Kh consumption?

[Roberto CRC]

Hi there,

It is possible that if the corals had a lack of kh for several months, and now they are being given a constant dose with a reactor, the consumption is high while they replenish what they had not consumed?

If that is possible, how long can they take to retrieve the kh they had failed to perceive?

In your tanks how much is the daily consumption of kh?

My tank is 150 gallons in total, and the corals are LSP, SPS and Mild. But it is not a large quantity of corals, they are few and none is a colony. The majority are fraqs. My daily consumption is 1 dkH

Regards

 

[Cory]

My daily consumption is 1dkh in 21 gallons. Montipora and one other lps.

I dont think they would account for the past low alk and grow quicker now that its normal and consistant, but its possible i guess.

Calcification is mostly based on low po4, availability of calcium and carbonate alkalinity, light and food in the water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi there,

It is possible that if the corals had a lack of kh for several months, and now they are being given a constant dose with a reactor, the consumption is high while they replenish what they had not consumed?

If that is possible, how long can they take to retrieve the kh they had failed to perceive?

In your tanks how much is the daily consumption of kh?

My tank is 150 gallons in total, and the corals are LSP, SPS and Mild. But it is not a large quantity of corals, they are few and none is a colony. The majority are fraqs. My daily consumption is 1 dkH

Regards

I don't know the answer, but I suspect the effect is small. They cannot store significant alkalinity except as deposited skeleton, so what you are suggesting is a burst in skeletal growth. I doubt that is a big process when alk returns to normal.

Most tanks use about 0.5 to 4 dKH per day.

 

[Roberto CRC]

Thanks, is that I tell you why I make that query.

Last week I made another topic regarding the pH and addition of drip from my calcium reactor which had about 2 months of installed.

Finding out a bit, since the reactor I bought it from Monday and had no user manual. I just installed it and ended up with a constant flow addition and the pH was being affected.

Then I searched the user manual on the internet and saw that I had made mistakes by setting it up, then reset the reactor and I have it working again. I have been making adjustments in the drip and the bubbles.

This has been the addition:

I adjusted the parameter of kh with bicarbonate to leave it in 10.5 dKh

Hence the daily readings at the same time (night) have been:

Friday 19: 10.5 dKH (1 bubble of Co2 every 3 seconds) (1 drop every 3 seconds)
Saturday 20: 9.2 dKH (1 bubble of Co2 every 3 seconds) (1 drop every 2 seconds)
Sunday 21: 8.8 dKH (1 bubble of Co2 every 3 seconds) (1 drop every 1 seconds)
Monday 22: 8.5 dKH (1 Co2 bubble every 3 seconds) (they are still drops, but I can not count how many per second)
Tuesday 23: 8.1 dKH (1 bubble of Co2 every 3 seconds) (they are still drops, but I can not count how many per second)

Daily consumption had already measured that it is 1 dKH per day and 20 pm Ca per day.

The daily deficit is at 0.4 dKh per day with the last dripping pattern. If I increase it more I will get to the point that it is a constant flow and is no longer dripping and possibly end up affecting the pH again by the exception of Co2. The only thing that varies with respect to before resetting the reactor is that the Co2 bubbles were about 2 per second.

My reactor is the Korallin C1502, according to the manufacturer is for tanks up to 400 gallons, my tank is less than 50% of that measurement then I think I should not have such a steady flow addition to sustain sustaining dKH consumption.

What do you think?

 

[Roberto CRC]

Bump

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Another bump. Im curious as well.

 

[Roberto CRC]

Another bump. Im curious as well.

Another piece of information I did not mention. I use the Carib Sea Coarse aragonite.

I hope someone can help me. Since I am not happy to have bought a calcium reactor and also have to use the meter to complement the kH

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Have you read this ?
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/12/tips

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not sure I understand the premise of the question. We don't know how much the reactor is delivering, so can't conclude much, but it is certainly true that higher alkalinity results in higher demand.

 

[Roberto CRC]

I'm not sure I understand the premise of the question. We don't know how much the reactor is delivering, so can't conclude much, but it is certainly true that higher alkalinity results in higher demand.

I will try to explain more simplified, taking as a starting point the information I already noted.

With the consumption that exists of kH, the reactor is not able to maintain it in a measurement superior to 8 dKh by means of dripping, it manages to do but with a constant effluent, this brings with it a situation of low in the pH of the tank.

It is normal that the reactor can not sustain the Kh if it is working at a capacity close to 45% of what the manufacturer indicated.

 

[Roberto CRC]

Have you read this ?
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2004/12/tips

Thanks, I just read it. And I think the best advice I can try is to measure the pH of the reactor effluent. But I'm not sure this can help me in my situation.

Something I'm going to do tomorrow is to calibrate the pH probe again.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The pH and alkalinity of the reactor effluent can be used to determine if there is an issue. Without it, I can't diagnose if there is a problem, and if so, how to fix it.