Alkalinity Question
 

Alright, Question time about alkalinity. This past summer my alkalinity, held in the 7-9 range with very minimal dosing. In the last few months it drops extremely fast. It will be in range and a in a couple weeks it will be down into the 5's. I raise it again and same thing.. I only test every couple of weeks, since all my other parameters hold so well. What causes it to drop so fast??

Whats your coral load like? Have any coralline growing? Coralline will suck up alkalinity like there is no tomorrow.

Very interesting! I probably have 20+ different coral in my 65 gal, SPS, LPS and softies. All of my rock is covered in coralline as well. I was not aware that the coral and coralline suck it up that fast, I'll keep an closer eye on it.

You can use as much as 2 DKH daily. With that coral load, I would consider testing daily for a bit.

Yep. Time to start dosing, my friend.

You will want to test for calcium too.

bingo.....there you go....waiting till your dkh is 5 then boosting way up is a recipe for disaster....you want to keep your parameters steady ESPECIALLY alkalinity

I agree. 2-3 dKH per day is fairly common. My soft coral tanks went through that much a day due to coralline growth.

Very interesting, knowing that info above I'll test every couple days again to keep an eye on it. My calcium doesnt fluctuate like the alkalinity and I very rarely have to dose calcium.

All other parameters seem to hold very steady, so I only tested every couple of weeks until the last few months.. Guess its time to start testing more frequently.

You'll probably have to dose daily to get you levels up. Also don't raise your dkh more than 1 dkh daily. bigger fluctuations can be dangerous. Also keep an eye on you ph as this will fluctuate with your alkalinity. Good luck.