High Alkalinity Consumption

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

I've been dosing Red Sea A & B daily for the last year and everything has been pretty stable up until now. My Alk keeps dropping and I'm constantly having to increase the dose, without adding new corals, to maintain the same level. This week alone I've had to increase the dose 10ml daily which in my tank is .2 DKH

Params
DKH 8.4 (hannah)
PH 8.2 (apex)
CA 500+ ( more than the red sea test will show)
MG: 1480 - 1500 (red sea)
Temp: 78

I have the dosing lines set up in the return chamber of the sump and I do get buildup on the return pump and also the heater in the chamber before it. I've also discovered some clumps of sand that have turned into rocks. This is precipitation right? Ive stopped dosing CA altogether and I'm doing to do some water changes to bring that down. I'm seeing on this forum the recomendation is to stop dosing altogether for like 3 days, is that correct?

It may be beyond my comprehension but what does letting DKH drop accomplish?
How low should I let DKH get before dosing? I have a few expensive indo torches which is where the concern comes from.
I'm guessing the high calcium is part of the issue?

I appreciate the help.

Lavey29 · Dec 15, 2021

Perhaps your existing corals are growing and using more alk. This recently happened to me and now I have to dose 2.5ml of alk daily to keep balance between water changes

e34stx · Dec 15, 2021

i had issue with wondering dkh using the hanna

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

e34stx said:
i had issue with wondering dkh using the hanna

I can do multiple back to back tests and get the same reading

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

Lavey29 said:
Perhaps your existing corals are growing and using more alk. This recently happened to me and now I have to dose 2.5ml of alk daily to keep balance between water changes

I only have a couple SPS, mostly euphelia , zoas, acans, chalice. It's unlikely that its's normal consumption. I'm dosing 50ML or red sea part B daily. This is the liquid form not the powder thats only 1/3 as strong.

Lavey29 · Dec 15, 2021

So why don't you take a step back and cut dosing altogether combined with a big water change to rebalance

Ancient Mariner · Dec 15, 2021

High calcium can be suppressing the alkalinity. Shoot for Ca around 400 and that might ease up on the alkalinity downward drift. Increased alkalinity uptake can also come from algae uptake, especially of course coralline algae.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 15, 2021

Your post is missing the most critical piece of info : what is the daily alk demand in dKH per day? (how much are you adding)

An increase of 0.2 dKh sounds small to me.

Demand of 2 dKH per day is not unusual, even in a soft coral tank.

sfin52 · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
I only have a couple SPS, mostly euphelia , zoas, acans, chalice. It's unlikely that its's normal consumption. I'm dosing 50ML or red sea part B daily. This is the liquid form not the powder thats only 1/3 as strong.

Hows the coraline growing?

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

Lavey29 said:
So why don't you take a step back and cut dosing altogether combined with a big water change to rebalance

As stated I'm doing a water change and I've stopped dosing calcium. I'm here for opinions.

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

sfin52 said:
Hows the coraline growing?

Not much coralline on any new rock, really only on the old rock I transferred over.

Lavey29 · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
As stated I'm doing a water change and I've stopped dosing calcium. I'm here for opinions.

Yea I gave you my opinion of what you should try to help with your problems but seems you have figured it out...good luck

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Your post is missing the most critical piece of info : what is the daily alk demand in dKH per day? (how much are you adding)

An increase of 0.2 dKh sounds small to me.

Demand of 2 dKH per day is not unusual, even in a soft coral tank.

It's gone from .5 to 1DKH daily in the last two months while adding nothing new. So demand didn't skyrocket and growth hasn't accounted for that. I'm dosing 50ml of red sea part B daily. I dont know if you saw the part about return pumps and heaters being covered in white or that some of the sand that has turned into stone?

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

Lavey29 said:
So why don't you take a step back and cut dosing altogether combined with a big water change to rebalance

Not trying to be a dick man, I'm just looking for answers on precipitation and how long to stop dosing.

" Ive stopped dosing CA altogether and I'm doing to do some water changes to bring that down. I'm seeing on this forum the recommendation is to stop dosing altogether for like 3 days, is that correct?"

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
It's gone from .5 to 1DKH daily in the last two months while adding nothing new. So demand didn't skyrocket and growth hasn't accounted for that. I'm dosing 50ml of red sea part B daily. I dont know if you saw the part about return pumps and heaters being covered in white or that some of the sand that has turned into stone?

I do not think 1 dKH a day is cause for concern. Some of the others will happen with little you can do about it, but here's my prescription for reducing precipitation in general:

1. Stop all efforts to boost pH.
2. Stop dosing alk for a bit and let it decline. 6 dKH is fine.
3. Reduce pH by switching to a low pH alk mix like sodium bicarbonate, or a calcium organic such as Tropic Marin All for Reef.
4. Ensure magnesium is normal to high.
5. Keep organics and phosphate on the high side.

After a few days of not dosing alk, restart slowly, adding additives to a very high flow area so it mixes in fast.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
Not trying to be a dick man, I'm just looking for answers on precipitation and how long to stop dosing.

" Ive stopped dosing CA altogether and I'm doing to do some water changes to bring that down. I'm seeing on this forum the recommendation is to stop dosing altogether for like 3 days, is that correct?"

Calcium is not the biggest driver, and it won't change much in a few days anyway.

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I do not think 1 dKH a day is cause for concern. Some of the others will happen with little you can do about it, but here's my prescription for reducing precipitation in general:

1. Stop all efforts to boost pH.
2. Stop dosing alk for a bit and let it decline. 6 dKH is fine.
3. Reduce pH by switching to a low pH alk mix like sodium bicarbonate, or a calcium organic such as Tropic Marin All for Reef.
4. Ensure magnesium is normal to high.
5. Keep organics and phosphate on the high side.

After a few days of not dosing alk, restart slowly, adding additives to a very high flow area so it mixes in fast.

#3 do you know what type Red sea is? I couldn't find ingredients
#5 Ive been having to dose nitrate and phosphate to keep them from bottoming out. Could low nutrients cause the issue?

I dont think 1 DKH is that big a deal either, it's just the timeframe it happened in. I'm literally having to add more alkalinity daily (above what I'm already dosing) to keep it stable. I wish I had that kind of growth.

Thanks for the insight

2una · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
I can do multiple back to back tests and get the same reading

That still doesn't mean that the reagent is ok - i'd go get a 2nd opinion from a differant kit or a new reagent bottle & compare before you do anything.
Saw someone the other day using hanna alk that was getting results of 7.5dkh & once they got a new bottle it was 14 dkh........the old bottle was still well within expiry but not giving correct reading.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 15, 2021

aggrofish said:
#3 do you know what type Red sea is? I couldn't find ingredients
#5 Ive been having to dose nitrate and phosphate to keep them from bottoming out. Could low nutrients cause the issue?

I dont think 1 DKH is that big a deal either, it's just the timeframe it happened in. I'm literally having to add more alkalinity daily (above what I'm already dosing) to keep it stable. I wish I had that kind of growth.

Thanks for the insight

"Red Sea’s KH/ALKALINITY is a complex of carbonate and other buffers"

So it is not the lowest pH version.

aggrofish · Dec 15, 2021

2una said:
That still doesn't mean that the reagent is ok - i'd go get a 2nd opinion from a differant kit or a new reagent bottle & compare before you do anything.
Saw someone the other day using hanna alk that was getting results of 7.5dkh & once they got a new bottle it was 14 dkh........the old bottle was still well within expiry but not giving correct reading.

Ive been going through reagent pretty quick testing each new batch of salt mix and the tank daily, but I'll try that tonight. I probably only have 1-2ml left in the old bottle and have a new one ready to go.