Vacation and Alkalinity!

[atp0726]

Backstory, I upgraded my sps dominant tank and added new sand and a bunch of dry rock 3-4mths ago. I am pretty sure i must have some precipitation into the new sand and rock, I dont see any evidence of it this but I have struggled to get my alk above 7.1-7.2 and when i increase dosage it drops rather than going up. My natural PH in my home in winter (NorthEast) is 7.9 to 8.2. Recently Alk has been very stable at 7.2 at this ph.

My concern is when we leave there will be much less CO2 in the home and the ph will go up increasing alk consumption and abiotic precipitation. Just today with being gong for 4 hours ph went up to 8.3 and alk dropped by .1. Since i am already near the bottom of the comfort range with alk I am not sure how low it can go without causing issues for mainly my Acropora.

We will be gone for a week. How low can alk actually get before i should concerned? Is there anyway to temporarily safely lower ph? I just have my skimmer running in the cabinet, no outside line. I could turn the skimmer off but its my primary source of oxygenation and filtration.

 

[Daddy-o]

Backstory, I upgraded my sps dominant tank and added new sand and a bunch of dry rock 3-4mths ago. I am pretty sure i must have some precipitation into the new sand and rock, I dont see any evidence of it this but I have struggled to get my alk above 7.1-7.2 and when i increase dosage it drops rather than going up. My natural PH in my home in winter (NorthEast) is 7.9 to 8.2. Recently Alk has been very stable at 7.2 at this ph.

My concern is when we leave there will be much less CO2 in the home and the ph will go up increasing alk consumption and abiotic precipitation. Just today with being gong for 4 hours ph went up to 8.3 and alk dropped by .1. Since i am already near the bottom of the comfort range with alk I am not sure how low it can go without causing issues for mainly my Acropora.

We will be gone for a week. How low can alk actually get before i should concerned? Is there anyway to temporarily safely lower ph? I just have my skimmer running in the cabinet, no outside line. I could turn the skimmer off but its my primary source of oxygenation and filtration.

Run skimmer airline to outside air now and adjust your alk level before you leave? Then there should be no fluctuations?
Cheers! Mark

 

[atp0726]

Run skimmer airline to outside air now and adjust your alk level before you leave? Then there should be no fluctuations?
Cheers! Mark

I unhooked the airline to try and lower ph to minimize precipitation. When I have tried to increase alk it has had the opposite effect and alk goes down. I am fine with it in the low 7s but I am afraid of how much it could drop if gone for extended periods of time and an overall ph increase.

 

[dwest]

I unhooked the airline to try and lower ph to minimize precipitation. When I have tried to increase alk it has had the opposite effect and alk goes down. I am fine with it in the low 7s but I am afraid of how much it could drop if gone for extended periods of time and an overall ph increase.

Its a problem. My alkalinity drops about 0.1-0.2 dKH for each day Im gone. Last time I tried to increase my 2 part just before I left to compensate and that worked pretty well. I’m also considering a trident. Lastly, even though I like to to run my tank a 7, I run it close to 8.5 dKH because of this as well.

 

[atp0726]

Its a problem. My alkalinity drops about 0.1-0.2 dKH for each day Im gone. Last time I tried to increase my 2 part just before I left to compensate and that worked pretty well. I’m also considering a trident. Lastly, even though I like to to run my tank a 7, I run it close to 8.5 dKH because of this as well.

I wish I could get my alk up for this reason. I do think the new sand and rock (don’t notice precipitation in any of usual spots) is acting as a sink for precipitation otherwise I should be able to raise alk. When I try it has the opposite effect and goes down. I have contemplated a trident too for this reason.