Alk rising on its own - No dosing

[sanzz18]

So a few weeks ago I did a large water change after noticing my nitrates starting to climb again (to about 20). My alk was stable just under 8.0 dkh for a few months at this point. I was also dosing a small amount of 2-part during this time as the coraline was consuming a decent amount of alk. I use Red Sea Blue Bucket for salt.

After I did this water change, I tested a day or two after and noticed my alkalinity was over 8.0 dkh. So I stopped dosing my 2part since it was only 2.5mls a day (used to be 10ml) ever since switching to blue bucket from TMP. I also tested my NSW and got a reading of 9dkh. So I stopped doing my daily water changes for about a week to see if it would continue to climb.

My alkalinity continued to increase despite no dosing or daily water changes. I started daily water changes again since it did not seam to matter. My new batch of water even tested at only 8.4 dkh. My alkalinity today was 9dkh. I have no idea why it is climbing. The only thing of concern going on in my tank is green turf algae otherwise everything is the same.

Any thoughts or suggestions? My readings are cross-checked with my salifert alk kit as well; even though it always reads about .5 dkh lower than my Hannah; it remains consistent with the change.

 

[GoVols]

Just to get your thread rolling:

Have you tried using a brand new bottle of alk reagent, with your Hanna alk checker?

 

[sanzz18]

Thanks, so when I first checked my alk when I noticed the little spike, I believe it was a new bottle. I do have another one I can open up and check it against.

 

[mbmartin06]

I had the same issue in July For 3 weeks. dKH went from 8.3 to 10.0 over this time. I use Red Sea Blue as well. I was dosing sodium nitrate manually to the tune of 2-3ppm NO3 every 3 days to keep it at about 5ppm. I feed fish heavy LRS 2x daily And PO4 stays .03 -.06. Other than that Weekly 20% water changes. I tested daily using Salifert and Hanna during this time (I’ve since given up on the Hanna) because of the rise. My bucket was 3/4 gone so I got a new one and after a few weekly 30% water changes it’s back to 8.3. All that said to see if there are any similarities. i’m following along to see what you come up with. I am assuming it was a wonky bucket But the daily increase has me scratching my head still.

 

[Lavey29]

If you are dosing alk and cal and something gets off in your tank so your corals are not consuming as much as they were the prior week then you can start to see a slow rise in alk.

Also coral supplements that we dose can also add to the alk increase as was explained by Randy when I experienced the same in my tank.

 

[mbmartin06]

If you are dosing alk and cal and something gets off in your tank so your corals are not consuming as much as they were the prior week then you can start to see a slow rise in alk.

Also coral supplements that we dose can also add to the alk increase as was explained by Randy when I experienced the same in my tank.

He said he stopped and I dose nitrate and feed frozen food

 

[Lavey29]

He said he stopped and I dose nitrate and feed frozen food

Is he dosing anything at all into the tank now? What does blue bucket TMP salt mix alk at?

 

[mbmartin06]

Is he dosing anything at all into the tank now? What does blue bucket TMP salt mix alk at?

No clue what he is doing other than what he wrote. My Red Sea blue bucket mixed 8.0 dKH at 35ppt today. The prior bucket mixed 8.3. As I said it went on for basically the entire month of July, I bought a new bucket, and back to normal. may be a coincidence, possibly he is adding something or some reason that I don’t understand. That’s why I’m adding to this.

 

[sanzz18]

I had the same issue in July For 3 weeks. dKH went from 8.3 to 10.0 over this time. I use Red Sea Blue as well. I was dosing sodium nitrate manually to the tune of 2-3ppm NO3 every 3 days to keep it at about 5ppm. I feed fish heavy LRS 2x daily And PO4 stays .03 -.06. Other than that Weekly 20% water changes. I tested daily using Salifert and Hanna during this time (I’ve since given up on the Hanna) because of the rise. My bucket was 3/4 gone so I got a new one and after a few weekly 30% water changes it’s back to 8.3. All that said to see if there are any similarities. i’m following along to see what you come up with. I am assuming it was a wonky bucket But the daily increase has me scratching my head still.

Yeah, I am hoping it is just a bad batch with a higher alkalinity. I spent so much time/work keeping my alk stable around 7.7-7.9; I buy like 8 acros and then I get the spike lol. You can't win in this hobby. If I find out anything I will definitely continue to update this thread.

If you are dosing alk and cal and something gets off in your tank so your corals are not consuming as much as they were the prior week then you can start to see a slow rise in alk.

Also coral supplements that we dose can also add to the alk increase as was explained by Randy when I experienced the same in my tank.

I am not dosing a single thing at the moment, not even coral supplements.

He said he stopped and I dose nitrate and feed frozen food

Yeah I feed mostly frozen food, nori, and been feeding a little bit of pellets just to try to fatten my achilles tang up since he is the only one out of the 5 tangs that is a little thin.

Is he dosing anything at all into the tank now? What does blue bucket TMP salt mix alk at?

So Red Sea Blue Bucket which I use now, I believe typically mixes in the mid 8s. The Tropic Marin Pro that I used to use before the whole Turkey thing happened, mixed in the mid to low 7s I believe.

No clue what he is doing other than what he wrote. My Red Sea blue bucket mixed 8.0 dKH at 35ppt today. The prior bucket mixed 8.3. As I said it went on for basically the entire month of July, I bought a new bucket, and back to normal. may be a coincidence, possibly he is adding something or some reason that I don’t understand. That’s why I’m adding to this.

I wish it was as simple as something I am adding lol. Right now the tank is super simple w/no additives. Just live rock, skimmer, gfo/carbon, and chaeto.

 

[Tamberav]

I had the same issue in July For 3 weeks. dKH went from 8.3 to 10.0 over this time. I use Red Sea Blue as well. I was dosing sodium nitrate manually to the tune of 2-3ppm NO3 every 3 days to keep it at about 5ppm. I feed fish heavy LRS 2x daily And PO4 stays .03 -.06. Other than that Weekly 20% water changes. I tested daily using Salifert and Hanna during this time (I’ve since given up on the Hanna) because of the rise. My bucket was 3/4 gone so I got a new one and after a few weekly 30% water changes it’s back to 8.3. All that said to see if there are any similarities. i’m following along to see what you come up with. I am assuming it was a wonky bucket But the daily increase has me scratching my head still.

Dosing nitrate can increase alk although it’s a small amount. When the nitrate is consumed by any process other then a water change it increases alk a bit. This isn’t an issue with naturally occurring nitrate as ammonia to nitrate decreases alk which is then given back when nitrate is decreased. However if you are dosing nitrate you are skipping the ammonia to nitrate conversion.

 

[sanzz18]

Dosing nitrate can increase alk although it’s a small amount. When the nitrate is consumed by any process other then a water change it increases alk a bit. This isn’t an issue with naturally occurring nitrate as ammonia to nitrate decreases alk which is then given back when nitrate is decreased. However if you are dosing nitrate you are skipping the ammonia to nitrate conversion.

I am not currently dosing nitrates. Can my alk spike be because of the turf algae consuming nitrates/phosphates?

 

[Tamberav]

I am not currently dosing nitrates. Can my alk spike be because of the turf algae consuming nitrates/phosphates?

Alk increase when nitrate is consumed by organisms so yes but the idea is that it is also lowered when nitrate is created from ammonia.

Not fully cured man made rock or topping off with water that isn’t pure maybe cause problems.

 

[sanzz18]

Alk increase when nitrate is consumed by organisms so yes but the idea is that it is also lowered when nitrate is created from ammonia.

Not fully cured man made rock or topping off with water that isn’t pure maybe cause problems.

Gotchyuh. Well I would hope that my rock would be fully cured at 20 months of tank life lol. I also have a 5 stage rodi that is still putting out 0 tds water and on its 3rd set of filters.

What can I do about this? Anything at all? Or just let my tank do its thing and eventually corals will consume alk and lower it.

 

[Garf]

Gotchyuh. Well I would hope that my rock would be fully cured at 20 months of tank life lol. I also have a 5 stage rodi that is still putting out 0 tds water and on its 3rd set of filters.

What can I do about this? Anything at all? Or just let my tank do its thing and eventually corals will consume alk and lower it.

Are you adding any pH increasing additives?

 

[sanzz18]

Are you adding any pH increasing additives?

No, nothing. I don’t even have a co2 scrubber thought I was going to get one.

 

[mbmartin06]

Alk increase when nitrate is consumed by organisms so yes but the idea is that it is also lowered when nitrate is created from ammonia.

Not fully cured man made rock or topping off with water that isn’t pure maybe cause problems.

IIRC nitrate consumption creates Alk at 50ppm to 2.6dKH. Making up 2-6 ppm assumed consumption of NO3 is 20%+- of that. That is about .52 dKH not 2+ a week. I guess there could be more consumption but not sure how.

 

[Tamberav]

IIRC nitrate consumption creates Alk at 50ppm to 2.6dKH. Making up 2-6 ppm assumed consumption of NO3 is 20%+- of that. That is about .52 dKH not 2+ a week. I guess there could be more consumption but not sure how.

my original response was to another poster who was dosing nitrate (not sure how much) and not the OP.

Regardless the OP isn’t dosing nitrate so idk… the net effect should be 0. At least that’s how I remember it being.

 

[mbmartin06]

my original response was to another poster who was dosing nitrate (not sure how much) and not the OP.

That was me

 

[Tamberav]

That was me

That is what happens when you post late and wake up early… derp

 

[mbmartin06]

Yeah, I am hoping it is just a bad batch with a higher alkalinity. I spent so much time/work keeping my alk stable around 7.7-7.9; I buy like 8 acros and then I get the spike lol. You can't win in this hobby. If I find out anything I will definitely continue to update this thread.

Natural it happens when you pull the trigger on acros. It’s weird good luck. Something is going on, maybe the no3 consumption?