Ongoing dKh problems, 20 gallon Nuvo

[phaedraeos]

Hey Everyone,

I bought my Nuvo Fusion fully stocked in March of this year. Since I bought it, I haven't been able to consistently keep my dHh over 5.0 (I know.) My Ca is also on the low end, and Mg is adequate. I'll update with specific numbers tomorrow; just did a water change tonight. I'll also throw in some pics

Here are the details:

Tank: 20 gallon Nuvo Fusion
- Running a Ghost skimmer
- Using IM filter media in the two HOB filters
- Running two Kessil A80 lights
- Tunze ATO

Livestock
- One oscellaris clown
- One Pajama cardinal
- One sapphire damsel
- One watchman goby
- One pistol shrimp
- One fire shrimp

- Huge birdsnest SPS (doing great)
- Two other smaller SPS frags
- Very large leather
- Multiple zoas, mushrooms, other softies

Maintenance:
- 3-4 gallon water change q7-10 days. LFS water, used to be RPM, but has recently been Kent. RPM wasn't holding alkilinity, so at first I thought that was my problem. Clearly there's something else going on. The water is never over 4-5 weeks sitting in a bucket, max. The Kent holds its alk well during that time.
- 2 part dosing with Reef Code A & B, always dosed 10 minutes apart minimum. I dose with each water change and I've tried dosing daily to very little avail

I've bought new Reef Code, new test kits, taken my water to the LFS . . . No one has any idea why I can't get and keep my alk up. I can get it to 6.5 right after a water change, but it invariably drops within a few days, despite dosing. I'm not a novice reef keeper, and I'm close to my wit's end. I'm going to try switching to Seachem's 2 part dosing to see if that helps, and my LFS also suggested a complete water change using some of their cycled water. Any other thoughts?

Edit: Also going to cross-post in the Reef Chemistry thread.

 

[Danny_15]

Im an intermediate reefer so take my advice lightly but give it time, the RPM salt isnt really that good. As soon as i switched from reef crystals to RPM my tank had all sorts of algae. I now switched back to reef crystals and i see the change. The reason i switched to RPM was cause sometimes the salt from instant ocean wouldnt disolve. But i rather deal with that problem then with RPM. A different salt other then RPM will give you better alkalinity and other stuff.

And on dosing 2 parts, if your calcium is higher then your alkalinity id say only does the alkalinty one for a few days or dose a bit of calcium with a lot of akalinity. Be careful and dose slowly cause im not sure which one or both mess with the ph if done fast. Give it time it will go up eventually. Best of luck

 

[Crypsis]

Have you tried making your own two part? This has always worked for me.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[SRQreef3r]

Have you tried making your own two part? This has always worked for me.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

Great information, I would suggest you start dosing if your alk is consistently low