Alkalinity fluctuations

[Trailermann]

30 gallon nano with fish, lps, softies, and a few sps.  Established for a year and now lots of coralline algae.  I have recently started to dose with two parts.  

 

but my dKh is shifting between 7.7 and 10.5, sometime more than a whole point in a day.  Should I be concerned?  

 

I have a calcium reactor on order.  This should help tremendously, right?

[Lovesalt]

What's your magnesium? That will help with fluctuations.

 

 

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[Trailermann]

Mg at 1050 to 1150  I have been adding magnesium but cannot get the level further up.

 

Maybe I should bump it up heavier to raise up to 1350.

[youcallmenny]

Mag gets exponentially harder to raise the higher it is. It can take quite a but. I try to keep mine at 1440.

[Gil&Fin]

Mg at 1050 to 1150  I have been adding magnesium but cannot get the level further up.

 

Maybe I should bump it up heavier to raise up to 1350.

 

I have to agree that it takes a lot of dosing to raise magnesium.  Bulk Reef Supply has a calculator on their site to figure out how much you need to add to reach your desired level.  Here's a link.  http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/reef-calculator/ The downside is that it only works for certain types of supplements.  Other brands usually give you a formula to use, too.  I remember being shocked at how much Brightwell I needed to add to bump my mg to where I wanted it.

 

To your original question, I would say that a fluctuation from 7.7 to 10.5 in a day is huge.  I'm not sure your low mg could account for that kind of swing.  Maybe think about testing each water sample with two different test kits for at least a few days to make sure your readings are accurate.  Also, I know others may disagree, but I would say that keeping alkalinity levels stable is more importing than getting to the exact number you want to reach--so I think you're doing the right thing in pursuing that first.

 

Lastly, my calcium reactor was a bear to get dialed in--mostly because of my inexperience in using them.  Now that I have it dialed in, it's heaven.  That said, my tank is on the large side.  I think most people with a nano just dose, or even just do regular water changes, to keep their levels in check.  You might find the bang isn't worth the buck with the calcium reactor. 

 

I really do think that you are doing the right things--testing, working on getting things stabilized, and reaching out here to get others' thoughts.  Keep at it!

[danlu_gt]

Here's an online reef calculator I use. It have many different types of additives to choose from.

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

 

For Mg, I use half Epson Salt (magnesium sulfate) and half MgCl. If in a pinch and out of MgCl, it's ok to use just Epson Salt. Dissolve in RO water. It'll take some mixing to get it all to dissolve.

 

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Edited December 11, 2016 by danlu_gt

[danlu_gt]

For ALK, mine tend to stabilize around 8.5dkh with kalk ATO. Bumping up too quickly will burn your sps. If your nitrate and phosphate are low to zero, better to keep it closer to 8 range vs 10.

 

Some interesting reading:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2016/9/aafeature

 

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