Alk stalled -_-

Denisk · Jan 14, 2018

Hey all.

Sort of in a situation that I’m not sure what to do about. My tank is sps dominanted with about 30 frags/mini colonies. Prior to the Dino infestation I was dosing about 30ml a day of two part. Then randomly when I got the Dino, my sps just haulted and my alk started to rise. I eventually ended up just taking my dosers offline. My Dino then eventually went away through my large uv and removing all the sand however my sps still aren’t taking in two part. I don’t see any white tips however I do have pretty good polyp extensions and color I would say is half and half.

Currently parameters
93 gallon total volume (reefer 350)
1.026 salanity
Ph 8.1 to 8.3
Po4 - 21 ppb and or .06ppm
No3 - 5 to 10 ppm
Alk - 9.8
Ca- 420
Mg-1480

Not sure what is causing there to be litterally no two part consumption. Anything I’m missing. Never really come across this problem?

Thanks everyone!

scardall · Jan 14, 2018

IMO Some Corals do go to a rest period. Your Parameters are fine. Alk. in my opinion is better at 8-8.5dkh. Mg 1400ppm for me. All that said, I would relax an wait. If you wanted you could do a large WC. Remember you salts Alk. and mg. levels with the Salt mix you use. http://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/best-aquarium-salt-mix-review-popular-reef-salt-mix-options/

My tank inhales Alk. like wildfire. 75g mixed reef. I use 80ml + /day at least(dose 1/2 every 12 hrs or so by hand) with a Delta over 24hrs of up to 1.8dkh. I'm lucky to to get to 7dkh for long. My low in the late morning is 5.1 to5.6dkh. I use Hanna test kit. IMO NO3 2.5-5ppm for SPS. For me Wahhh! You'll be fine-Good luck

Denisk · Jan 14, 2018

scardall said:
IMO Some Corals do go to a rest period. Your Parameters are fine. Alk. in my opinion is better at 8-8.5dkh. Mg 1400ppm for me. All that said, I would relax an wait. If you wanted you could do a large WC. Remember you salts Alk. and mg. levels with the Salt mix you use. http://www.saltwateraquariumblog.com/best-aquarium-salt-mix-review-popular-reef-salt-mix-options/

My tank inhales Alk. like wildfire. 75g mixed reef. I use 80ml + /day at least(dose 1/2 every 12 hrs or so by hand) with a Delta over 24hrs of up to 1.8dkh. I'm lucky to to get to 7dkh for long. My low in the late morning is 5.1 to5.6dkh. I use Hanna test kit. IMO NO3 2.5-5ppm for SPS. For me Wahhh! You'll be fine-Good luck

Yeah that’s what I was thinking. My No3 and po4 use to be slightly lower but it was raised in efforts to get rid of the Dino. My alk also use to be at 8.5 which I liked a lot so im hoping soon my corals will start taking in ca and alk again.

saltyfilmfolks · Jan 14, 2018

I’m a bit confused.

You are saying that you are dosing automatically, but the number does not go up ?

That means your dose is correct.

scardall · Jan 14, 2018

Denisk said:
Yeah that’s what I was thinking. My No3 and po4 use to be slightly lower but it was raised in efforts to get rid of the Dino. My alk also use to be at 8.5 which I liked a lot so im hoping soon my corals will start taking in ca and alk again.

I too had Dino's. Am now Dosing NO3 as my level was Oppm. Using Sodium nitrate at 1ppm every other day. Dino's reduced and better polpy extension plus getting coraline again. I'm getting their as tank was out awack completly. progress in play for proper levels etc. fun times.

Denisk · Jan 14, 2018

saltyfilmfolks said:
I’m a bit confused.

You are saying that you are dosing automatically, but the number does not go up ?

That means your dose is correct.

I just read through what I wrote and no where did I say my numbers didn’t go up.

I have the BRS dosers and I was automatically dosing 30ml. That kept a stable alk level of 8.5. When Dino’s came into play, my alk randomly shot up to 9.8. When I noticed my alk going up I took the dosers offline. Since then I haven’t had any kind of demand for ca or alk. It just has stayed at 9.8.

If I even dose any kind of amount let’s say 2ml of two part equally. My levels start to rise. If I don’t dose anything, I would think my alk would drop but it doesn’t.

Hopefully that cleared some of the misunderstanding you had.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 14, 2018

The toxins and/or competition from the dinos is likely harming the corals and reducing calcification. The dinos may also be reducing pH, which reduces demand.

Denisk · Jan 14, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The toxins and/or competition from the dinos is likely harming the corals and reducing calcification. The dinos may also be reducing pH, which reduces demand.

So the best thing for now is to just ride it out? Let things get stable on its own?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 15, 2018

Denisk said:
So the best thing for now is to just ride it out? Let things get stable on its own?

I'd get the dinos under control, and only then worry aboot whether the corals are calcifying appropriately.

Denisk · Jan 15, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'd get the dinos under control, and only then worry aboot whether the corals are calcifying appropriately.

Yeah but that’s what I wrote in my first post. After the large uv was added and the sand bed was removed, the Dino has now been gone for about 2 weeks. No signs of them.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 15, 2018

Denisk said:
Yeah but that’s what I wrote in my first post. After the large uv was added and the sand bed was removed, the Dino has now been gone for about 2 weeks. No signs of them.

OK. I'd use extra GAC to potentially deal with toxins and just monitor. Coral calcification can be slow to react to "improvements".

Denisk · Jan 15, 2018

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
OK. I'd use extra GAC to potentially deal with toxins and just monitor. Coral calcification can be slow to react to "improvements".

Thank you for your help. Much appreciated!