Alkalinity Dosing. Is there a Preferred Schedule?

[ingchr1]

Many folks consider alk changes within 0.5 dKH to be adequately stable, but some others like a tighter ranges, and some do not worry as much about it. There’s no definitive answer.

It seams that stability is a constant theme of what needs to be achieved in this hobby for success. But with no definitive definition of what stability is, how does one determine whether or not they have a "stability" issue?

There are companies out there that market products as stability achievers. How does one determine that the stability the product provides will benifit thier tank, when one has no definitive definition to determine if they have a "stability" issue or not?

These questions are not specifically directed at you Randy, just towards the hobby in general.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It seams that stability is a constant theme of what needs to be achieved in this hobby for success. But with no definitive definition of what stability is, how does one determine whether or not they have a "stability" issue?

There are companies out there that market products as stability achievers. How does one determine that the stability the product provides will benifit thier tank, when one has no definitive definition to determine if they have a "stability" issue or not?

These questions are not specifically directed at you Randy, just towards the hobby in general.

Yes, I understand the conundrum. Complicating the issue of stability is folks sometimes decide stability for some things are unimportant and then tell you to "not chase' that parameter.

 

[Miami Reef]

Yes, I understand the conundrum. Complicating the issue of stability is folks sometimes decide stability for some things are unimportant and then tell you to "not chase' that parameter.

Especially for a parameter that is extremely dependent for the other parameter to be stable.

For example, “you must keep alkalinity extremely stable; if it swings, you will lose corals”

Then they say “don’t chase pH. It’s not important. Why are you chasing numbers?!?”

Carbonate and bicarbonate (which is what we are trying to gauge with alk testing) cannot be stable if pH is able to fluctuate.

 

[waqas_01]

If you're looking for Alk stability and you're dosing a direct solution like sodium carb or bicarb, I think a good starting point is 70/30. 70% of your daily requirement during the light on period, 30% during lights off.

Thebioreef on youtube took a plot of alkalinity over the course of a day across a few days to come to this conclusion.

I am not sure how this would work for an indirect additive like all-for-reef.

I'll try linking his video, but if it doesn't work, name of the video is "Best way to dose alkalinity in your reef tank?"

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you're looking for Alk stability and you're dosing a direct solution like sodium carb or bicarb, I think a good starting point is 70/30. 70% of your daily requirement during the light on period, 30% during lights off.

Thebioreef on youtube took a plot of alkalinity over the course of a day across a few days to come to this conclusion.

I am not sure how this would work for an indirect additive like all-for-reef.

I'll try linking his video, but if it doesn't work, name of the video is "Best way to dose alkalinity in your reef tank?"

That's probably a fine choice, especially to balance pH and alk needs, but I have seen others state in this forum that in their systems, it is essentially all during the day.

 

[AKL1950]

Yes, I understand the conundrum. Complicating the issue of stability is folks sometimes decide stability for some things are unimportant and then tell you to "not chase' that parameter.

Well said. Just a curiosity question Randy. I doubt this was ever tested, but maybe you have a semi accurate WAG on this one. An island in the Pacific has a beautiful lagoon (protected area). It’s full of corals. A typhoon comes through and dumps 15 inches of rain an hour for 6 hours into the lagoon. Will that drastically change the parameters in the lagoon enough to affect the corals there? My curiosity is how stable are the natural reefs and/or do they have periods of extreme instability as well. Yes I have too much time on my hands.