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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 9:29:28 GMT -5
I'm finding that my 125g is consuming about .5-.6 dkh a day. It was 8.2dkh a couple of days ago, 24 hours later it was 7.7dkh. I only have a small mat of gsp and three fish, 2 cleaner shrimp and a serpent star. Any idea why the alk draw is so much?
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Aug 21, 2014 9:34:34 GMT -5
Any coralline algae or other calcifying algae or organisms in there? Coralline algae can really soak up a ton of alk and calcium to grow. That would be my first guess if there's no corals or other inverts in the tank that could be using alk.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Aug 21, 2014 9:40:00 GMT -5
What are your cal & mag numbers? Are you testing at the same time of day? How much is the coraline growing?
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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 9:44:08 GMT -5
No coralline algae. Tank is only a little over a month old, is cycled and only has lights on for a few hours a day. Mag is around 1300, CA is 410 and ph is 8.2.
I do have some gfo running to keep the p04 down during the cycle, about a cup in a Phosban 150. That very well may be the cause.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Aug 21, 2014 9:55:52 GMT -5
No coralline algae. Tank is only a little over a month old, is cycled and only has lights on for a few hours a day. Mag is around 1300, CA is 410 and ph is 8.2. I do have some gfo running to keep the p04 down during the cycle, about a cup in a Phosban 150. That very well may be the cause. I think you nailed it. Gfo with definitely drop your dkh. I've noticed it normally will only do it for the first week or so though that new gfo is added. That's just fme. It's not that significant of a drop anyways so I think that's it. |
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Post by jasonandsarah on Aug 21, 2014 9:59:44 GMT -5
What are your cal & mag numbers? Are you testing at the same time of day? How much is the coraline growing? My parameters are usually pretty consistent except for alk as well. Alk-dkh I usually try to keep at 9dkh but it's dipped as low as 5.4dkh over the course of a month without water changes before. This was also when the tank was bare bottom though. Calcium is usually 380 or higher Mag is usually 1400-1480 I test everything at the same time every couple weeks now. some of the reason you may be having trouble with keeping your dkh at 9 would be cal only being 380. If I remember right with a dkh of 9 your cal should be about 420 but that's just off the top of my head. Are you still not dosing anything Ryan? You have allot of corals and if I remember right gorgs are notorious for sucking up dkh so your a different situation n because you have more things sucking up the dkh. Was the big dip recently? Like when you had that giant turbanaria?  |
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Post by gotareef on Aug 21, 2014 11:14:37 GMT -5
No coralline algae. Tank is only a little over a month old, is cycled and only has lights on for a few hours a day. Mag is around 1300, CA is 410 and ph is 8.2. I do have some gfo running to keep the p04 down during the cycle, about a cup in a Phosban 150. That very well may be the cause. are you using a new kit to test kh? the reason I ask is if your alk is off like your test kit shows I think it would effect the other parameters, ph,ca..... |
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Post by maineultraclassic on Aug 21, 2014 11:59:15 GMT -5
I think you nailed it. Gfo with definitely drop your dkh. I've noticed it normally will only do it for the first week or so though that new gfo is added. That's just fme. It's not that significant of a drop anyways so I think that's it. That's because gfo is normally saturated within a couple days and is useless beyond that point. |
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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 11:59:48 GMT -5
New salifert kit. Checked with the reference and my other tank and all is good.
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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 12:01:49 GMT -5
Ryan,
This is a little confusing trying to figure out responses to two people posting issues on the same thread. Shall I start a different thread to make things easier
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Aug 21, 2014 12:05:33 GMT -5
Sorry I wasn't trying to hyjack your thread, lol little misunderstanding, I didn't realize when I responded too quickly that it was Jason asking you what your water parameters were lol. I thought you were asking me haha!
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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 12:14:08 GMT -5
No need to apologize Ryan, not a big deal at all. However, I think Jason made the parameter request.
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Post by ryansweatt2004 on Aug 21, 2014 12:22:29 GMT -5
Yup he did, at first glance I thought it was you asking me because both your avatar images look very similar when scrolling through. Guess I just responded to fast without looking closely, I think Jason is probably right with his idea though.
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Post by jasonandsarah on Aug 21, 2014 12:34:27 GMT -5
No need to apologize Ryan, not a big deal at all. However, I think Jason made the parameter request. Yes I did I was asking syntax because Ryan's post wasn't there when I started typing. Takes me awhile to type simple things sometimes with 2 kids by my self. sorry for the confusion. |
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Post by Syntax on Aug 21, 2014 21:42:15 GMT -5
So, I checked it again this evening and it is holding at 7.7 dkh. I am running a little kalk in the ATO, maybe 1/4 tsp a gallon. I think when the ATO water needs to be refilled I'll do so with ro so I can get a true measurement of the alk consumption.
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