Alkalinity issues

Johnny bass07 · Jan 13, 2020

This is the current test
N 3
Po4 0.04
Calcium 500
Magnesium 1410
Dkh 8.6
Salinity 1.026
I had a friend bring his test kits to verify and his were almost identical. They have not moved at all in weeks. Didn't want to do a water change because I use reef crystals and has such a high alkalinity. If I wait it out I'm worried about the tips on more acros. I have noticed the edge of the new growth starting to bleach.

aquaticcentral · Jan 14, 2020

i like those levels. kh really not that high at all.

NanoDJS · Jan 14, 2020

How is your flow ?, Have things grown in alot ? Old established tank , general system info?

Johnny bass07 · Jan 14, 2020

I have 2 mp40s turned down half way. The tank has been set up for couple of years but moved and cleaned about 6 months ago. Same live rock. Some acros are growing good at the base and coloring up. Most of the acros have been in the tank 2-3 months.

Johnny bass07 · Jan 15, 2020

Okay guys. I have more sps with tip burn. About half of them now including some of my favorites. Waiting it out is bot working. Alk still the same. Should I get some salt with low alk and do some water changes and try to maybe reset this thing?

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 16, 2020

I don’t k ow is the alk is related, but I’d let it drop or maybe lower it very slowly with an acid addition if it is not being consumed at all.

Seadoc · Jan 22, 2020

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
The tip burn may be due to excessively low nutrients for your alk level.

Randy, I am curious about the relationship. Is a higher alk a problem in low nutrient systems?

Flippersflippinooah · Jan 22, 2020

You mentioned lighting reduction, what sort of changes were made? Is this when all the issues started?

Johnny bass07 · Jan 22, 2020

No. That's why I reduced the lights to begin with thinking it might be burning the tips. I do think reducing the lights stop the growth. My tank was too clean for the higher alk. Since I have been dosing phosphates and nitrates the corals are starting to recover and I can see new growth but the alk still haven't budged. Neither has calcium or mag. The problem now is starting to get a little algae growing. I'm dosing 6ml a day of phosphate. Every morning I check it it is barely detectable and I haven't run the skimmer in a weak. I guess my cheato is eating it up.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 22, 2020

Seadoc said:
Randy, I am curious about the relationship. Is a higher alk a problem in low nutrient systems?

high alk and low nutrients can lead to burnt tips in some SPS. A likely theory to explain it is that the skeleton grows faster than the tissue can keep up, so it gets thin and easily damaged.

Worthy1 · Jan 22, 2020

Are we certain we aren't confusing tip burn with growth?

Johnny bass07 · Jan 22, 2020

Definitely not growth. It now has brown algae growing on it. Good thing is it has stopped. I just need to get this alk down. I think I'm going to buy some salt with some low alk and do some water changes.

Worthy1 · Jan 22, 2020

Not sure why you feel the Alk needs to drop. It is well within an acceptable range and a .3dkh swing would not burn the tips. I would be getting the calcium down. It is at an elevated range comparable to the Alk not at an elevated range.

Johnny bass07 · Jan 22, 2020

8.4-8.7 dkh with 0 nutrients I believe caused the burnt tips. When I raised the nutrients they stopped burning and I can see them healing. I feel like I if I can get it around 7.5 it won't be an issue if the nutrients get low

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 23, 2020

Worthy1 said:
Not sure why you feel the Alk needs to drop. It is well within an acceptable range and a .3dkh swing would not burn the tips. I would be getting the calcium down. It is at an elevated range comparable to the Alk not at an elevated range.

The calcium is fine, IMO, and I have never seen high levels of calcium blamed for causing burnt tips.

ca1ore · Jan 24, 2020

Curious how you’re testing alk? I am now using a trident and it measures 8.5, but if test using hanna it’s 9.7 ... which to believe? My point, perhaps your alk is actually higher than you think.

Johnny bass07 · Feb 3, 2020

Here's an update. My alkalinity has been dropping finally. My corals were recovering nicely but in the last week more burned tips and the edge where the base has new growth that has stopped and is now slowly dying back. My calcium is 450 and magnesium is 1350. Here's how the alk has been droppingover the last five days.
Day1 8.0
Day2 7.9
Day3 7.8
Dat4 7.7
Day 5 7.6
Would this drop cause more of the tips to burn?
Also how much alk should I dose to hold it at 7.5 with 2 part with a volume of 65 gallons? I will be dosing with a dosing pump.