Levels fluctuating

[Myka]

Originally Posted by iceman86

I've been testing alk every night at the same time. When it doesn't get consumed, I unplug the alk and calcium hoses from the doser because i dont want it to get out of balance until the next night or the night after until it drops back to 8. The calcium probably does fluctuate, but it would only be 4ppm so it's kind of hard to measure that on a daily basis.

Ok, then it sounds like you need to adjust your doser a bit lower. Which products are you using for dosing?

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by Cujo#31

I am by far and away no expert, however I have run a 500 gallon system and if that has taught me anything it's that huge volume system perams are a lot like stopping a fully loaded freighter.........it's a long and painful process. If I were a gambling man I would hedge my bets on testing. I would also stash the salifert kits for back up testing Alk and PO4 and run Hanna. I keep test kits of each on hand just in case as a back up test to check reagent and the likes if I get odd readings, but unless you have a veritable forest of SPS your perams should not swing that badly. Calcium and Mag won't swing too terribly far unless you have the forest of SPS either.
That and you would benefit immensely from a reactor with a system that big. Good luck

You make a very good point about the freightliner lol. I pulled out my hanna alk kit and it happened to have a little reagent left so i tested it against my salifert and it gave me the exact reading.

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by Myka

Ok, then it sounds like you need to adjust your doser a bit lower. Which products are you using for dosing?

I'm using baking soda for alk, aquaforest calcium and magnesium. I'm also dosing their trace elements but that's shouldn't have any impact on this issue. I could adjust it to be a bit lower, but shouldn't the tank still consume alk daily?

I think this problem started about a month ago when I switched my lighting system from all t5 to half t5 half led.I understand corals take time to adjust but some days consuming elements and others not just seems strange.

[iceman86]

::::UPDATE:::::

this morning I added 10 tsp of calcium chloride anhydrous to bump up my calcium (thinking maybe the calcium kit being older was giving me a bad reading). That should have brought my calcium to 435ppm.

Actual results tonight
Alk 9 (up 1 dkh without adding any)
Cal 470 way higher than I dosed
Mag 1430 (up 110ppm and i didn't dose any)

[tang daddy]

While ca is not bad to bump up quickly, I think long term you gotta figure out what your tank consumes weekly then adjust accordingly. I admit when I was setting up my doser Param's bounced quite abit as ca was low and same as mg,
But once my alk stabilized I've been testing weekly and it's rock solid for months.

I had lots of po4 built up in my tank which slowed the growth of sps and coraline, this played a big impact on how much of the big 3 gets consumed especially alk. Our tanks is a constant adjustment, this is what makes it fun. If there was nothing to tinker with one could get bored....

If you're testing a lot you must be going through test kits. Like Gary said if you can afford to or see one come up Fs in your area get the Hanna for phosporous and alk, I find them to be a lot more accurate.

Do you use a measuring cup or digital scale to measure the bulk Chems?

[iceman86]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

While ca is not bad to bump up quickly, I think long term you gotta figure out what your tank consumes weekly then adjust accordingly. I admit when I was setting up my doser Param's bounced quite abit as ca was low and same as mg,
But once my alk stabilized I've been testing weekly and it's rock solid for months.

I had lots of po4 built up in my tank which slowed the growth of sps and coraline, this played a big impact on how much of the big 3 gets consumed especially alk. Our tanks is a constant adjustment, this is what makes it fun. If there was nothing to tinker with one could get bored....

If you're testing a lot you must be going through test kits. Like Gary said if you can afford to or see one come up Fs in your area get the Hanna for phosporous and alk, I find them to be a lot more accurate.

Do you use a measuring cup or digital scale to measure the bulk Chems?

I actually have all the hanna testers. Alk cal 2 different phosphate testers but i just find the salifert a little quicker to use but hanna is probably a lot more accurate.
I make all the different chems using a a digital scale.

I'm looking into a calcium reactor, that might make this a lit easier to balance out. Probably doesn't help that my doser is a Jebao that gets jammed up every couple months.

Thanks everyone for all the help

[dino]

You should use Sodium bicarbonate for alk

[tang daddy]

Originally Posted by iceman86

I actually have all the hanna testers. Alk cal 2 different phosphate testers but i just find the salifert a little quicker to use but hanna is probably a lot more accurate.
I make all the different chems using a a digital scale.

I'm looking into a calcium reactor, that might make this a lit easier to balance out. Probably doesn't help that my doser is a Jebao that gets jammed up every couple months.

Thanks everyone for all the help

I am using a jebao aswell and it never jams up on me, although I make my own mixing measurements and not off the brs website. Roughly 8 tbsp sodium bicarbonate to 2.5 liters of water.

Originally Posted by dino

You should use Sodium bicarbonate for alk

Sodium bicarbonate is awesome to use as alittle amount can bump your alk up, only downside is ph rises quickly too!

[TimT]

I doubt it's a test kit issue if your using quality kits. Titration method testing is more accurate for Ca, Alk and Mag then the digital colorimeter tests. Info direct from Lamotte technical support.

My suspicion is it could be related to carbon dioxide levels in the house and consequently in the tank. How does your pH fluctuate during a day? Monitor it over a week long period, say every 3 or 4 hours. There may be a correlation between co2 levels in the tank(lower pH) and the alk issue. ie High co2 would cause the alk to be depleted in the tank.

Cheers,
Tim

[dcw1sfu]

Originally Posted by tang daddy

Sodium bicarbonate is awesome to use as alittle amount can bump your alk up, only downside is ph rises quickly too!

Sodium Carbonate is what has a significant effect on PH sodium bicarbonate has little effect on PH.

I prefer to use sodium carbonate (soda ash) as I suffer from low PH.