Alk being depleted not as fast as Cal?

[BigBlueTang]

Hey everyone,
I have a reef tank that's 1.5 years old. I've taken it pretty slow, and only have started to add corals in the past two months. Right now I have a softball sized pocillapora, a 3 head torch and two head frogspawn. Also have a tiny candy cane frag that I got as a freebie. I've been testing almost every day, and I've got my alk dosage down, I'm using BRS two part. I also do 10-20% water changes every weekend with IORC. However, I'm dosing about 20mL of alk every day, and almost never dose calcium. Is that normal? I wasn't too sure and decided to ask.
Here are my params:
Salinity: 1.025
Alk: 8.3
Cal: 480
Mag: 1400
Nitrates: 5 ppm
Phosphate: .1
All tested with Salifert kit
I was thinking that my water changes are maybe supplementing it enough, as I don't have that much coral. But just figured I'd ask you guys. Not too sure if it's a dumb question or not, I'm more of a fish guy
Thanks!

 

[LittleBigReef]

What is ur calcium at after ur water change? I'm thinking ur calcium is getting above 500 from the w/c and ur slowly raising alk and dropping calcium back into place each time.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[mcgyvr]

Yes its normal to not dose each part equally..

I'm kind of surprised your water changes alone are not keeping up with both though.. You barely have any corals..

 

[BigBlueTang]

Alk being depleted not as fast as Cal?

Yes its normal to not dose each part equally..

I'm kind of surprised your water changes alone are not keeping up with both though.. You barely have any corals..

Me too. The Alk drops quick I don't dose for a day, almost .5 dkh. I think it's due to all the corraline algae I have. I'll be getting more corals shortly Sorry for the dumb question and thanks for the help!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[sde1500]

wow, yea that is a lot for the few corals you have. I rarely have to dose these days, most w/c keeps up with it. Occasionally I dose some alk, typically after a few water changes, since i mix 32 gallons at a time, but only use 5 per water change and the alk falls in the new water.

 

[mcgyvr]

If you do have a lot of coralline that would explain it..
That can consume a considerable amount by itself..

 

[Tripod1404]

If you do have a lot of coralline that would explain it..
That can consume a considerable amount by itself..

Yeah coralline alone can use huge amounts of Alk, Ca and Mg. They use especially high amounts of Mg compared to corals.