tank is 46gish I think

 

[flatreefer]

Are corals and coraline algea the only things in a reef tank that consume alk?

 

[QuarantinedCorals]

I don't want to add any confusing information to the mix but I have one hammer coral in my tank at the moment, I have a 180 gallon tank and a trident to check my water params. My alk was dropping about .3-.4 dkh a day at times even .5dkh, I made a post about it too which I will put the link to so you can check it out. I was told my bacteria, all the coraline, snails, and corals were consuming alk. I think its normal to be honest, every tank is different (as long as there arent major errors in your testing)

Dosing experts advice needed

Hi everyone, I recently installed an apex system on my tank, I have the dosing pump as well it just hasn't been installed yet. I initially set the unit up about a week ago and I got an really low alk reading initially i think the number was 5dkh. I went ahead and started doing some brightwell...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Jekyl]

Even the bacteria and algae in a tank will consume alk I think. Alk lowers even when people are cycling their tanks.

 

[Gtinnel]

If I remember correctly the algea doesn't actually consume the alk like corals do, they bind it. Which would still cause lower levels in the water though. In that case when the algea dies any carbonate it had bound would be released back into the water raising the alk back up.
I also use the red sea kit and IMO it isn't the best for accurately testing alkalinity. I suspect your tank is using a small amount and testing inaccuracies is the rest of it.