Gary Inwood
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i agree stop dosing Professional coral solution 1-4, in my mind that is your problem
High Alk...
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Randy Holmes-Farley
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While it might be, what do you think is in it that is boosting alk? None are described as an alk supplement.
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Rocklin Mike
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Yeah I agree, I’d like some justification before stopping the dosing of PCS. I’m in a group of 5 that have had tremendous growth because of PCS and none of them have alk issues.
Gary Inwood
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reason behind it is to see if it is the problem why he as all issues.
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Rocklin Mike
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ICP test results came in...no real smoking gun that i can see.
IslandLifeReef
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ICP test results came in...no real smoking gun that i can see.
I see several smoking guns. First, as @Randy Holmes-Farley mentioned earlier, your nitrate is very low and could be causing your Alk not to be consumed. Second, your phosphates are very high, which can also be a growth inhibitor. No growth, no Alk consumption. Finally, your salinity is really low. I'm not sure how that would effect Alk consumption, but at 31 vs an ideal 35, it probably isn't helping anything. I would work on fixing these three items do to how far off and out of balance they are. Phosphates 50 times higher than nitrate isn't a smoking gun, more like a ticking bomb.
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Rocklin Mike
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Not sure what to say about the salt. I have two refractometer with cal solution and they both read 1.025.
The alk issue was the fact that it’s climbing, not necessarily that it is high. I understand the salt I use has an 11dkh. I tested yesterday and it’s at 14. Hanna and Salifert.
No3 has been 10 or higher for a while as well even though alk was rising.
As for po4, this is a recent issue and seems to have been inline with when I changed foods to homemade. Perhaps a death I don’t know about.
I don’t have a whole lot of corals. About 5 although I just added about 12 frags and a couple medium corals.
I appreciate the advice and those things you mention, po4, confirming salinity, etc., I am working on. I think my main issue was why was the alk climbing when I wasn’t dosing and why did my lps seem to be struggling. I was hoping to see some missing nutrients and there are some low ones but not sure if that would cause what I’m seeing. I can post my chemistry charts if needed, might make more sense to see that data.
The alk issue was the fact that it’s climbing, not necessarily that it is high. I understand the salt I use has an 11dkh. I tested yesterday and it’s at 14. Hanna and Salifert.
No3 has been 10 or higher for a while as well even though alk was rising.
As for po4, this is a recent issue and seems to have been inline with when I changed foods to homemade. Perhaps a death I don’t know about.
I don’t have a whole lot of corals. About 5 although I just added about 12 frags and a couple medium corals.
I appreciate the advice and those things you mention, po4, confirming salinity, etc., I am working on. I think my main issue was why was the alk climbing when I wasn’t dosing and why did my lps seem to be struggling. I was hoping to see some missing nutrients and there are some low ones but not sure if that would cause what I’m seeing. I can post my chemistry charts if needed, might make more sense to see that data.
IslandLifeReef
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Yeah, I don't know what to tell you other than you paid for a lab test, so I wouldn't readily discount any of those numbers over a hobby grade test. If your nitrates were over 10 ppm, and now are around 0.01 ppm, that is a huge decrease. Something else is going on in your tank and the ALK rise is a result of the upset chemistry IMO. If the problems with PO4 started with using homemade food, maybe you should start there. Again, that NO3 to PO4 ration is way off. It should be closer to 15:1 and yours is 1:50.
You could also change your salt mix to something with a lower ALK. I think RedSea blue bucket is in the 7.8 - 8.2 range.
A final idea is your water source. Do you use RO/DI water? Do you make it yourself? Have you tested the water with a TDS meter?
You could also change your salt mix to something with a lower ALK. I think RedSea blue bucket is in the 7.8 - 8.2 range.
A final idea is your water source. Do you use RO/DI water? Do you make it yourself? Have you tested the water with a TDS meter?
