Acceptable Parameter Swings in SPS system

[Ira]

Hi All,

I am working on getting my system up to SPS standards, recently got a dosing pump (bubblemagus) to help with water stability and have still noticed some swing in my MG, CA and ALK using the pump. This swing is alot less than I was seeing before, but I wanted to ask some of the experienced people if these are acceptable paramater swings.

So I got the dosing pump online last week and have been monitoring all my parameters everyday this week. Started right after a water change and then monitored till my next water change. The PH was rock solid at 8.3 all week. The CA started off at 470ppm and then stabilized at 450 for the rest of the week (rose back to 470 after my next water change). The MG feel slowly from 1450 to 1350 during the course of the week, I typically dose 5ml of Kent MG+ midweek on this tank but skipped it this week in order see what the weekly drop was like, it was back up to 1450 after my waterchange this week and my MG dosing. 5 out of 7 KH readings were 8.4, i had one reading at 8.3 and another at 8.5.

All other parameters are pretty stable, no PO4 (hanna checker) and nitrate cycle measurments all coming up 0.

What do you think? Is this pretty stable for SPS or do I need to work on dialing in the doser a little better?

 

[karsseboom]

Okay ph it not a big deal and can swing, you don't have to monitor Ph. The only real things to look for are dkh, cal and salinity. Make sure you cal stays in acceptable range and your dkh is stable. That's it...Oh and forgot mag make sure it stays 1200-1350

 

[collie man]

what he said

 

[Teamreef]

X2 especially the alk

 

[dmorazan]

X2 especially the alk

the alk is a real problem for sps corals i have lost lots of sps simply by not checking the alk daily. i do my testing every other day or every day if i see something not doing good

 

[Breakbeats2334]

I only notice corals heavily disliking alk swings. When calc/mag/ph swing it doesnt seem to affect the health of the coral as much compared to an alk swing.

 

[tamarindthai]

sps don't like it very much when the alk swing,,,just beware

 

[Ira]

So is the dkh variation from 8.3 to 8.5 too much then?

 

[Hazey]

Your prams Sound pretty good to me.
Your Mg needs to be stable, I keep mine at 1440.
Calcium can vary between 350-450 but obviously not swinging fast. The main thing is your dkh. Any swings can see tips or bases stripping.
One you know your tank demands & have your balling set up right it's relatively easy. Don't get too complacent though as it can bite you on the arse so keep testing your dkh

Dave

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[phasezero]

I would say having a doser should have you on the right track for success. I'm pretty fortunate in that my sps tank is very tolerable to alkalinity swings. I've been hand dosing every night the last few months but I often leave on the weekends for 3-5 days. During that time my alk will drop from ~9dkh to 6dkh with no adverse affects. I would say the swings you're experiencing are very minimal.