Best alkalinity for mixed reef being sps dominant

[bellasdad0911]

I looking to see where everyone runs there alk / calcium in there mixed to mostly sps reefs. I use coral pro salt and my parameters are right around 10.5-11dkh and 460-480 in calcium. Should I be around 8-9dkh 420-440 for color and growth? And help would be great.

 

[reefwiser]

7.5 to 8.5 dkh natural sea water is the best.

 

[bellasdad0911]

7.5 to 8.5 dkh natural sea water is the best.

So I guess the question is why does Red Sea coral pro Salt come mixed with such a high spec and designed for sps when it reality it should be lower?

Point being is if you keep your alk at let's say 8dkh and do a water change you will have a spike in levels after that.

 

[Pmj]

General consensus seems to be higher alk & cal for higher nutrient systems, lower alk & cal for lower nutrients (or ULNS). I'm don't consider myself an expert but my system seems to respond better 9+.

 

[gacolt]

I like keeping my alk at 9dkh

 

[Sabellafella]

So I guess the question is why does Red Sea coral pro Salt come mixed with such a high spec and designed for sps when it reality it should be lower?

Point being is if you keep your alk at let's say 8dkh and do a water change you will have a spike in levels after that.

From a current alk at 8 - a 10% water change with a 12 dkh salt will only raise your alk by .4 Not very much lol but still a swing, some corals may not like it but thats unlikely. But youll have to play with alk yourself to achieve what your looking for. Sounds like a gamble to me, when you can just play with less severe parameters like p04 n03 or K for color. Maybe feedings, AA ect..

 

[bellasdad0911]

From a current alk at 8 - a 10% water change with a 12 dkh salt will only raise your alk by .4 Not very much lol but still a swing, some corals may not like it but thats unlikely. But youll have to play with alk yourself to achieve what your looking for. Sounds like a gamble to me, when you can just play with less severe parameters like p04 n03 or K for color. Maybe feedings, AA ect..

Sounds good, I think what I will do is lower it down slowly to 9 and see how things go from there. I have always had tank around the 8.5 to 9 range with no issues. The tank currently is a 120 gallon with 30 gallons in the sump and stays rock solid for 48 hours without dosing. I currently run the Red Sea abcd program ( trace elements ) and will start the no3 po4 shortly.

 

[reefwiser]

Lot of people will use a high alk salt to raise the alk in their tank. It's best to keep in level. When you push the level of alk up you can stress the corals causing burnt tips.

 

[ps2cho]

I've always had more success maintaining lower than higher alk.

I aim for 8.5 as in the middle does allow a small amount of room up or down if something goes wrong.

 

[ds38]

I looking to see where everyone runs there alk / calcium in there mixed to mostly sps reefs. I use coral pro salt and my parameters are right around 10.5-11dkh and 460-480 in calcium. Should I be around 8-9dkh 420-440 for color and growth? And help would be great.

I would prefer 8 to 9 alk but when I do that. My Ph level won't go above 8.12 best time of the day, even with CO2 scrubber. I discovered once it was 11 alk, then my PH exceeded 8.2

 

[Rick5]

It depends on your nutrient and light levels. What are you running?

 

[reefwiser]

You want to keep Alk between 7.8 and 8 dkh. Any drift upwards will harm SPS. A drift upwards is an indicator of corals not growing. A healthy coral tank should always be up taking alk and calcium. Many times if you changed something in the way the aquarium works you will see a rise in alk reading. This means that the corals are not happy. If you let it the alk continue to rise it will burn that tips of SPS. An it cause the tips to be open to infection and there fore death.

 

[HB AL]

I have a mixed reef with tons of different corals and keep my alk at 7.5. It works pretty good in my case.

 

[BAUCE]

You want to keep Alk between 7.8 and 8 dkh. Any drift upwards will harm SPS. A drift upwards is an indicator of corals not growing. A healthy coral tank should always be up taking alk and calcium. Many times if you changed something in the way the aquarium works you will see a rise in alk reading. This means that the corals are not happy. If you let it the alk continue to rise it will burn that tips of SPS. An it cause the tips to be open to infection and there fore death.

Agreed on keeping it in a tight range of +/- .2. Did you choose that specific number because its pretty safe for most tanks whether they are lower or higher nutrient? Seems like a small window when some of the more advanced hobbyists are keeping thriving sps tanks with higher and lower ranges than that.

 

[stephj03]

Wow Necro alert! This thread has now been alive longer after it came back from the dead than it was alive before it died 3yrs ago.

 

[mahenke]

I have a mixed reef with tons of different corals and keep my alk at 7.5. It works pretty good in my case.

Hey how do you manage to keep the Clown Triggerfish in there... I have a Picasso I have to get out he uses coral as toys and spits gravel everywhere?

 

[HB AL]

Well I have 7 triggers now, keep them fed but they the Assasi and Huma do like to blow sand around. I love my fish more than corals but I've trained them a little over the years.

 

[Bitcoin Reefer]

Well I have 7 triggers now, keep them fed but they the Assasi and Huma do like to blow sand around. I love my fish more than corals but I've trained them a little over the years.

Wow what is the eel looking striped guy on bottom middle? Also what are the big purple sticks ?

 

[homer1475]

Ive had better success with SPS when my ALK is lower then regular recommendation. I keep my alk between 7 and 7.5, considering the ocean nominal ALK level is around 6.5.

I feel SPS don't get stressed as easily from small swings in parameters when ALK is kept closer to NSW levels.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I looking to see where everyone runs there alk / calcium in there mixed to mostly sps reefs. I use coral pro salt and my parameters are right around 10.5-11dkh and 460-480 in calcium. Should I be around 8-9dkh 420-440 for color and growth? And help would be great.

My tanks both sit at 7.7 Alk and 420 Ca.

When I do 10% water changes (maybe every 2-3 months), I match the new water to the tank params within 0.3 dKh or so).

I've never bothered with high Alk mixes.