Vacation dosing

[Arvin R]

Oh really?? I thought alk was one of those things that "anywhere from 7-12" and just keep it steady would work. Heck, Coral Pro salt mixes to 12dKH according to Red Sea's own website

Most consider 10-12 dkh elevated alk. It can work and give accelerated growth but everything in the system needs to be fine tuned (high pH, high PAR, high flow and trace elements need to be maintained) and you need to keep a very close eye as above 12 and you are quickly in the danger zone of killing a lot of things in the tank.

Slow is steady and steady is key. Walk before you run and take things slow in this hobby. Nothing good happens fast. Only bad things happen fast, then it takes a long time to correct and get the tank back on track.

Just because a product comes from a manufacturer at elevated alk does not mean that is a good level to run at. Even if it's called "coral pro"

 

[tribbitt]

My suggestion is to keep dosing alk daily and let your ca and mg ride for a week and test daily at the same time each day to see if your tank really is consuming those like you think.

I won't be at the frag swap unfortunately as I'll be flying out to Pheonix for a coral show.

Most consider 10-12 dkh elevated alk. It can work and give accelerated growth but everything in the system needs to be fine tuned (high pH, high PAR, high flow and trace elements need to be maintained) and you need to keep a very close eye as above 12 and you are quickly in the danger zone of killing a lot of things in the tank.

Good to know. I will test Ca and then stop dosing for a week to see how much it drops. I do not actively dose Mg, I just correct it whenever I test.
Alk, good to know. I didn't want to go past 10 because that felt like flying too close to the sun.

I live in San Jose, which is pretty far from Castro Valley so I don't think I can come by to pick up the doser. Unless you have any other ideas, I think I will need to buy the pump. Thank you for the offer though

 

[Coral reefer]

They don’t make salt at those levels because that’s where you should run a tank. They make them like that to replenish via water change.

 

[MichaelB]

Good to know. I will test Ca and then stop dosing for a week to see how much it drops. I do not actively dose Mg, I just correct it whenever I test.
Alk, good to know. I didn't want to go past 10 because that felt like flying too close to the sun.

I live in San Jose, which is pretty far from Castro Valley so I don't think I can come by to pick up the doser. Unless you have any other ideas, I think I will need to buy the pump. Thank you for the offer though

I posted a picture of a doser I have on your other post if you haven't seen it yet, I honestly know crap about it, if it's wifi or not, or how good it is.

 

[tribbitt]

Dosing elements in daily and them staying steady My suggestion is to keep dosing alk daily and let your ca and mg ride for a week and test daily at the same time each day to see if your tank really is consuming those like you think.

I just realized I did do something similar. Remember how my calcium is 500? That’s because it came down from 570. I did some bad math, and dosed for a week, and it went to 570.

With no calcium dosing (still dosed alk) it went from 570 to 500 in one week. No idea how much of that was precipitate, but I see no precipitate on the heaters That doesn’t mean it was taken by corals.

And yes I know it’s bad that I messed up like this. I have it much more dialed in now. I’m lucky I didn’t screw up with alk

 

[Bruce Spiegelman]

My impressions. I have run elevated levels of Alk before looking for accelerated growth and I have seen it work. More often than not though I have seen it fail. Normally it's done by experienced reefers with very large tanks. There are issues that arise from it though as well and you need a tank tat's incredibly stable in all other ways. In a 20 gallon new tank I think you are, as you say, "flying to close to the sun."

 

[tribbitt]

My impressions. I have run elevated levels of Alk before looking for accelerated growth and I have seen it work. More often than not though I have seen it fail. Normally it's done by experienced reefers with very large tanks. There are issues that arise from it though as well and you need a tank tat's incredibly stable in all other ways. In a 20 gallon new tank I think you are, as you say, "flying to close to the sun."

I see. I’ll consider dropping alk slowly over time to 9.xx. I was originally aiming for 9.8-10.2.

 

[Coral reefer]

I see. I’ll consider dropping alk slowly over time to 9.xx. I was originally aiming for 9.8-10.2.

The ocean is in the 7’s. It’s possible we could create a “better” environment for corals that evolved to live in the ocean, it I kinda doubt it.
Why elevate those things? Growth rate? Are you running a race? Keep them healthy and happy and they will grow and have good color. That’s always been my goal. Keep them alive first and foremost.

 

[BAYMAC]

I’m still a little confused about this whole premise. I have a couple small acro frags, a couple large acro frags, and a mini colony. I’ve got a monti digitata and a monti plate. These uptake calcium and alkalinity no? In a 20 gallon system.


As for this, I recognize that there are multiple ways of reefing. I don’t think drastically changing my style of reefing will improve coral health, especially when my tank is new and is tentatively doing well for me

This isn't about style.

This is science.

Your levels guarantee you have precipitation of alk and calcium.

I'm not making this up, its a fact.

 

[tribbitt]

This isn't about style.

This is science.

Your levels guarantee you have precipitation of alk and calcium.

I'm not making this up, its a fact.

Magnesium works to prevent precipitation by poisoning the surface of a calcium carbonate crystal, preventing further growth of the crystal. And I see no precipitation on my heaters after all this time, despite that being the place most of it would be. The sandbed is still soft, the glass not misted, and equipment not coated.

I'm not saying it doesn't precipitate, nor am I saying it's an irrelevant amount. I just see no cloudiness, no precipitation on equipment, and the corals grow. Changes are bad, and so I want to make few changes. Like I mentioned, I'm okay with slowly letting alk float down towards 9.xx.

 

[derek_SR]

My impressions. I have run elevated levels of Alk before looking for accelerated growth and I have seen it work. More often than not though I have seen it fail. Normally it's done by experienced reefers with very large tanks. There are issues that arise from it though as well and you need a tank tat's incredibly stable in all other ways. In a 20 gallon new tank I think you are, as you say, "flying to close to the sun."

The ocean is in the 7’s. It’s possible we could create a “better” environment for corals that evolved to live in the ocean, it I kinda doubt it.
Why elevate those things? Growth rate? Are you running a race? Keep them healthy and happy and they will grow and have good color. That’s always been my goal. Keep them alive first and foremost.

Listen to these guys, this is sound advice IMO