High Tide Aquatics

Very high alk consumption.. something wrong?

newfly

newfly

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I have a mature tank. Had a period of instability causing STN but I think it stabilized now. Lost a couple of acro colony.

did a massive water change 50% for 2 days, then 15% everyday for a week. My tank parameters is close to new water. Nothing major in the ICP test ( besides low trace) . Water change took care of that.

In the last few days, alk consumption increase by 0.2 dkh everyday. It’s scary. Here’s my parameters

Alk 8
Ca 460
Mag 1450

I’m now dosing 160ml soda ash + 1.5L saturated kalk for a 65g tank. That’s about 5dkh per day.

I read low mag can cause ca and alk bind together. It’s not the case here. I don’t see any precipitation .

Really hoping the corals is bouncing back. But the sudden increase in alk is worrisome.
 
Change any lighting settings? Increase water clarity (e.g. new activated carbon)?

Or maybe the heavy water changes removed something that was slowing coal growth.
 
Darkxerox said:
Change any lighting settings? Increase water clarity (e.g. new activated carbon)?

Or maybe the heavy water changes removed something that was slowing coal growth.
Click to expand...
Same lighting. I change carbon every month. Last change maybe 2 weeks ago.

Yeah I hope corals are really growing and not a prelude to another crash!
 
newfly said:
I have a mature tank. Had a period of instability causing STN but I think it stabilized now. Lost a couple of acro colony.

did a massive water change 50% for 2 days, then 15% everyday for a week. My tank parameters is close to new water. Nothing major in the ICP test ( besides low trace) . Water change took care of that.

In the last few days, alk consumption increase by 0.2 dkh everyday. It’s scary. Here’s my parameters

Alk 8
Ca 460
Mag 1450

I’m now dosing 160ml soda ash + 1.5L saturated kalk for a 65g tank. That’s about 5dkh per day.

I read low mag can cause ca and alk bind together. It’s not the case here. I don’t see any precipitation .

Really hoping the corals is bouncing back. But the sudden increase in alk is worrisome.
Click to expand...

I am unsure if low traces on the ICP test are considered unimportant. I assume you meant no heavy metals etc. Were the halogens low, i.e., ,Bromine, Flouride and/or Iodine?
 
Alexander1312 said:
I am unsure if low traces on the ICP test are considered unimportant. I assume you meant no heavy metals etc. Were the halogens low, i.e., ,Bromine, Flouride and/or Iodine?
Click to expand...
See attached.

There second page, everything is normal except for low zinc.
 

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A couple times in the past I’ve have my apparent alk consumption go up more than expected, and when I eventually look at the ends of the dosing tubes where the alk drips into the sump, I see a calcium carbonate shelf forming in the water. Caused by precipitation of some of the additive right as it drips in before it can be whisked away. I’ve moved things around to reduce that risk, but now it’s the first thing I check when alk consumption goes up more than expected.

It never caused any real problems, other than wasting additive and bruising my ego because I was thinking I was the MAN with awesome growth/consumption and it turned out I was just making an expensive stalagmite.
 
newfly said:
See attached.

There second page, everything is normal except for low zinc.
Click to expand...
Several of them are quite low, and your heavy water change will have most likely replenished them for now, enabling stronger growth if you have a good salt. I like the John’s theory though since Inhad something similar before. But if this is not the reason, you might have brought your tank back into balance until then traces are used up again.
 
JVU said:
A couple times in the past I’ve have my apparent alk consumption go up more than expected, and when I eventually look at the ends of the dosing tubes where the alk drips into the sump, I see a calcium carbonate shelf forming in the water. Caused by precipitation of some of the additive right as it drips in before it can be whisked away. I’ve moved things around to reduce that risk, but now it’s the first thing I check when alk consumption goes up more than expected.

It never caused any real problems, other than wasting additive and bruising my ego because I was thinking I was the MAN with awesome growth/consumption and it turned out I was just making an expensive stalagmite.
Click to expand...

As far as i remember, when i dose alk, i can see the alk become cloudy as soon at it touch the water, Since i have a powerhead right below the contact point, the cloud very quickly (split second) disappear.

Is this precipitation? If yes, what can i do to avoid it? I have a AOI and the dosing tube is at the middle pump chamber. As i mentioned above, i added a powerhead to ensure super high flow.
 
newfly said:
As far as i remember, when i dose alk, i can see the alk become cloudy as soon at it touch the water, Since i have a powerhead right below the contact point, the cloud very quickly (split second) disappear.

Is this precipitation? If yes, what can i do to avoid it? I have a AOI and the dosing tube is at the middle pump chamber. As i mentioned above, i added a powerhead to ensure super high flow.
Click to expand...
That is the correct way to dose it. Unless the alk is caking up on the sides of the sump. Your good.
 
Alexander1312 said:
Several of them are quite low, and your heavy water change will have most likely replenished them for now, enabling stronger growth if you have a good salt. I like the John’s theory though since Inhad something similar before. But if this is not the reason, you might have brought your tank back into balance until then traces are used up again.
Click to expand...
I am using TP A+ and K+ elements. I double the amount (100ml --> 200ml per gallon of alk/ca) . Hope that is sufficient to keep up with the usage. I am planning to do another ICP in a few months.
 
newfly said:
I have a mature tank. Had a period of instability causing STN but I think it stabilized now. Lost a couple of acro colony.

did a massive water change 50% for 2 days, then 15% everyday for a week. My tank parameters is close to new water. Nothing major in the ICP test ( besides low trace) . Water change took care of that.

In the last few days, alk consumption increase by 0.2 dkh everyday. It’s scary. Here’s my parameters

Alk 8
Ca 460
Mag 1450

I’m now dosing 160ml soda ash + 1.5L saturated kalk for a 65g tank. That’s about 5dkh per day.

I read low mag can cause ca and alk bind together. It’s not the case here. I don’t see any precipitation .

Really hoping the corals is bouncing back. But the sudden increase in alk is worrisome.
Click to expand...

This is a reoccurring theme the last two weeks.

You're not using it. Its going into precipitation. Your magnesium and calcium are a bit high (mainly MG)
 
How spread out is the dosing? Even though you have a powerhead in that chamber, if the return pump doesn't pump enough water out of that chamber and/or the dosing is too fast, then the water in that section of the AIO could be getting over saturated and possibly causing precipitation?

Maybe try dosing into the display in front of a powerhead and see if that changes your alk consumption?
 
dangalang said:
How spread out is the dosing? Even though you have a powerhead in that chamber, if the return pump doesn't pump enough water out of that chamber and/or the dosing is too fast, then the water in that section of the AIO could be getting over saturated and possibly causing precipitation?

Maybe try dosing into the display in front of a powerhead and see if that changes your alk consumption?
Click to expand...

Alk is every 2 hours - 14ml at the peak in the day, 8ml at night. Return pump is >600gph. I assumed this is more than enough. I also got a new toy arriving today - Hydros Minnow which comes with 2 dose head. I'm using Kamoer X1 now which limts to 12 dose/day. I think the Hydro Minnow should support >12 dose/day.
 
BAYMAC said:
This is a reoccurring theme the last two weeks.

You're not using it. Its going into precipitation. Your magnesium and calcium are a bit high (mainly MG)
Click to expand...

Yes, I am afraid its going into precipitation. I don't see any ca buildup . Besides dosing in smaller amount each time, and increase the frequency, what else can i do?

Yeah, Mg is a tad high. I will stop the dose for a few weeks and check. I'm only dosing 15ml a day.
 
BAYMAC said:
This is a reoccurring theme the last two weeks.

You're not using it. Its going into precipitation. Your magnesium and calcium are a bit high (mainly MG)
Click to expand...
I am pretty sure magnesium works to prevent precipitation of Ca and alkalinity by poisoning the surface of CaCO3 crystals as they form.
 
newfly said:
I am using TP A+ and K+ elements. I double the amount (100ml --> 200ml per gallon of alk/ca) . Hope that is sufficient to keep up with the usage. I am planning to do another ICP in a few months.
Click to expand...
Sorry if this is off topic - I am considering switching to A and K elements to save on a dose head. You just add the A to the alk component and the K to the Ca component is that correct?
 
derek_SR said:
Sorry if this is off topic - I am considering switching to A and K elements to save on a dose head. You just add the A to the alk component and the K to the Ca component is that correct?
Click to expand...
That’s correct. Like other trace elements, you have to guess how much to dose. TP gives recommendations ie 100ml / gallon for low, 160ml and 320 for med and high consumption. How the heck do i know what’s my trace consumption? Bear in mind, if you have lots of corals, you ended dosing a lot more alk and ca . Now you can control the trace concentration besides the volume .

I started with min 100ml to play safe. I don’t run ICP often. Maybe that’s my lesson learned.
 
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