Alk not raising and clumpy sand

sk8elenex92 · May 20, 2016

I have had the hardest time with this tank like never before. I am not sure where I went wrong. The tank is about 9 months old now. Over the last two days I dosed enough to raise my ALK 1 dkh. Tested and my ALK always stays at 7dkh. I can not get it go any higher. I have also noticed that parts of my sand bed are clumpy. I dose 12ml and 8ml of calcium everyday using a dosing pump.
I was running biopellets from the very beginning of the tank that is why I kept alk so low. At one point I dosed it to much to 8dkh and got burned tips. I decided to take the pellets off and I can deft notice that my sps are showing better colors but growth is soooo slow. I believe I was starving the tank of nutrients for the SPS. Also noticed that I have not had much coralline growth in the tank like before. Its been about 4 weeks since they have been offline. I am not sure if this could be due to taking the pellets offline. The harding of the sand and not able to raise the alk is due to a bacteria problem? I also have very little cyano in certain spots of the tank.
Another problem I have is little patches of bryposis that I tear out here and there. I tried dosing Tech M and it didnt seem to work and I gave it. I had Mag at 1600 for a while and didnt do squat. Now I feel like dosing that screwed up my chemistry. So frustrated with this tank I would love to break down and start over. Dont know how I would even do that with all the fish and coral.

S - 1026
A - 7
C - 440
M - 1550
N - 0
P- 0
PH- stable at 8.1 8.2 using a ph probe..

photo hosting

CodyRVA · May 20, 2016

I run pellets and keep my ALK at 8.5 so if your corals got "burned tips," there's either an issue somewhere else or... are you sure this wasn't growth? How much and what are you dosing to raise your ALK? You'd be surprised how much you need to hold an ALK of just 8.

sk8elenex92 · May 20, 2016

Yeah it was deft burnt tips. I have read about a bunch of reefers that can not go above 8 or they will have burnt tips. If that was growth that would amazing haha. I am using Randy's baked Recipe. I dosed little over 3 fl oz. 120 gallon tank.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 20, 2016

What exactly are you adding?

1 dKH per day is not that much, and may reflect the demand in the tank (both biological and abiotic).

Sand does clump sometimes, especially new sand. Exactly why it sometimes happens and not others isn't clear.

sk8elenex92 · May 20, 2016

Hello Randy,

Thank you for the reply..

I am using recipe 1 for ALK and BRS calcium.

Can I dose like .5dkh tonight and then test an hour later and see if there was any change?

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 21, 2016

Yes, that sounds fine.

Wilsoni · May 21, 2016

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Sand does clump sometimes, especially new sand. Exactly why it sometimes happens and not others isn't clear.

This is such a mystery... I've always wondered if sand dwelling creatures such as Nassarius Snails or Sandsifting Stars attributed to this... I also have found the clumping to form more densely around the base of my LR and quickly colors up with coraline.

sk8elenex92 · May 23, 2016

Yesterday I dose 1.5 flz oz of recipe one which should raise a 130 gallon tank .5. I dose and then 2 hrs later I tested and Alk was 7 still. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 23, 2016

sk8elenex92 said:
Yesterday I dose 1.5 flz oz of recipe one which should raise a 130 gallon tank .5. I dose and then 2 hrs later I tested and Alk was 7 still. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Dose again.

sk8elenex92 · May 23, 2016

Really? I'm really scared of stressing or even killing my SPS!

I will have to try after work.. oh man

CodyRVA · May 23, 2016

sk8elenex92 said:
Yesterday I dose 1.5 flz oz of recipe one which should raise a 130 gallon tank .5. I dose and then 2 hrs later I tested and Alk was 7 still. :mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

This is all relative IMO. That recommendation is relative to your volume, not your livestock or the demands of your system; it's merely a place to start. Not every 130G system will require or utilize the same amount of ALK/CA/MG. Like Randy said, dose again, increase your dosing little by little until you find the demand of your system. As i've added more coral, I dose twice as much ALK as I used to, but my volume is obviously the same.

sk8elenex92 · May 23, 2016

you think my tank would use .5DKH in just 2 hours?

CodyRVA · May 23, 2016

Apparently it did... unless you accidently dosed a less potent mixture

sk8elenex92 · May 23, 2016

I have another gallon mixed up.. I am 100 certain I have the correct mixture in that one. I remember making it 2 weeks ago or so. I will give it a shot tonight.

McMullen · May 23, 2016

Great advice already......I just want to chime in and say from the pic your coral seem healthy and colorful. Everyone will have a different sweet spot with alk. 7 is low as it doesn't allow wiggle room to fall lower, but if your coral have adjusted to it make changes slowly. It's easy to start chasing numbers in this hobby but stability is goal! Great looking tank!!!

CodyRVA · May 23, 2016

McMullen said:
It's easy to start chasing numbers in this hobby but stability is goal!

Agreed. Stability is far more important than hitting that magic number. I have friends who run ALK at 10, some 7, I'm at 8; stability is key.

Randy Holmes-Farley · May 23, 2016

sk8elenex92 said:
you think my tank would use .5DKH in just 2 hours?

I expect the uncertainty in the alk testing accuracy may be close to that.

sk8elenex92 · May 23, 2016

Just tested and I was 6.9 7.0. Going to dose enough for .6 dkh. Hopefully don't stress anything. Going to do it over an hour. Then test

CodyRVA · May 23, 2016

sk8elenex92 said:
Just tested and I was 6.9 7.0. Going to dose enough for .6 dkh. Hopefully don't stress anything. Going to do it over an hour. Then test

According to BRS you can increase your ALK safely by 1.4dKH every 24 hours. I accidentally over dosed mine by 2.5 dKH in one night (i dont recommend doing so), but luckily none of my stony corals suffered.