Auto dosing Alk

[JSB]

I use a dosing pump to automatically add Alk to my tank, and all was well for a while. After adding several new SPS and clams, I noticed that my Alk was dropping, but my efforts to correct it were having little impact. Yesterday, while cleaning my sump, I noticed that my drip line was clogged to a great degree and little calcium carbonate stalagmites were forming in my sump. How do I keep my line from becoming clogged? I think the stalagmites were due to low flow.

 

[Pkunk35]

Some reading, your question made me realize i need to brush up on reef chemistry:

What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[ritter6788]

Possibly just salt creep? Depending on how bad the line is clogged you may be better off replacing it but usually you can just clean out the tip or cut a bit off.

 

[JSB]

Not salt creep as it is below the water line and it forms solid structure. Based on the reading above, all of my issues likely stem from the amount of flow at the dosing site. I will move that to a new area ASAP. Thanks for the feed back.