Alk level with high nutrients

[Emery]

Hello reefers. My tank has been up and running for about 6-7 months now. Trying to naturally lower nutrient levels via heavy skimming, water changes and refugium. It’s proving to take a very long time for me and my Coral are suffering, mainly SPS. I was wondering if I raised my Alk into the 10-11 dkh range if it would help them out.

Current numbers:
Salinity- 1.025
Alk- 8.0-8.5 checked daily and corrected with BRS 2 part
Cal- 430
Mag- 1400
Nitrate- 10ppm
Phosphate- .11 Hanna low range

 

[Crabs McJones]

Hello reefers. My tank has been up and running for about 6-7 months now. Trying to naturally lower nutrient levels via heavy skimming, water changes and refugium. It’s proving to take a very long time for me and my Coral are suffering, mainly SPS. I was wondering if I raised my Alk into the 10-11 dkh range if it would help them out.

Current numbers:
Salinity- 1.025
Alk- 8.0-8.5 checked daily and corrected with BRS 2 part
Cal- 430
Mag- 1400
Nitrate- 10ppm
Phosphate- .11 Hanna low range

I wouldn't up the alk. Sitting around 8 is perfect. Your best bet would be to continue water changes and try to locate the source of your elevated levels. How much and how often do you feed? What is your bioload? How often and how much are you doing for water changes, are you using ro/di water for your water changes and your top off water? Best bet is to retrace your steps and see where all your excess nutrients are coming from.

 

[Denisk]

I would check your feeding habits. Even cutting back 1/4, you would be surprised how much your parameters can change.

 

[Emery]

Take is a 120 with a 40 breeder. I’ve had crazy high levels since the cycle ended, mainly phosphates. Right after the cycle they were .95. Went fishless for the first few months because I knew feeding would only compound the issue. It Took me all this time to get them down to .11. Currently I have a yellow tang, khole tang, a hippo tang, and a copperband all about 2-2.5” in size. Been feeding a 1” cube of LRS once a day and a little Coral food at night once or twice a week. RO/DI is a must, and in the beginning I was doing 20g water changes a week. Lately it’s been 20g every two weeks.

 

[jwshiver]

my Coral are suffering, mainly SPS.

What exactly do you mean by this? Bleaching, brown, no polyp extension, STN, RTN, no growth? This will help the R2R community in trying to guide you through this.

How has your Alkalinity stability been. SPS or not happy campers if your dkh is bouncing all over the place. Keep working on bring your PO4 down.

Personally I keep my dkh between 8 - 8.5.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Raising alk with higher nutrients may make corals grow skeletons faster, but it's not likely to have a big effect on the nutrient uptake.

I also do not see a reason for corals to be suffering under the conditions you have.

 

[Emery]

A good size chunk of mystic monti completely bleached out while in the sand bed two to three weeks after I added it to the tank. The rest of the SPS (couple digis, a red monti cap, Hawkins to name a few) still have PE but are fading in color.

 

[Emery]

My zoas, cyphastrea, BTA, psammacora, and euphilllia corals are all doing well. Oh, and the Alk stays between 8.0 and 8.5. Dropped once a few months ago to 7.8 but other than that 8-8.5.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Common reef wisdom is new tanks have great difficulty with some species of coral. Weather it’s due to Bacterial populations , untestable chemical deficiency, chemical signaling to the corals etc. are highly debated.
IMO ime , it’s true. Some tanks just won’t grow ...(insert coral here). That can range from zoas to acros to Xenia. (Yes Xenia).

The acropora and several other corals I had in my tanks for sometimes years , one day just started to grow.

More IMO , pick a range for your alk , get the nutrients in a range you like slowly and steadily , that you can easily stick with by maintaining a healthy feeding and export plan.

If it seems like you’re working to hard on one or another parameter , you probably are.

 

[jwshiver]

The trick is finding a stable balance between nutrients, flow and lighting for your tank. This can be difficult in a new tank. As @saltyfilmfolks said your tank is a little young. Once you figure that balance out you will have a, a ha (not the 1980's Norwegian pop band) moment and everything will come together to make you and your reef happy. Easier said than done for most. It took me two years to figure it out, but perhaps I'm not so bright. Give it time and be patient.

How much flow do you have? I'm leaning towards lack of flow for SPS.

I have a 120 gallon with 2 MP40's 100% 24/7 and 2 Maxspect XF230 @ 20% and my SPS love it.

 

[najer]

I agree with the above comments, it is still a young system, how is your refugium algae?

 

[O'l Salty]

Your parameters look like mine and the corals are happy. Have you tried increasing lighting intensity or duration? With higher nutrients you can increase your lighting.