Is running higher Alk costlier or cheaper?

[Shilpan Patel]

Hello! I have a 100 gallon mixed tank with some LPS and softies. I recently only had softies, added some LPS and SPS and because I didn’t dose regularly my SPS died due to fluctuations I assume.

I’ve recently started using Red Sea foundation program and I am in the process of gradually raising my parameters to their recommended values and then doing a 4 day test to see how much my tank is using.

My question regards Alkalinity. They reccomend an Alk of 11.5. Is a higher Alk costlier to run?
Does a higher Alk mean you have to dose more every day to maintain it so it costs more?
Or does a higher Alk mean the corals have heaps to go around and don’t use as much Alk so you dose less so it actually costs less?
Or do corals use Alk independently of the concentration and so for example an Alk of 11.5 vs an Alk of 9.5 the Alk will be used at the same rate and thus I will use the same amount of Alk either way and there will be no difference with Alk usage and cost?

I realize things like excess CO2 can lower pH and lower Alk which buffers this so these play a role as well.
I’m trying to work out if keeping a high Alk is gonna cost me lots of money in the long run basically.

 

[BayouReefer]

Ok if you use a salt mix that already has a higher Alkalinity it will help you get to your desired starting point. Now maintaining that higher Alkalinity will cause you to have to increase the amount you are dosing due to the fact that at a higher PH and Alkalinity your corals will grow faster meaning they will take up more of the Alk from the water. I would suggest at that point it would be cost effective in the long run to invest in a Calcium Reactor.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I cannot see how higher alk could ever be less costly than lower alk. It takes more supplement every day to keep it high.

 

[lavoisier]

Ok if you use a salt mix that already has a higher Alkalinity it will help you get to your desired starting point. Now maintaining that higher Alkalinity will cause you to have to increase the amount you are dosing due to the fact that at a higher PH and Alkalinity your corals will grow faster meaning they will take up more of the Alk from the water. I would suggest at that point it would be cost effective in the long run to invest in a Calcium Reactor.

Hey Bayou, it has been a few years since I made the decision to dose Randy's 3part, but it seemed to be more cost effective that a Calcium reactor. Do you have new figures? I'm always looking to be more efficient with my reef $$. ;Bookworm