Best alkalinity number?

[vetteguy53081]

parroting other post: yeah back in the day 11 and higher was promoted and as others noticed issues I dropped mine down into the 8-9ish range …
my corals grow pretty slow and I don’t mind at all

Same here. I am at 8.96 (hanna number) and have great growth and color

 

[scotty333]

Acceptance Range is 8-11

My local nsw is 7

 

[Garf]

My local nsw is 7

Indeed, but presumably new saltwater at that alkalinity is practically limitless.

 

[scotty333]

Indeed, but presumably new saltwater at that alkalinity is practically limitless.

Limitless? Don’t follow G

 

[Garf]

Limitless? Don’t follow G

AHH, thought you meant natural sea water, from the ocean, lol.

 

[scotty333]

AHH, thought you meant natural sea water, from the ocean, lol.

Oh dear , you drunk son? Ha

I’m talking about nsw ( natural sea water) being 7 kh
I add 3.3ml of triton core7 kh buffer to go to 9.3

 

[vetteguy53081]

Oh dear , you drunk son? Ha

I’m talking about nsw ( natural sea water) being 7 kh
I add 3.3ml of triton core7 kh buffer to go to 9.3

natural sea water yes, but many coral we get is aquacultured and grow outs or frags at a higher level that NSW

 

[ZzyzxRiver]

Do LPS require calcium for maintenance or only growth? Like, if you had one that was staying the same size, would it continue to use calcium?

I’m new so sorry for the dumb question- would a coral even do that? Like could it live without growing at all?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Do LPS require calcium for maintenance or only growth? Like, if you had one that was staying the same size, would it continue to use calcium?

I’m new so sorry for the dumb question- would a coral even do that? Like could it live without growing at all?

Hard corals that are not growing will use little or no calcium and alkalinity.

 

[Red_Beard]

I shoot for 8.3141592, just seems like a good round number.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I shoot for 8.3141592, just seems like a good round number.

It is a good number. lol

 

[scotty333]

I shoot for 8.3141592, just seems like a good round number.

Little low for me , I get more growth at 8.3141593

 

[Red_Beard]

Little low for me , I get more growth at 8.3141593

I tend to chop tailing decimals, rounding just creates rounding errors

but to actually contribute vs derail, from my personal experience, when i was first getting going with SPS, i found it easier to work with ALK levels at the lower end of the spectrum. While trying to get the hang of all the other parameters, lighting, n-p levels etc, i found that it was easier to not get larger swings or burnt tips or stn/rtn issues running a little lower. now that i have a bit of confidence in not nuking the tank, i am steady at 8.7. Some of the growth estimates that i have seen for Acropora range it in the 10-15 cm/year range. i know that this is going to vary wildly based on many factors, but taken that as an average, i am just fine if i am not getting "explosive" growth. That just means lots of extra work sooner rather than later in pruning and intervening in growth as well as having to dose that much more to keep up with demand. If it takes my tank 3 years to fill out... good. Colored up happy coral is really what i am after, not needing to get out my sun bonnet and go pruning.

 

[truckTech95]

You're gonna find numbers all over the map. Fifteen years ago, I kept mine between 15 and 18 (more on the 15 side). Must have got that from an old timer, as I've actually seen text to keep in this range from the 80s. When I get going again, I'll keep it between 10 and 11 (I'll be using NYOS salt mix)

I’m also curious what happens at 15+ DKH?