How stable is your ALK?

McPuff · May 13, 2020

It's stable. :0)

I manually test once per week and the swing is no more than +\- 0.3 dkH which is pretty decent. Usually it's right on. Pretty happy with my calcium reactor... actually ditched the peristaltic pump (no thanks, Versa) and went with wide open flow. Much easier to control now.

Rjmul · May 13, 2020

10.05 every single night.

DesertReefT4r · May 13, 2020

My alk had been staying stable for several months at 8.0-8.5 dkh. Over the last month Inhave been having an explosion in growth and alk dropped to 7.1. I dose with kalk in the ato water mainly as it works for me but I do have 2 part if needed to make adjustments. Dosing alk and increasing kalk concentration over 2 days I rainsed alk back up to 8.7. Goal is 8.5 but I am happy with a range of 7.9-8.9 as long as the change is slow.

Camaro Show Corals · May 28, 2020

giving this a bump

harley32907 · May 28, 2020

8.5 8.7

((FORDTECH)) · May 28, 2020

I honestly could not imagine doing this without trident and dos.

((FORDTECH)) · May 28, 2020

My alk fluctuates anywhere from needing 25ml to 45ml a day. I keep my alk at 7.7 and swing is no more then 7.6-7.9 with trident and dos

mike550 · May 28, 2020

Maybe this is the upside of not being automated.

I measure Alk every three days. It’s always around 8.5-8.6. I dose ESV daily same amount every day, and that’s it

Mastiffsrule · May 28, 2020

DesertReefT4r said:
My alk had been staying stable for several months at 8.0-8.5 dkh. Over the last month Inhave been having an explosion in growth and alk dropped to 7.1. I dose with kalk in the ato water mainly as it works for me but I do have 2 part if needed to make adjustments. Dosing alk and increasing kalk concentration over 2 days I rainsed alk back up to 8.7. Goal is 8.5 but I am happy with a range of 7.9-8.9 as long as the change is slow.

+1

Hey gang, all is good I hope.

Just wanted to mention this, sorry in case I missed it already mentioned

A lot of times when we talk swing we leave out a big part of the conversation. Shock. A gradual swing is not usually an issue as long as it is within a reasonable range over time. The danger lies in a sudden shock. If you want to kill an acro colony (DO NOT DO THIS, EXAMPLE ONLY) dose fresh kalk mix directly into the tank with the flow off right above a coral. That short term spike in ALK most likely will start that coral down spiraling long after the alk dissipates, the burn/damage is done.

Hence we say don’t target a number, target the range. happy reefing

Lizbeli · May 28, 2020

I just got my GHL doser a month or so ago. Still dialing it in with small adjustments to be safe. My target is 9dkh, I test around 8.6 every morning. So I am getting there. I dose by hand every morning to get it back to 9. Then I adjust my doser a tad to try and keep up better.

This is my first tank that has shown it can keep acros alive. So im trying hard here ha!