Alk Swing?

[themcfreak]

Is this all swing too much? Shows 1 week. Parameters otherwise have been very stable, and today I have 1.5 corals with STN..

Otherwise, calcium steady at 480 ish, mag at 1440ish. Nitrates around 5. Phosphates around 0.03.

 

[Reefer5640]

0.5 dkh swing isn’t terrible. I’m willing to bet it’s tighter than a lot of people. I don’t have a titan but when I keep a really close eye on my alk with a Hanna my swing is about 0.3 dkh. I started dosing less more often throughout the day, it’s helped tighten it up a little bit more. Do you have it set up to make corrections or just monitor with a set dosing schedule

 

[themcfreak]

Makes corrections. I have had trouble with ‘larger’ drops than I liked and had been increasing dosage and getting same results which made me think I was precipitating. I cut dose down and it isn’t dropping further. lends me to think i was precipitating...

‘’what else would cause a Mille to nearly STN overnight, and half a birds nest to do the same?

 

[X-37B]

I have had alk swings of .5-1 dkh when I dosed 2 part by hand once a day. Never had any issues.
Sometimes corals stn and we never know why while others do great.
I have had to remove, and am still trying to remove, all emerald crabs.
They pick at corals and cause stress.
I have seem them pull polyps off and eat them too.
I have lost a couple to stn and rtn from them.
With all that said once I went to a carx my alk stays within .3 of target.

 

[Reefer5640]

I’ve had STN and RTN for a lot of different reasons. Anything that can tick them off seems like can do it. Things I’ve dealt with that have been proven to be the issue (or most likely the case anyways) have been;

STN
-Contaminant from my little girl loosing tweezers in the tank
-Contaminant from issues with RODI system
-Contaminant from prolonged dosing and lack of water changes
-Overdosed trace elements (potassium and strontium were the main two that were a concern, not sure which one it was)
-Lack of flow (due to a dirty wave maker)
-Swings in pH, temp, alk, and SG (not all at once)
-Coral warfare
-Pests

RTN
-Sudden lack of flow (new wave maker, plugged it in and forgot to set it up the same way as the last one)
-Large swings in pH, temp, alk, and SG (not all at once)
-Coral warfare
-Pests

These are all things that I personally have dealt with and know once corrected resolved the STN & RTN. I’m sure there are a lot more reasons out there.

 

[Reefer5640]

As far as precipitation goes, why do you think you might have a precipitation issue? Are you dosing alk and ca too close, or possibly an ionic balance issue, do you see signs of precipitation?

 

[themcfreak]

Lot of good info here.
Precipitation thought was only because I was increasing dose, and getting lower numbers. Usually means it is going somewhere, right? I cut back about 10-16 ml and didn’t drop the daily range.

I do have emeralds in the tank. And some other corals are thriving, and got coralline growing everywhere. So not a full tank loss by any means..

 

[Reefer5640]

“Precipitation thought was only because I was increasing dose, and getting lower numbers. Usually means it is going somewhere, right? I cut back about 10-16 ml and didn’t drop the daily range.”

Gotcha, good point, makes sense