View Full Version : could alk be why?
Timmo760
02/04/2010, 10:25 PM
since i have had my reef tank, a year ago, i haven't had real hard to keep corals. i have noticed that my birdsnest will grow like crazy but my frogspawn and now monti cap aren't growning much. when i first got my monti cap it was growing like crazy but slowed down the last couple of months. i have never dosed alk. just in the last couple of days i've been reading about it and trying to completely understand it.
i do understand that corals consume/use alk to help produce their skeletons along with calcium.
what i don't understand is lets say your pH is 8.4. you go to add your alk, is the dose enough to change the pH of the water?
so what i was asking in the first place, is the stunted growth of some of my corals due to that i'm not adding alk back into the tank?
thanks in advance
tim
Fishamatank
02/04/2010, 10:28 PM
It's possible.
It depends what you use to raise alk if it will affect your ph. Generally a tank with low alk will not maintain pH very well.
Before you dose anything you need to test.
bhammer
02/04/2010, 10:38 PM
That is probably the reason for the slower growth if your salt mix does not contain enough calc and alk to meet demand. The PH raise will depend on if you use klakwasser or 2 part. There are two types of the 2 part, one that will raise ph and another that does not.
Are you sure your ph is at 8.4? Some folks have a hard time keeping it that high without some form of dosing.
As said, you need to test you calc and alk to get a good number. Then you need to dose some 2 part to bring it in a good rage, like 400 & 10dKH. Also, it is good to check your magnesium and shoot for 1300 or so. Once you get your target numbers, do not dose for a week and take another reading and see what your demand is. You can use a couple of the dosing claculators around to determine how much you will need to dose to maintain.
Head over to the reef chem forum as there is lots of help there too.
Timmo760
02/04/2010, 11:18 PM
thanks bhammer. my pH is actually pretty stable at 8.4- 8.2 and my calcium is consistantly at 400. i have no clue what my mag and alk are tho. i need to get those tests. thanks for the guidence.
Timmo760
02/04/2010, 11:20 PM
so what 2 parts are there? which ones raise pH and which ones don't? what about baking soda?
Peter Eichler
02/05/2010, 03:25 AM
so what 2 parts are there? which ones raise pH and which ones don't? what about baking soda?
Read this...
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php
and this...
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2002/chemistry.htm
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