Hey all,
I have a 10 gallon with 1.5" sand bed, roughly 15lbs of live rock which makes its volume roughly 8 gallons. The tank has been running perfectly other than alkalinity after doing a water change (haven't done one in almost two weeks) or adding saltwater after acclimating a new fish/invert/coral. My target alkalinity is 8.5dkh (or was). I keep a log of everything done and tested in the tank so I'm going to list things done recently to show examples of what has been happening, and what I have done and tested as a result. Temp 78 degrees Fahrenheit and salinity between 1.025-1.026.
10/14 I bought rodi water I was using tap and was having some algae problems i contributed to that. So I did a 50% water change, at the time I did not have an alkalinity test kit it came in the mail on the 16th. Ph before was 8.0 the following day was 8.2 seemed good to me.
10/16 Salifert test kits came in the mail alkalinity tested at 6.4 dkh read you can dose upto 1.4dkh per day to raise alk on top of coral consumption so dosed accordingly and brought the alk to 7.8dkh, ca over 500ppm, mag 1200ppm.
10/17-10/20 Alk 7.7dkh dosed accordingly to bring to my target 8.5dkh consumed .7dkh per day (I was dosing once per day)
10/21 Did a 20% water change as it was a week from my last one and wanted to try and get my magnesium up before alk was 7.7dkh after it was 6.7dkh so dosed to bring upto 8.3dkh little higher than i meant to but only zoas for corals in the tank and they were unaffected.
10/22 Alk was 7.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh (upto this point I was using red sea coralline gro as my alk supplement)
10/23 Alk 7.3 dosed to bring to 8.5dkh mag 1170ppm (read can raise 100ppm per day) dosed accordingly 1270ppm (at this point I knew I was getting hard corals soon so stopped use of coralline gro and started with red sea liquid foundation kit abc as needed)
10/24 Alk 8.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5 mag 1270 dosed to try and bring it up only 100ppm but it went up 150ppm (I added frogspawn, hammer, candy cane, duncan, monti spongodes, monti digi (german blue and forest fire).
10/25 Alk 8.0dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh frogspawn and hammer look a little shrunk
10/26 Stayed stable frogspawn and hammer still not happy alk 8.5, ca over 500ppm, mag 1440ppm climbed a little??
10/27 Alk 8.1dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh mag dropped to 1380ppm dosed to try to bring it upto 1400ppm but it went to 1440ppm Ca still over 500ppm but can tell its dropping
10/28 Alk dropped to 7.8dkh dosed to bring back up now 8.6dkh mag 1390ppm ca 500ppm
10/29 Alk 8.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh (at this point I started dosing max .4dkh at a time to prevent shocking corals) so checked multiple times throughout the day it dropped again at night to 8.3dkh and doseed to bring back to 8.5dkh
10/30 Alk stayed stable all day at 8.6dkh with no dosing ca still over 500ppm didnt test mag
10/31 Alk 8.7dkh no dosing done
10/31 Tested original IO salt: alk 3.5dkh, ca over 500ppm, mag over 1500ppm;
Bought a bag of reef crystals and another IO regular since it tested so low hence my drops in alk after top offs or water changes.
Reef crystals: alk 13.1dkh, ca way over 500ppm, mag over 1500ppm
Second bag of IO: 10dkh, ca 450ppm, mag 1305ppm
10/31 topped up with new IO regular salt with 10dkh after adding a fish over the weekend to bring upto the right level and the alk raised to 9.3dkh, ca still over 500ppm mag 1440ppm (it was a small top off shouldn't have raised it like this so confused with that but thats not really the main concern, I talked to a few others and was recommended trying to match the tank alkalinity to the salt alkalinity so my new target was 10dkh)
11/1 Alk 9.3dkh all day till about midnight then dropped to 9.0dkh so dosed again to bring raise max of .4dkh a day to 9.4dkh (new target of 10dkh dosed only to raise .4dkh as to not shock corals not actively trying to raise to 10dkh as still not sure what to do)
11/2 Alk is 9.9dkh (not sure how it increased again over night without dosing and with retesting after dosing it shouldnt have gone up from the 9.4 if anything gone down with consumption but again not major concern more worried about when i add saltwater to my tank) I was told my salt would not mix the same each time so did an experiment and it was right the second io bag tested to 11.5dkh instead of the original 10dkh. Now my head really hurts.
So if you have followed this far a long I am curious of your recommendation for adding saltwater to my tank after acclimating a new coral, fish, or inverts or even a water change if need be down the road. I am trying to avoid fluctuations in my alkalinity as ive lost some corals already due to it I believe. Do I have bad salt or should i try another brand or do i need to dose to raise/lower my alkalinity in my new batches of saltwater to match my target/tank alkalinity prior to adding to the tank to prevent swings? And since my alk is up at 9.9dkh should i just target a higher alk like 10dkh to not keep annoying things?
Any advice help or insight is greatly appreciated as I'm just about at a loss other than testing every batch of saltwater i make then dosing accordingly which seems a bit over the top to me. My duncan, candy cane, bambam zoas, and vampire in drag zoas are doing well and growing by the looks of it the only other coral I have but isnt happy is the frogspawn and i would assume due to the swings. Everything else other than adding saltwater is perfect things stay stable in between saltwater top offs then one comes along and it tanks or spikes.
Thanks
Stephen
I have a 10 gallon with 1.5" sand bed, roughly 15lbs of live rock which makes its volume roughly 8 gallons. The tank has been running perfectly other than alkalinity after doing a water change (haven't done one in almost two weeks) or adding saltwater after acclimating a new fish/invert/coral. My target alkalinity is 8.5dkh (or was). I keep a log of everything done and tested in the tank so I'm going to list things done recently to show examples of what has been happening, and what I have done and tested as a result. Temp 78 degrees Fahrenheit and salinity between 1.025-1.026.
10/14 I bought rodi water I was using tap and was having some algae problems i contributed to that. So I did a 50% water change, at the time I did not have an alkalinity test kit it came in the mail on the 16th. Ph before was 8.0 the following day was 8.2 seemed good to me.
10/16 Salifert test kits came in the mail alkalinity tested at 6.4 dkh read you can dose upto 1.4dkh per day to raise alk on top of coral consumption so dosed accordingly and brought the alk to 7.8dkh, ca over 500ppm, mag 1200ppm.
10/17-10/20 Alk 7.7dkh dosed accordingly to bring to my target 8.5dkh consumed .7dkh per day (I was dosing once per day)
10/21 Did a 20% water change as it was a week from my last one and wanted to try and get my magnesium up before alk was 7.7dkh after it was 6.7dkh so dosed to bring upto 8.3dkh little higher than i meant to but only zoas for corals in the tank and they were unaffected.
10/22 Alk was 7.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh (upto this point I was using red sea coralline gro as my alk supplement)
10/23 Alk 7.3 dosed to bring to 8.5dkh mag 1170ppm (read can raise 100ppm per day) dosed accordingly 1270ppm (at this point I knew I was getting hard corals soon so stopped use of coralline gro and started with red sea liquid foundation kit abc as needed)
10/24 Alk 8.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5 mag 1270 dosed to try and bring it up only 100ppm but it went up 150ppm (I added frogspawn, hammer, candy cane, duncan, monti spongodes, monti digi (german blue and forest fire).
10/25 Alk 8.0dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh frogspawn and hammer look a little shrunk
10/26 Stayed stable frogspawn and hammer still not happy alk 8.5, ca over 500ppm, mag 1440ppm climbed a little??
10/27 Alk 8.1dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh mag dropped to 1380ppm dosed to try to bring it upto 1400ppm but it went to 1440ppm Ca still over 500ppm but can tell its dropping
10/28 Alk dropped to 7.8dkh dosed to bring back up now 8.6dkh mag 1390ppm ca 500ppm
10/29 Alk 8.3dkh dosed to bring to 8.5dkh (at this point I started dosing max .4dkh at a time to prevent shocking corals) so checked multiple times throughout the day it dropped again at night to 8.3dkh and doseed to bring back to 8.5dkh
10/30 Alk stayed stable all day at 8.6dkh with no dosing ca still over 500ppm didnt test mag
10/31 Alk 8.7dkh no dosing done
10/31 Tested original IO salt: alk 3.5dkh, ca over 500ppm, mag over 1500ppm;
Bought a bag of reef crystals and another IO regular since it tested so low hence my drops in alk after top offs or water changes.
Reef crystals: alk 13.1dkh, ca way over 500ppm, mag over 1500ppm
Second bag of IO: 10dkh, ca 450ppm, mag 1305ppm
10/31 topped up with new IO regular salt with 10dkh after adding a fish over the weekend to bring upto the right level and the alk raised to 9.3dkh, ca still over 500ppm mag 1440ppm (it was a small top off shouldn't have raised it like this so confused with that but thats not really the main concern, I talked to a few others and was recommended trying to match the tank alkalinity to the salt alkalinity so my new target was 10dkh)
11/1 Alk 9.3dkh all day till about midnight then dropped to 9.0dkh so dosed again to bring raise max of .4dkh a day to 9.4dkh (new target of 10dkh dosed only to raise .4dkh as to not shock corals not actively trying to raise to 10dkh as still not sure what to do)
11/2 Alk is 9.9dkh (not sure how it increased again over night without dosing and with retesting after dosing it shouldnt have gone up from the 9.4 if anything gone down with consumption but again not major concern more worried about when i add saltwater to my tank) I was told my salt would not mix the same each time so did an experiment and it was right the second io bag tested to 11.5dkh instead of the original 10dkh. Now my head really hurts.
So if you have followed this far a long I am curious of your recommendation for adding saltwater to my tank after acclimating a new coral, fish, or inverts or even a water change if need be down the road. I am trying to avoid fluctuations in my alkalinity as ive lost some corals already due to it I believe. Do I have bad salt or should i try another brand or do i need to dose to raise/lower my alkalinity in my new batches of saltwater to match my target/tank alkalinity prior to adding to the tank to prevent swings? And since my alk is up at 9.9dkh should i just target a higher alk like 10dkh to not keep annoying things?
Any advice help or insight is greatly appreciated as I'm just about at a loss other than testing every batch of saltwater i make then dosing accordingly which seems a bit over the top to me. My duncan, candy cane, bambam zoas, and vampire in drag zoas are doing well and growing by the looks of it the only other coral I have but isnt happy is the frogspawn and i would assume due to the swings. Everything else other than adding saltwater is perfect things stay stable in between saltwater top offs then one comes along and it tanks or spikes.
Thanks
Stephen