Alkalinity Advice

[Maho.B]

Hello, looking for some advice on my Alkalinty. I have used the EcoTech Versa pump for dosing for about 6 months now and it works very well. Back when I got it I measured the Alk change over the course of several days to determine the daily usage and set the dosing pump accordingly to keep it at 8.5 and it did just that. I measure it regularly and it stayed within .1 to .2 swing in a 24 hour period. A few weeks ago during regular testing I noticed it crept up to 9.1 which was strange as it had not deviated for months. Checking it daily from that point showed it slowly increasing to a high of 10.4 over the last couple of weeks. I checked the dosing pump and it was still dosing the exact amount it was supposed to. All other parameters were where they should be during this as well. At 10.4 I noticed some sps tips "burning" or turning pale/white so I determined I need to bring it down. I stopped the dosing pump and it has gone down as follows:

7-15-24: measured 10.1
7-16-24: measured 10.0
7-17-24: measured 9.7
7-18-24: measured 9.2
7-19-24: measured 8.8

My question for you all is now that it is getting closer to my target range of 8.5 what is the best method to determine what to set my dosing pump at moving forward. I would like to avoid letting it swing for several more days to do the math that way, not sure if I can use the measurements I listed above feeling that they were abnormally high for some reason (I have no clue as to why it went up without additional dosing). I want to avoid any more swings if possible given some of the corals have not enjoyed the increase at all.

I use the Hanna Alkalinty checker. I have not changed salt brand (Tropic Marin) and the only thing that has changed in daily routines is the addition of NeoNitro to help get my Nitrates up a bit.

Thanks!

 

[Dom]

Hello, looking for some advice on my Alkalinty. I have used the EcoTech Versa pump for dosing for about 6 months now and it works very well. Back when I got it I measured the Alk change over the course of several days to determine the daily usage and set the dosing pump accordingly to keep it at 8.5 and it did just that. I measure it regularly and it stayed within .1 to .2 swing in a 24 hour period. A few weeks ago during regular testing I noticed it crept up to 9.1 which was strange as it had not deviated for months. Checking it daily from that point showed it slowly increasing to a high of 10.4 over the last couple of weeks. I checked the dosing pump and it was still dosing the exact amount it was supposed to. All other parameters were where they should be during this as well. At 10.4 I noticed some sps tips "burning" or turning pale/white so I determined I need to bring it down. I stopped the dosing pump and it has gone down as follows:

7-15-24: measured 10.1
7-16-24: measured 10.0
7-17-24: measured 9.7
7-18-24: measured 9.2
7-19-24: measured 8.8

My question for you all is now that it is getting closer to my target range of 8.5 what is the best method to determine what to set my dosing pump at moving forward. I would like to avoid letting it swing for several more days to do the math that way, not sure if I can use the measurements I listed above feeling that they were abnormally high for some reason (I have no clue as to why it went up without additional dosing). I want to avoid any more swings if possible given some of the corals have not enjoyed the increase at all.

I use the Hanna Alkalinty checker. I have not changed salt brand (Tropic Marin) and the only thing that has changed in daily routines is the addition of NeoNitro to help get my Nitrates up a bit.

Thanks!

Understand that the chemistry in your tank is always changing. As appealing as it may be to "set it and forget it", my experience is that this never happens.

Your tank is always changing. As corals grow, Alkalinity and Calcium consumption changes, requiring adjustments to dosing.

I'd make peace with the fact that you must always monitor your chemistry, even when automating dosing, making the subtle changes necessary to keep things balanced.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I use the Hanna Alkalinty checker. I have not changed salt brand (Tropic Marin) and the only thing that has changed in daily routines is the addition of NeoNitro to help get my Nitrates up a bit.

Two comments on that.

1. Dosing nitrate boosts alk. That may impact other alk needs. You can dose ammonium bicarbonate instead, and it won’t impact alk while dosing what corals prefer (ammonium) relative to nitrate.

2. 10 dKH should not cause coral problems unless nutrients are too low. Make sure you have sufficient N and P to avoid such issues.

 

[Maho.B]

Thanks for your reply. I couldn't agree with you more. Even when dosing I still test alkalinity twice a week minimum and all other parameters once a week minimum. I am just wondering what the best method is now that it's back in the 8 range to set my dosing pump. Meaning should I use the measurements I posted determine what the change was over those days divided by the number of days and go with that?

 

[Maho.B]

Thanks for the input Randy! I wasn't aware of the different type of nitrate for dosing so I will look into that and make a change. When the alkalinity crept up into the 10.4 range, My nitrate was 1.6 and my phosphate was .02 would that amount of nutrients combined with the high alk cause issues to the coral that I'm seeing?