Keeping Alk High?? Benefits?

Clayalaleona · Jan 27, 2017

One of my friends has his "maintenance" guy telling him he must keep his alk at 11.
His water mixes at a dKH of 8 and they are manually dosing to keep it at 10.8-11... at this rate the Alk has a huge and harsh swing every time he does a water change. 1-2 dKH per water change + the subsequent dose after
In my years of keeping reefs I've always stayed at 8-9 dKH or near to what the salt mixes at. Is there any benefit to keeping alk this high?
Cal is 425
Mag is 1350
I think he's just being sold this story so he has to buy more chemicals but I'm completely open to being proven wrong.

Humblefish · Jan 27, 2017

Back when I kept SPS they seemed to prefer 10-11 dKH, but that's purely anecdotal on my part.

Keeping alk @ 11 dKH affords more "wiggle room" in case it drops, but also puts you closer to the "danger zone" if it were to unexpectedly rise.

I decided to keep mine around 9 and call it a day. Most corals seem good with 9. Keeping it stable and avoiding swings is what's most important IME.

aaron23 · Jan 27, 2017

you can use the calculator and dose 2 part baking soda to increase the alk pretty cheaply. keeping alk between 7-11 is preference however if you keep it slightly higher i feel you have more give within the range. but you really shouldnt need that if you're testing and keeping parameters where they should be

Daniel@R2R · Jan 27, 2017

I'm on the 8-9 dkh train. I've seen enough great-looking sticks kept in that range to know that corals are fine there, and it's easier to maintain than higher ranges IMHO.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 27, 2017

Higher alkalinity with adequate nutrients leads generally to faster hard coral growth. But it is certainly not "needed".

I also do not understand why the water changes would give swings. Just dose up the new water if he is using a lower alk mix (or switch to a higher one).

Finally, smaller water changes will reduce the concern. A 10% change with a tank at 10.5 dKH with 8.3 dKH water drops the alk only to 10.3 dKH, which is no concern.

miyags · Jan 27, 2017

I notice my lps shrink up at around 7, so I try and keep it around 9-10. Red Sea test kit says around 12.1 for lps and 8.2 for low nutrient sps systems

Mpierce · Jan 27, 2017

Agreed, match the new water to 11 dkh before the water change, then there will be no swing. However, I have better success with alk closer to NSW, 7-9 is what I shoot for. Higher alk and I seem to burn tips on my corals.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Jan 27, 2017

Mpierce said:
Agreed, match the new water to 11 dkh before the water change, then there will be no swing. However, I have better success with alk closer to NSW, 7-9 is what I shoot for. Higher alk and I seem to burn tips on my corals.

Perhaps your nutrients are too low to support the faster skeletal growth.

thabizness · Jan 27, 2017

Randy - we have been hearing a lot about the alk/nutrients ranges lately. Is there guide lines on alk range and nutrient levels like 7-9 Alk for NO3 1-5, PO3 .01-.05 (example off top of my head dont know if its right) I normally hear higher the nutrients you have higher the alk.

themcnertney · Jan 27, 2017

I've always struggled with alk. I think in the past it has cause problems with coral dying. Typically I am on the low low side at 7-8. With that said I do not dose. I rely on weekly water changes. If I were to miss one, I think I would see a drop in the danger zone with regard to alk.

I keep lots of sps that seem to do pretty well. I think it has a lot to do with consistency even though alk is consistently low.

donnievaz · Jan 27, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Perhaps your nutrients are too low to support the faster skeletal growth.

Does having higher nutrients offer any protection from burning tips due to a swing or just from a higher alk level? In other words if you had a swing of say 8 to 10 and your N02 was at 20ppm and PO4 was .08 would you still get the burnt tips?

Catchemall · Jan 27, 2017

http://www.redseafish.com/wp-conten...nual_GB_DE_FR_SE_NL_SP_IT_PT_JP_CH_HB_15A.pdf

Read this from Red Sea it shows their recommendations for alk and nutrient levels.

revhtree · Jan 27, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Perhaps your nutrients are too low to support the faster skeletal growth.

What type of nutrient and at what levels do you recommend Randy?

VTek · Jan 27, 2017

Following!

itwired · Jan 27, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Higher alkalinity with adequate nutrients leads generally to faster hard coral growth. But it is certainly not "needed".

I also do not understand why the water changes would give swings. Just dose up the new water if he is using a lower alk mix (or switch to a higher one).

Finally, smaller water changes will reduce the concern. A 10% change with a tank at 10.5 dKH with 8.3 dKH water drops the alk only to 10.3 dKH, which is no concern.

exactly

itwired · Jan 27, 2017

Clayalaleona said:
One of my friends has his "maintenance" guy telling him he must keep his alk at 11.
His water mixes at a dKH of 8 and they are manually dosing to keep it at 10.8-11... at this rate the Alk has a huge and harsh swing every time he does a water change. 1-2 dKH per water change + the subsequent dose after
In my years of keeping reefs I've always stayed at 8-9 dKH or near to what the salt mixes at. Is there any benefit to keeping alk this high?
Cal is 425
Mag is 1350
I think he's just being sold this story so he has to buy more chemicals but I'm completely open to being proven wrong.

I always alk match my mix water before doing the actually water change

bgoldb · Jan 27, 2017

itwired said:
I always alk match my mix water before doing the actually water change

Please help me understand this as I am slowly putting my daily/weekly regimen together and your insight should help. So you are performing alk tests on both your tank water and water change water before any water changes are performed? And if the alk of your water change water isn't very close to your DT water, you add baked baking soda and then perform another alk test to ensure that the water matches? I am assuming you mix your water and aerate for 24 hours before performing the water change and then test. I am starting to see the value in the kh guardian device that does automated alk testing.

itwired · Jan 27, 2017

I use red sea alk and add the amount based off the directions to match the alk of my tank to my fresh mix wait 30 min then test alk of the mix and adjust accordingly before I do my water change.

jeffrey holloway · Jan 28, 2017

I keep my dkh around 7 and I ,m getting excellent coral growth and color. Dose about 45ml of alk daily, do weekly water changes with weekly ca & mag test. rarely have to sup these two.
Alk 7.0
ca 420
mag 1350
nitrates .o5
phospates .00 - .02
ph 8.13 -8.35
I feed the fish 3 times a day, and broadcast feed the corals every other night. supplement with KZ coral system 1,2,3,4 weekly.