What effect does ALK have on a skimmer

ermartin · Aug 25, 2015

I have recently started using an automatic Doser. Previously i was testing and dosing weekly but my tank is a ALK sponge so i finally setup my brand new doser that was gathering dust for the better part of a year.I immediately noticed my skimmer gone wild. i went from a sticky skim to wet wet so i had to tune the skimmer. I never noticed this effect when i did weekly or sometimes every other week manual dosing.... Search didnt give me any answers so here i post

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 25, 2015

Alkalinity doesn't have much impact on skimming.

What exactly are you dosing and where in relation to the skimmer inlet?

ermartin · Aug 25, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Alkalinity doesn't have much impact on skimming.

What exactly are you dosing and where in relation to the skimmer inlet?

Im dosing BRS Sodium Bicarbonate solution( I dont use soda ash as my PH is very stable). Unfortunatly its in the same chamber as the skimmer it doses every 3 hrs so 8 times a day on a 90gallon tank. my MAG and Calcium I still do manual as there isn't much of a drop weekly on these 2 and I need to spend some time testing daily to get the right measurement before i add them to the Doser

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 25, 2015

Assuming it is really sodium bicarbonate, I think the skimmer reaction must be a coincidence. Maybe something in the tank spawned.

ermartin · Aug 25, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Assuming it is really sodium bicarbonate, I think the skimmer reaction must be a coincidence. Maybe something in the tank spawned.

Yes its Sodium Bicarbonate its the only thing i have used for years now ...yes my initial thought was something spawning or something suffering but it all looks good. and the foam wasn't dirty looking it was clean and white. Ill let it all settle in nothing looks bad just wondering if there was a correlation as its the only change i have made.

jcdeng · Aug 25, 2015

i dose esv 2 parts in my skimmer section also (infact it is 3 inches away from the skimer intake) and my skimer has no reaction to it at all.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Aug 25, 2015

ermartin said:
Yes its Sodium Bicarbonate its the only thing i have used for years now ...yes my initial thought was something spawning or something suffering but it all looks good. and the foam wasn't dirty looking it was clean and white. Ill let it all settle in nothing looks bad just wondering if there was a correlation as its the only change i have made.

Did you put it into a new container?

ermartin · Aug 25, 2015

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Did you put it into a new container?

A newly rinsed container yes ... again nothing suffering so maybe just one of those mysteries. Since i got the skimmer tuned again and its pulling gunk not just foam now ill give it 24hrs and see how it progresses