Kh of 9 while carbon dosing and sps

[swk]

I posted something in the sps forum but wanted see what y'all thought. My kh is rock steady at 9, but i vinegar dose and I've read that is higher than ideal.

My question is, should I attempt to lower a not so perfect parameter, or keep it stable?

No burnt tips but for some reason birdsnest don't do well in my water and I had a maricultured piece totally crap out on me. Frags I have are doing fine otherwise.

What would some of you more experienced sps keepers do?

Thanks!

 

[Dapg8gt]

I run my alk at 7.8 to 8 and honestly have a hard time going any higher. When I try to go higher I lose color on my sticks and start getting rtn on more sensitive species. Also birds nest is usually the first to show signs it's not happy in my Dt/frag tanks and is kinda my alert that something probably isn't right.

I've read it's due to low nutrients vs carbon dosing in general but Idk because I run my nitrate and phosphate above the normal "acceptable" range. Nitrate is usually at about 10 and p04 is anywhere from. 07 to. 11. I don't have any nuisance algae but have a massive snail arsenal so that may be why.

I carbon dose vinegar at about 45ml in my 105g daily with a Drews doser.

I shoot for no more than 8 dkh alk, 400-425 cal, and anywhere from 1300 - 1400 mag. I was running my alk even lower at about 7 when my nutrients were low and had no effect when I raised them fwiw.

That old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" may come into play but lowering alk is not going to do any damage or hinder the tank so why not give it a try for a few months and see if your tank does better. I along with a lot of others have explosive growth with lower alk so I wouldn't worry about that if that's your reason for not wanting to lower your numbers. I'm interested to hear some others who are sps dominant chime in with their methods and numbers.

What about your nitrate/p04?really low?

 

[swk]

I run my alk at 7.8 to 8 and honestly have a hard time going any higher. When I try to go higher I lose color on my sticks and start getting rtn on more sensitive species. Also birds nest is usually the first to show signs it's not happy in my Dt/frag tanks and is kinda my alert that something probably isn't right.

I've read it's due to low nutrients vs carbon dosing in general but Idk because I run my nitrate and phosphate above the normal "acceptable" range. Nitrate is usually at about 10 and p04 is anywhere from. 07 to. 11. I don't have any nuisance algae but have a massive snail arsenal so that may be why.

I carbon dose vinegar at about 45ml in my 105g daily with a Drews doser.

I shoot for no more than 8 dkh alk, 400-425 cal, and anywhere from 1300 - 1400 mag. I was running my alk even lower at about 7 when my nutrients were low and had no effect when I raised them fwiw.

That old adage "if it ain't broke don't fix it" may come into play but lowering alk is not going to do any damage or hinder the tank so why not give it a try for a few months and see if your tank does better. I along with a lot of others have explosive growth with lower alk so I wouldn't worry about that if that's your reason for not wanting to lower your numbers. I'm interested to hear some others who are sps dominant chime in with their methods and numbers.

What about your nitrate/p04?really low?

Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for.

Nitrate reads 1 on elos, but closer to 4 on Red Sea. P04 reads .02 on Red Sea and I have little interest in going any lower.

How about going about lowering? I just mixed up a batch of top off with less kalk that normal. Should this be ok, or can I be more aggressive and go with plain RO in my top off until I reach my desired alk?

Calcium is about 430, if that matters...

 

[lokii_37]

I run my Alk on the lower end too. About 7.5-8. I do also carbon dose.

I don't think I would say I get explosive growth but I do get good growth. My colors are a little pale. I don't know if it's all related but I guess that's all part of figuring out my system and tweeting it in.

 

[Dapg8gt]

Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for.

Nitrate reads 1 on elos, but closer to 4 on Red Sea. P04 reads .02 on Red Sea and I have little interest in going any lower.

How about going about lowering? I just mixed up a batch of top off with less kalk that normal. Should this be ok, or can I be more aggressive and go with plain RO in my top off until I reach my desired alk?

Calcium is about 430, if that matters...

Do you know what consumption in the tank is daily? My tank has about a 2+ dkh consumption rate in 24 hours so that wouldn't be good to do if your heavily stocked but if it's less than what your shooting for that shouldn't be an issue imo taking the kalk offline and letting it fall naturally. You might want to have some 2 part on hand for this endeavor lol just in case it goes too low and you need to bring it back up.

I think on the other hand you should be fine doing it the way you are doing it, slower will always be beneficial in my mind to the tank and over the years I've noticed sps are more sensitive to raising alk vs lowering it. When I actively try to raise my alk I notice things in the tank also notice =) when my dosers aren't keeping up and my alk drops it's not as noticeable to me or the corals as long as it's not extreme.

All just my opinion though on what I would do going slow and safe is always going to be the better route but me personally if my consumption was 1 dkh or less I would run straight di, have 2 part on hand (just in case or possibly spread the drop over a few days if it's on the larger end if I wasn't feeling lazy =) and test accordingly to reach my goal and replace the kalk at the level it was holding the tank @ previously and call it a day.

 

[swk]

I have plenty of 2part on hand. If I cut my kalk in half I'll be around 8.4 by midweek if I had to guess.

I'll take the kalk offline and just babysit with daily testing and 2 part additions as needed to moderate any glaring drops. Thanks for the help guys

Tank is lightly stocked IMO.

Now what to do with that bucket of coral pro that JUST shipped...

 

[Dapg8gt]

Thanks for the info. Exactly what I was looking for.

Nitrate reads 1 on elos, but closer to 4 on Red Sea. P04 reads .02 on Red Sea and I have little interest in going any lower.

How about going about lowering? I just mixed up a batch of top off with less kalk that normal. Should this be ok, or can I be more aggressive and go with plain RO in my top off until I reach my desired alk?

Calcium is about 430, if that matters...

Do you know what consumption in the tank is daily? My tank has about a 2+ dkh consumption rate in 24 hours so that wouldn't be good to do if your heavily stocked but if it's less than what your shooting for that shouldn't be an issue imo taking the kalk offline and letting it fall naturally. You might want to have some 2 part on hand for this endeavor lol just in case it goes too low and you need to bring it back up.

I think on the other hand you should be fine doing it the way you are doing it, slower will always be beneficial in my mind to the tank and over the years I've noticed sps are more sensitive to raising alk vs lowering it. When I actively try to raise my alk I notice things in the tank also notice =) when my dosers aren't keeping up and my alk drops it's not as noticeable to me or the corals as long as it's not extreme.

All just my opinion though on what I would do going slow and safe is always going to be the better route but me personally would run straight di, have 2 part on hand (just in case =) and test accordingly to reach my goal and replace the kalk at the level it was holding the tank @ previously and call it a day.

 

[Dragonvale]

Sorry for the late chime in and quick read on the thread. I'm taking it that the salt your using is at 9 for alk? If thats the case generally a majority of individual stay at what their salt is at due to water changes. If you wanted to increase your alk or any parameter and your using BRS dosing items just use their calculator. Tells you want you need to dose to get to what you want.