Help please, does or not to.

[JJsReeftank28gn]

I have a 28g nano with a good amount of corals and led lights with great flow. My big issue is that i raised my alk to 14 dkh with nano part a and b. I have done a water change of 3g and it now is at 11dkh , ph is 8.0 and calcium went up from 440 to 460 and i used instant ocean and di water. My question is when iterated the water before the change it was 11dkh , is that normal for your water that you are mixing to be that high? I also would like to know what is a good range to keep my dkh at ? My ph is stable and my calcium was holding at 440. I have noticed since i have dropped the alk , there is a big build up of brown algae on the glass of the tank to the point you can't see a clear spot . I clean the glass every day. I do a 3 g water change once every week and a half. I have quit dosing. I still feed my corals with mysis and brine. once a week i add fuel to the tank. What are some thoughts on what i can do to get my tank back to where it needs to be ?

[Ryan Darilek]

Well I think you're doing the right thing by not continuing to dose. It appears that you have mostly softies and LPS, which shouldn't require dosing... Just regular water changes (I have a 32g and do 5 gallons a week) and feeding along with adequate lighting. How were your corals doing prior to you dosing the tank? If they weren't doing well, it's likely there's another issue going on.

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[bertoni]

The recommended range for dKH is 7-11, although some tanks that get carbon dosing seem to do better at the low end of the range. Your tank should be fine. Are the animals having problems, or are you worried about the levels?

This article covers the water parameters in detail:

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.htm

[JJsReeftank28gn]

To be honest they were not opening all the way and i have been adjusting the leds and the hight that they were at . I feel i have that taken care of and my tank is know is a mixed reef tank , i can't get the newest pictures to load up. That is why i started to does. I have stopped and my levels have dropped and i tested yesterday dkh is 11 but i am carbon dosing. I have noticed know that i lower my leds to 60 on the blues and 50 on the whites and moved the light to 12 in above the tank , and stopped dosing it is doing much better. My question then is will the cup and the capora be fine or will i need to dose at some point to keep them happy?

[Ryan Darilek]

I think the lighting was the issue if you had them turned all the way up. You might want to even turn them down a little bit more if they aren't fully opening and then slowly take it back up to where they are now. I run carbon 24/7 as well, and that won't cause you any issues. Sounds like you're on the right track!

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[bertoni]

Most likely, the tank will need some alkalinity and calcium dosing at some point, or at least alkalinity, but tanks vary so much I don't want to try to make a firm prediction. You could check the alkalinity every week or so for a while to see what's happening. Testing every couple of days for a bit might be safer, but weekly should do.

[Bpb]

For a normal tank, without a bunch of sps, and without ultra low nutrients, your alkalinity is fine at 11. It's at the upper range of comfortable but it's fine left there. If you start getting sps corals and running a super clean tank you will want to lower it substantially. Down to 6-8 dkh or so at absolute most


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