Alk, calcium and magnesium not dropping but corals growing. How?

[Jonathan lee]

26g AIO with a decent amount of Lps and softies. After a major crash back in November 23, i added new corals to fill the tank back up in January this year since i lost basically everything in the crash. I noticed my alk didnt drop even after a month, then now 2 months. But purple coraline is growing all over the rocks again after the crash, hammers are splitting heads, war coral growing, duncan growing, etc. Im very confused because before the crash i had to dose to keep the corals happy. Now i havent even dosed in 2 months and the corals are even growing.

Tested daily for a week, numbers stayed the same. Tested once every 5 days, still the same. I would understand if the corals weren’t growing. But they are. So how are these levels not dropping?

Alk 10
Calcium 425
Magnesium 1365
(Salifert)

 

[The_Paradox]

Did you ever figure out what caused the tank crash? Are you using any thing like argonite sand, oyster bed, etc?

 

[Jonathan lee]

Did you ever figure out what caused the tank crash? Are you using any thing like argonite sand, oyster bed, etc?

The crash was caused by the pipe for the chillers pump disconnecting for a few days. Tank boiled at 32c. Only survivors were my blenny and pair of clownfish. Every coral melted. Like over 50 disco mushrooms melted, toadstool melted, gsp melted, Lps also melted so it was pretty bad. Water was very cloudy.

For the substrate im just using fine crushed coral. Its the same substrate i added 7 years ago. No new sand or rock has been added. Ive asked this question before and was told since the tank crashed few months ago, it will take some time for things to settle before i see any consumption. But since corals have been growing, purple coraline popping up on the rocks again, alk and calcium would definitely be dropping at the very least. But its not. Before the crash alk would drop about 1 point every 3 days so i auto dose 0.3 points daily. I have more lps corals now than before the crash so theoretically it should be dropping even more than 0.3 points a day so not sure how its not dropping. I think the first day testing it was 10.2kdh and then changed to 10 like a month later but since its such a small drop for such a long period i just see it being a titration test accuracy thing

 

[Uncle99]

what about nutrient levels?
No food, no grow, but if they are growing then you are using Alk and CA, or your test is faulty.

 

[Jonathan lee]

what about nutrient levels?
No food, no grow, but if they are growing then you are using Alk and CA, or your test is faulty.

No3 10(was around 2ppm early last month but i started feeding more so its now 10. When it was 2ppm i saw very very little growth but now a month later i see the hammers splitting heads with no3 higher)
Po4 0.03
Im also feeding the corals weekly and dosing amino acids.

The tests are newly opened this year january with expiry in 2026/27 and the colour change in these titration test is read by my eyes and a digital colour reader for extra confirmation and stability in results after each drop is added. For example it tells me when the pink fluid turns blue after i add each drop. I also used two brands of alk test(salifert and AF) and they were pretty much the same. 10.2 and 10.1.