Got me an Alkalinity question!

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by untamed

Typically, this is just normal usage of Ca/Alk. This is visible in dropping Alk due to the abundance of available Ca in general. The solution is to increase the Ca AND Alk additives to keep up with demand.

My calc remains fairly stable since I do frequent, moderate sized water changes and I've never found I've had to dose for Calc. If I get the tank to the levels I want, can I start dosing something like kalk to keep them steady or will I find that calc will build up with respect to my alk levels? I do have a bucket of Kalk that someone gave to me that I have been wanton to try but totally sure how to begin (I know the procedure, just unsure how it would affect the tank).

Originally Posted by Reefer Rob

As long a it's a constant alk depletion rather than random swings cause by a precipitation event or something else weird you're good to go. SPS tanks always seem to use more alk than ca. Randy explains this in one of his articles, but I forget the reason

Thanks Rob! I'll look for that article/quote and post it up. I have't observed any major precipitation events so it's probably just uptake causing the drop in levels. I was just baffled that the alk would drop so fast compared to the calc.