I have a new 7g nano reef tank that I started a few weeks ago. It was seeded with a few bio balls and a piece of live rock/dark rubble from an established tank and has sand plus another piece of (initially) dry live rock. It was also seeded with some Fritz Turbo-Start and dosed with Fritz Fishless Fuel and cycled within a few days. About a week after that, I started running a light schedule in acclimation mode (AI Prime 16HD / 7 day acclimation schedule). Throughout the entire process, the pH has been <7.8 (typically 7.5-7.8) as measured by a calibrated Apex pH probe (calibrated with the provided 7.0 and 10.0 solutions). Alkalinity is in the 7-7.5 range (measured by both a Hanna dKH checker and Apex Trident temporarily running on the tank while I get it going).
I would like to start adding a few coral frags to get things started. However before that I'd really like to raise the pH and alkalinity closer to the "ideal". I totally understand the ideas behind "don't chase numbers" and "stability is key", but since I'm setting this up new, it seems like the best time to get it at least closer to the target range. Large(r) swings in parameters won't affect any corals (or fish) since there aren't any. I had hoped that kalkwasser was the solution since I could raise both alkalinity and pH at the same time, but after an initial dose, both have come back down to the previous (or near previous) levels. Is it just a case that even without coral I'd need to continue to dose kalk to maintain a target level? I don't need to hit the "ideal" values, but I'd prefer to not start at the bottom of the acceptable pH and alkalinity ranges.
Note that I do not have a skimmer or refugium and the tank is in my (private) office in an office building with windows that do not open. So I don't have any traditional recourse to attempt to reduce CO2.
Maybe for this tank I just do regular water changes and let the chips (and parameters) fall where they may, but I'd really like to attempt to more actively maintain the relevant water parameters - even if that means scheduled dosing. I'm not opposed to adding a DOS and dosing kalk, two part, etc... I just hoped to start it near my target parameters, add a few frags and monitor before making decisions about how to maintain things.
One interesting note is that when the pH came down after the kalkwasser dose, it produced a very consistent downward curve approaching the original pH:
Its not necessarily relevant to this conversation, but I though it was interesting.
I would like to start adding a few coral frags to get things started. However before that I'd really like to raise the pH and alkalinity closer to the "ideal". I totally understand the ideas behind "don't chase numbers" and "stability is key", but since I'm setting this up new, it seems like the best time to get it at least closer to the target range. Large(r) swings in parameters won't affect any corals (or fish) since there aren't any. I had hoped that kalkwasser was the solution since I could raise both alkalinity and pH at the same time, but after an initial dose, both have come back down to the previous (or near previous) levels. Is it just a case that even without coral I'd need to continue to dose kalk to maintain a target level? I don't need to hit the "ideal" values, but I'd prefer to not start at the bottom of the acceptable pH and alkalinity ranges.
Note that I do not have a skimmer or refugium and the tank is in my (private) office in an office building with windows that do not open. So I don't have any traditional recourse to attempt to reduce CO2.
Maybe for this tank I just do regular water changes and let the chips (and parameters) fall where they may, but I'd really like to attempt to more actively maintain the relevant water parameters - even if that means scheduled dosing. I'm not opposed to adding a DOS and dosing kalk, two part, etc... I just hoped to start it near my target parameters, add a few frags and monitor before making decisions about how to maintain things.
One interesting note is that when the pH came down after the kalkwasser dose, it produced a very consistent downward curve approaching the original pH:
Its not necessarily relevant to this conversation, but I though it was interesting.
