What do coral owners run your alkalinity at?

[DropBear Actual]

6.9 for me. I use natural sea water and that sits real low. Hasn’t been an issue since it doesn’t fluctuate but I only run Softies and a couple LPS. I recognise there is much less buffer but so far it’s been working. Low stocking would help.

 

[Reef Puncher]

I keep mine around 9.5 in 2 different tanks with Calcium around 450. Interesting study on high levels was done by BRS TV - here's the link

ive seen that video, which is why i feel better being at 10

 

[Reef Puncher]

Unstable perhaps implies not adding it to offset demand, but it is certainly true that higher alk causes higher alk and calcium demand. Same for higher pH.

while i have ya, ive talked to you before about my methods. im doing AFR during day, and kalk at night to limit the ph drops. i like to stay at close to 8.2 ph at all times. my alk and calc are VERY stable now, never wavering really on my auto dosers, but it higher than it used to be, at around 10dkh now.
But my mag is very wierd and i cant figure it out. It seems to be always dropping, and i have had to increase the amount on my auto doser.

I also dont know which tests to trust.

My salifert has been reading 1290 almost always which i dont trust.

My red sea mag test is reading about 1330 to 1350 with occasional dips.

But each week i am slowly bumping up the milliliters my auto doser is using on my mag because it keeps dipping.
Assuming the red sea is accurate, why would so much mag need to be dosed.... i thought mag was one of the more stable elements that didnt need as much dosing. but do corals really use up that much mag or is my tests just off, or does the high alk level of 10 just require that much more mag to keep up?