Back from trip; Alk super low!

[Hentz]

Hey guys, just got back from a 4 day trip and realized my corals don't look like they usually do.. So I went ahead and tested Alk first which came out to 5.3 via Salifert :facepalm:

Thinking my corals are taking way more than 14ml per day, I checked my doser and realized it wasn't even dosing!!!!


I'm raising it very slowly, but how should I do this?

I'm using ESV's Alk

My Alk now is 5.3, I want it to be 7

 

[jbvdhp]

Back from trip; Alk super low!

Do you have baking soda? I have used it and still do when I need to raise it 0.5-1.0 dKH units. I wouldn't go more than that per day.

Reef Chem calculator:
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html


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[ReefWreak]

I'm raising it very slowly, but how should I do this?

You're doing it right by doing it slowly. I just add an additional minute of dosing per dosing cycle (x4) when I need to bump my alkalinity up, that way it spaces it out throughout the day. It's important to have it under control, but as long as you quickly recognize and fix it, you shouldn't have too many problems.

Unfortunately, I've had my 2 part run out and have left it for a week or two. Most of my SPS browned out and started to get more STN than usual. The quicker you fix it, the shorter the recovery time will be. It took me probably 2+ months after my last alk swing that lasted a week or two. I hate using small gallon jugs that need to be swapped out or reloaded quarterly...

 

[rovster]

Same thing happened to me. Unfortunately my tank was unsteady when i left so I came back to some damage. That said this has happened to me before and if your corals were healthy when you left they should rebound fine. Low alk is much less damaging than high.

 

[Hentz]

Well mostly everything seems okay.. My Alk was brought up to 6.4 and I just did a 5 gallon water change so I will test in 20 minutes.

The only bad thing is I lost my Pink Lemonade colony. It's currently got SOME tissue left but is dying quite rapidly.

 

[Reefstarter2]

I know this goes against the general rule of 1 point per day , but in extreme situations I have been advised to raise it to 7 all at once then slowly up from there