Peng Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm using apex and BRS 1.1mL/min dosing pump with a fixed rate of Seachem ReefBuilder input. But recently the pump increased it's dosing rate for some reason (the pump should be at a fixed rate of 1.1mL/min) and spiked my alk to 12.6. I did not check alk for a few days and here it is: many SPS died. What do you do to make sure your alk is stable? Do you check your alk every day? I've decided to log my alk everyday because there can be so many factors that can make the alk swing and every time it happens some corals die. The best prevention for all possible factors seems to be checking it every 24 hrs so any problem present can be caught early. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 interesting... Alkalinity is definitely something you want to keep stable with all other parameters and 12.6 is a bit high... but I have had my Alk hit 13 with no issues so I don't know what to say about the spike of alkalinity being something that would kill a bunch of SPS. Are you "Just" dosing Alkalinity? There is a balance between Alkalinity & Calcium ultimately hindering on Magnesium, do you check those parameters and what are they currently sitting at? If your going to be dosing anything I would strongly recommend a 2 Part system to help you maintain stability. Also the BRS 1.1mL pumps how are you positive it is producing more than 1.1mL per min? Have you tried dosing into a measuring cup to verify this? What method are you using to turn it on a timer or Apex? Is there a possibility the timer (If using that) was on longer than it was supposed to be? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandinga Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 (edited) Doser needs to be controlled by a controller. At the very least the controller should shut your doser off when/if the pH gets too high. Edited July 28, 2015 by Mandinga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peng Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 interesting... Alkalinity is definitely something you want to keep stable with all other parameters and 12.6 is a bit high... but I have had my Alk hit 13 with no issues so I don't know what to say about the spike of alkalinity being something that would kill a bunch of SPS. Are you "Just" dosing Alkalinity? There is a balance between Alkalinity & Calcium ultimately hindering on Magnesium, do you check those parameters and what are they currently sitting at? If your going to be dosing anything I would strongly recommend a 2 Part system to help you maintain stability. Also the BRS 1.1mL pumps how are you positive it is producing more than 1.1mL per min? Have you tried dosing into a measuring cup to verify this? What method are you using to turn it on a timer or Apex? Is there a possibility the timer (If using that) was on longer than it was supposed to be? I think apex worked just normally. But the doser for some reason is not stable at it's dosing rate which is the reason why alkalinity spiked. Also because I kept my led powered at 95%, I'm guessing high intensity with quick spike in alk was the reason many died. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peng Posted July 28, 2015 Author Share Posted July 28, 2015 Doser needs to be controlled by a controller. At the very least the controller should shut your doser off when/if the pH gets too high. The doser is controlled by Apex on which I programmed to make the dosing time constant everyday. Shutting it down when pH is high is unlikely a solution because pH in my tank fluctuates widely and even when alk jumped up to 12.6, the pH trend barely increased. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J-Dog Posted July 28, 2015 Share Posted July 28, 2015 I'm using apex and BRS 1.1mL/min dosing pump with a fixed rate of Seachem ReefBuilder input. But recently the pump increased it's dosing rate for some reason (the pump should be at a fixed rate of 1.1mL/min) and spiked my alk to 12.6. I did not check alk for a few days and here it is: many SPS died. What do you do to make sure your alk is stable? Do you check your alk every day? I've decided to log my alk everyday because there can be so many factors that can make the alk swing and every time it happens some corals die. The best prevention for all possible factors seems to be checking it every 24 hrs so any problem present can be caught early. These dosers aren't built to dose more than 1.1ml/min, so it sounds like user error to me. If they were bad, then your alk would have been high when u first started using them. Are you asking us a question in this thread? Most people keep alk stable by dosing or with a reactor. Sounds like all u want to know is if u should test your alk everyday......and that can only be answered yourself Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted July 29, 2015 Share Posted July 29, 2015 Yeah Im gonna say your 95% Increase on the LED's fried the SPS, in which case does not mean they are necessarily dead, You might just want to leave them in with a lower intensity and see if over time you can get them to color back up Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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