Alkalinity is rising and I can't understand why

[Dj City]

My Neptune Trident is bugging out our something major is happening in my reef.

Over the past few days, my alk has been creeping up.
I woke up today to a alk of 9.7dkh. This is after I turned the Neptune Dos off last night. Right now, it's reading 9.77!
My ca is creeping up too. It's at 472.

I'm cleaning the feed line, then I'm going to calibrate because this just can't be right.

 

[Dj City]

so...
I shut the Trident down, did my best to make sure the feed line is clear and restarted the Trident again. That was a real PITA because of the way my cabinet is.
As I was doing this, I checked the alk with my Reefbot and it returned a value of 10.1dkh. That's VERY high and it got this high with NO alk dosing. I turned the alk off yesterday but the alkalinity is still rising.

I'm at a loss here. I don't understand what's going on.

180 gallon mixed reef SPS dominate. Reef has been up and running since Feb 2020.
Alk 9.77
Cal 472
Mag 1374
N03 5ppm
P04 0.01ppm

I dose ESV b-ionic 2 part @ 23.5ml
I dose Easyreefs Easybooster and EasySPS
That's it for automatic dosing. I dose Polyp Booster and Reef Roids along with Reef Chilli from time to time.

I am waiting for my Trident to finish set up after restarting it. I even started fresh with new reagents.

I could use a bit of help with this.

 

[Pistondog]

9.7 = 9.77 for our testers
Verify accuracy with a 2nd test, just to make sure it is close.

Had a hanna dkh fail, verified erroneous results with red sea

Edit, alk swings over the day, measure at the same time each day
If alk is too high, cut back dosing.

 

[Dj City]

9.7 = 9.77 for our testers
Verify accuracy with a 2nd test, just to make sure it is close.

Had a hanna dkh fail, verified erroneous results with red sea

Edit, alk swings over the day, measure at the same time each day
If alk is too high, cut back dosing.

I turned dosing OFF yesterday but alk is still rising.
Tested with Neptune Trident AND Reefbot. The reefbot uses Red Sea Alk reagent.

I'm running another test now since I restarted the Trident with new reagent.
I will post the results.

 

[Dj City]

After re-testing, my alk is at 9.68dkh and cal is 567ppm.
I have both the Cal and Alk turned off. No more dosing until I get back to regular levels.
I have NO IDEA why the levels got so high.

I hope all my corals make it through this unharmed.

 

[gentlefish]

Had a high Ca reading with a line kink 2 inches past the Ca reagent container.

 

[Reef Tripp]

If your no3 low, surely I release alk.

 

[Dj City]

If your no3 low, surely I release alk.

N03 is good at 5ppm

 

[Powertool-2010]

Do you have automatic water changes. Have you tested your saltwater going into the tank? Or changed salt recently.
Or maybe something stressed your corals, or coraline algae, and they stopped calcifying as much.

 

[HomebroodExotics]

Didn't change any lighting? Just thinking maybe the corals got unhappy and stopped growing.

 

[Dj City]

I don't do water changes.

I added some supplemental lighting to boost par on the back glass.

 

[Dj City]

 

[HomebroodExotics]

I don't do water changes.

I added some supplemental lighting to go in par on the back glass.

Maybe they are still acclimating? That’s my best guess for what it’s worth. You have a great looking tank and I hope it works out.

 

[Dj City]

Maybe they are still acclimating? That’s my best guess for what it’s worth. You have a great looking tank and I hope it works out.

Thank you.

I put a few frags on the back glass and had to supplement the light back there. It's all in my build thread.

 

[Dj City]

I don't understand.
Alk has not been dosed for two days. Calcium has not been dose since yesterday afternoon.

Why are my levels still climbing?

 

[Dj City]

I really could use the communities help and insight on this.

I need to know what's happening so I can correct it before major damage is done.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I don't understand.
Alk has not been dosed for two days. Calcium has not been dose since yesterday afternoon.

Why are my levels still climbing?

You are asking about a rise of 9.68 to 9.78 dKH?

I doubt you can measure that accurately, but there are numerous minor processes that can boost alk, including dosing nitrate or phosphate, dropping nitrate, slow dissolution of calcium carbonate sand or rock deep down where the pH is low, top off with tap water, certain additives such as some amino acid forms, etc.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I've never heard of easysps, but you might ask them what the "mineral suspension" means. Perhaps it adds alkalinity, or maybe it interferes with alk measurement if it is fine particulate calcium carbonate. I wouldn't ask them if it adds alkalinity (they may not correctly know), just what it means.

Easy Reefs EasySPS EVO Gel Coral Food

EasySPS EVO is a premium mixture of natural marine plankton in a mineral suspension that has been specifically designed to be used with a dosing pump to ensure an accurate and regular nutrition of the SPS corals. Available in 250ml and 1500ml sizes

www.coralvue.com

"EasySPS EVO is a premium mixture of natural marine plankton in a mineral suspension that has been specifically designed to be used with a dosing pump to ensure an accurate and regular nutrition of the SPS corals."

 

[Dj City]

You are asking about a rise of 9.68 to 9.78 dKH?

I doubt you can measure that accurately, but there are numerous minor processes that can boost alk, including dosing nitrate or phosphate, dropping nitrate, slow dissolution of calcium carbonate sand or rock deep down where the pH is low, top off with tap water, certain additives such as some amino acid forms, etc.

Thank you for looking into this Randy.

My alk is usually about 8.2 - 8.7Dkh. It has been at about that level for over a year. Cal usually sits around 450ppm.
Ph usually sits at about 8.

Lately, my Alk and cal have been rising. I turned the doser off but it still rises.

The changes i've made in the reef are as follows...

Last week, I added Prazipro because I suspected one of my wrasses might have flukes or something.
I took out my filter roller and replaced it with a 5 micron filter sock to clean up the display. I have a bag of carbon in the filter sock. Carbon is in the sock to help rid the display of prazipro.
I added an airstone to help with aeration during prazipro treatment.
I also added 2 Viparspectra lights to the rear of the tank to provide more light to the back wall of the reef where I have a few coral frags.

I can't see how any of those changes could contribute to the sharp rise in alk and cal.

My Ph has dropped to 7.88
at this moment, my levels are...

Alk 9.78
cal 572
Mag 1398
Ph 7.88

I just started a calibration on the Trident to see if it got knocked out of calibration somehow.
I will let you know what I find when it's complete.

 

[Deep]

I really could use the communities help and insight on this.

I need to know what's happening so I can correct it before major damage is done.

How is your ATO working - is it compensating well for evaporation ? Has your salinity risen lately ? I also notice from your OP you dont specify where the Alk was before your rising problem started - how much has it risen ?