What do you consider to be stable Alkalinity in your system?

[JDowns]

With all the hoop-la recently around Alkalinity monitoring what do you consider to be stability when it comes to your Alkalinity levels.

Think of the values as +/-.

 

[richiero]

I consider being within .5 being consistent ... ex
My alk is constantly bet 8.5 and 9 with my alkatronic .

It’s usually 9 , 8.8 ,8.6 , 8.5 the once it goes under 8.5 my alkatronic doses to get in back in range

 

[SeaDweller]

I consider being within .5 being consistent ... ex
My alk is constantly bet 8.5 and 9 with my alkatronic .

It’s usually 9 , 8.8 ,8.6 , 8.5 the once it goes under 8.5 my alkatronic doses to get in back in range

I try to maintain between 8.0-8.3 as best as possible. 8.0-8.15 is even better for me.

 

[Jdavison911]

I shoot for 7.8 to 8.1 using CaRx, GHL Kh Director and dose a little to help maintain this. Still dialing in my CaRx. So far all corals are happy with these numbers

 

[jd371]

I try and keep it at 9. Looking back at my testing log the Alk stays mostly between 8.5 - 9, but there were a few occasions where it strayed from these numbers a little.

 

[richiero]

I shoot for 7.8 to 8.1 using CaRx, GHL Kh Director and dose a little to help maintain this. Still dialing in my CaRx. So far all corals are happy with these numbers

How pumped are you about that ion tester that’s on the horizon

 

[Jdavison911]

How pumped are you about that ion tester that’s on the horizon

Im ready for it!!!!! I passed on the Trident due to old school apex I have not being able to support it, so for GHL to have something like this in the works is nice.

 

[JDowns]

Interesting to see the wide range. Not what I thought would be the results.

 

[richiero]

Im ready for it!!!!! I passed on the Trident due to old school apex I have not being able to support it, so for GHL to have something like this in the works is nice.

I spoke to focustronic who makes the alkatronic and they’re going to have something in the works for the future

 

[Wrasse-cal]

I spoke to focustronic who makes the alkatronic and they’re going to have something in the works for the future

What is this something?

 

[Wrasse-cal]

With all the hoop-la recently around Alkalinity monitoring what do you consider to be stability when it comes to your Alkalinity levels.

Think of the values as +/-.

Over what period of time? Per day? Per hour?

 

[cracker]

TI "try" to keep alk between 7.8 & 8.3 . I use a 2 prt & figure amount of alk to add & add the same amount Ca . never could find that sweet spot/amount to add.

 

[richiero]

What is this something?

I asked him if focustronic had any plans to make an ion based testing system similar to what Ghl is coming out with. I already have a alk monitoring system so the GHL or Abex won’t work for me and I don’t like the trident much

 

[richiero]

The numbers I posted for my alk are over a 5 day period

 

[JDowns]

Over what period of time? Per day? Per hour?

I was considering over a daily period. But I think folks can comment on the time frame they try and follow for stability.

 

[Fr0stguard]

Mine flucuates between 9.4 to 9.8 via auto dosing 2 part

 

[playapixie]

OMG. This post prompted me to go check (I usually check on Mondays but I was out of town.) I am to keep my tank alk 11.5 (Red Sea coral growth parameters for mixed reef, with Ca 450 & mag 1350) and my dosing schedule generally keeps it between 10.5-11.5 with little fuss. This time, it was 5.6 (which has never even remotely happened before!) I just about died. Fortunately, the tank doesn’t seem to have noticed one bit. Somehow my dosing pump has been pulling huge bubbles. Troubleshooting now.
Without a doubt, getting dosing pumps and keeping a “stable” alkalinity has been the single biggest difference between me being able to keep SPS in my 34 gallon nano or not. Ever since I got dosing pumps, pretty much everything seems to like to thrive in my little tank.

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Funny... I'm doing a talk at a frag fest this weekend and I have a slide on this. I'll be converting the talk into a video -- hopefully soon.
I match my dosing specifically to my coral utilization. They are pretty stable -- but decline as expected over a months time. My assumption is that could be indicative of coral growth, but it could also arise from a small error in matching the dosing with utilization. The graphs below show my parameters -- measured with Red Sea test kits over the last two months. I had one month where I was distracted with writing a grant. I find that my magnesium measurements tend to have more variability then KH or Ca.

I think asking about stability in a daily time frame --- highly depends on the strategy used in dosing (ie. frequency and size of dosing). You can't really assess this without knowing how someone is dosing (this is also in my talk).

 

[Greg Gdowski]

Funny... I'm doing a talk at a frag fest this weekend and I have a slide on this. I'll be converting the talk into a video -- hopefully soon.
I match my dosing specifically to my coral utilization. They are pretty stable -- but decline as expected over a months time. My assumption is that could be indicative of coral growth, but it could also arise from a small error in matching the dosing with utilization. The graphs below show my parameters -- measured with Red Sea test kits over the last two months. I had one month where I was distracted with writing a grant. I find that my magnesium measurements tend to have more variability then KH or Ca.



I think asking about stability in a daily time frame --- highly depends on the strategy used in dosing (ie. frequency and size of dosing). You can't really assess this without knowing how someone is dosing (this is also in my talk).

R2R -- Can you please fix how pictures are posted? I included a thumbnail -- and it takes up the entire page --- sorry folks, I find adding photos to be very difficult for some reason.

 

[TheHarold]

I test every week with a Hanna checker, and make small adjustments to dosing. Stays 7.6-7.9.