I've been on a kick to religiously track my tank params since october or so (both tanks have been running for almost 4 years), after about about a year of habitual maintenance (daily/every other day feedings of mysis, pellets, cyclopeeze, brightwell vitamins and hufa, 10% monthly WC, haphazard measurement and vinegar dosing).
I began measuring weekly in December - I have two tanks - (Tank A) is downstairs, and is 140g display + 30g display + 40g sump. (Tank B) is upstairs, and is 30g with a 15g sump. Both use protein skimmers and a refugium (proportionally sized, AquaC Remora for tank B, reef octopus w/ 2 2k pumps for tank A, with weekly dumps of nasty skimmate).
Tank A is mostly softies (lettuce leather, bright green leather, brown/green/orange/purple mushrooms, GSP, colt, anthelia) with some hard corals (tiny candy cane, 1 square foot galaxea, small montipora colonies), a couple large BTA's, a couple tube anemones. It also has lots of fish - tangs, a rabbitfish, puffer, trigger, clowns, gobies, blennies, etc.
Tank B is all hard corals, several large Montipora colonies (spongodes, capricornis, digitata, mollis), a couple medium acros, a bunch of acro frags, duncans, candy cane, brain coral, and a ~4-5 inch cocea clam, clownfish, purple dottyback, coral beauty.
Up until December I treated both tanks the same - auto top off with 50% kalk + vinegar (scaled to the tank - my measurements were by sight, about 1/2 liter vingegar and 10 gal rodi per 2 weeks for Tank A, and 1/4 liter vinegar and 5 gal rodi per 2 weeks for Tank B) , monthly 10% WC w/ IO salt, haphazard measurements. I was consistent w/ temp and salinity (calibrated refractometer) - ~80 temp, 1.025 salinity. Everything else was measured whenever.
In December I corrected both tanks to 1350mg, 420ca, 9dkh (both were very deficient in mag (~1100), ~380 calc and ~8dkh.
Since then, both tanks have behaved almost the same:
Tank A:
-modest MG usage ( something like 10ppm per week)
-modest CA usage (something like 5ppm per week)
-aggressive ALK usage (something like 1.5dkh per week)
Tank B:
-modest MG usage (something like 20ppm/week)
-modest CA usage (20ppm/week)
-aggressive ALK usage (something like 3 dkh per week)
I measure every Sunday - my routine is measure, then dose two part to get in spec (1350mg, 420ca, 9dkh). For tank B I dose full strength kalk (3.5 tablespoons per 5 gallons top-off) and for tank B I dose 1/2 strength kalk (3.5 tablespoons per 10 gallons top-off), plus the required two part after a WC to get in the ball park.
Both tanks vary between 7.9ph (night) and 8.2ph (day) using a calibrated Ph Probe.
I use the stated amount of kalk per tank with an auto topoff. Coral growth in both tanks has always been OK, more aggressive as I supplement. Since I started measuring/correcting weekly in December, growth has been faster than ever! I discontinued vinegar dosing in December when I started measuring more regularly.
Both tanks measure near zero nitrate, I've been fighting Phos with Phosguard - tank A is measuring .36 with the max dose on the bottle of phosguard, and tank B has been measuring .04 with half the max dose on the phosguard bottle. I've been dosing that way for three months. I'm using non-expired salifert tests for alk, ca, mag, phos, nitrate, and a calibrated refractometer for salinity.
So, I've probably bored you all by now, but my question is pretty much this: I use WAY more ALK than CALC. I understand kalkwasser to be a 'balanced' supplement, but I keep needing to add alk. Is this normal? Why are my reefs consuming alk at a significantly higher rate than the other elements? I know Randy Holmes-Farley has cited alk uptake as a component of nitrification, but does that account for what I see? Am I in a phase that will correct itself?
Measurements for both tanks are 1.025 salinity, 420 ca, 1350 mag, 9 dkh alk, 81 degrees, (.04 Phos for tank B, .36 tank A), and near zero nitrate in both (tank B is always zero, tank B from zero to .25). Both tanks need ALK way more that ca and mag. With the stated kalk dosages, I almost never dose ca, I sometime need mag (duh), but I always need lots of alk supplementation. Typically, ca will never be less than 10ppm than 420, mag never less than 50ppm from target, but I am always about 1 dkh less than 9 before I supplement.
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I began measuring weekly in December - I have two tanks - (Tank A) is downstairs, and is 140g display + 30g display + 40g sump. (Tank B) is upstairs, and is 30g with a 15g sump. Both use protein skimmers and a refugium (proportionally sized, AquaC Remora for tank B, reef octopus w/ 2 2k pumps for tank A, with weekly dumps of nasty skimmate).
Tank A is mostly softies (lettuce leather, bright green leather, brown/green/orange/purple mushrooms, GSP, colt, anthelia) with some hard corals (tiny candy cane, 1 square foot galaxea, small montipora colonies), a couple large BTA's, a couple tube anemones. It also has lots of fish - tangs, a rabbitfish, puffer, trigger, clowns, gobies, blennies, etc.
Tank B is all hard corals, several large Montipora colonies (spongodes, capricornis, digitata, mollis), a couple medium acros, a bunch of acro frags, duncans, candy cane, brain coral, and a ~4-5 inch cocea clam, clownfish, purple dottyback, coral beauty.
Up until December I treated both tanks the same - auto top off with 50% kalk + vinegar (scaled to the tank - my measurements were by sight, about 1/2 liter vingegar and 10 gal rodi per 2 weeks for Tank A, and 1/4 liter vinegar and 5 gal rodi per 2 weeks for Tank B) , monthly 10% WC w/ IO salt, haphazard measurements. I was consistent w/ temp and salinity (calibrated refractometer) - ~80 temp, 1.025 salinity. Everything else was measured whenever.
In December I corrected both tanks to 1350mg, 420ca, 9dkh (both were very deficient in mag (~1100), ~380 calc and ~8dkh.
Since then, both tanks have behaved almost the same:
Tank A:
-modest MG usage ( something like 10ppm per week)
-modest CA usage (something like 5ppm per week)
-aggressive ALK usage (something like 1.5dkh per week)
Tank B:
-modest MG usage (something like 20ppm/week)
-modest CA usage (20ppm/week)
-aggressive ALK usage (something like 3 dkh per week)
I measure every Sunday - my routine is measure, then dose two part to get in spec (1350mg, 420ca, 9dkh). For tank B I dose full strength kalk (3.5 tablespoons per 5 gallons top-off) and for tank B I dose 1/2 strength kalk (3.5 tablespoons per 10 gallons top-off), plus the required two part after a WC to get in the ball park.
Both tanks vary between 7.9ph (night) and 8.2ph (day) using a calibrated Ph Probe.
I use the stated amount of kalk per tank with an auto topoff. Coral growth in both tanks has always been OK, more aggressive as I supplement. Since I started measuring/correcting weekly in December, growth has been faster than ever! I discontinued vinegar dosing in December when I started measuring more regularly.
Both tanks measure near zero nitrate, I've been fighting Phos with Phosguard - tank A is measuring .36 with the max dose on the bottle of phosguard, and tank B has been measuring .04 with half the max dose on the phosguard bottle. I've been dosing that way for three months. I'm using non-expired salifert tests for alk, ca, mag, phos, nitrate, and a calibrated refractometer for salinity.
So, I've probably bored you all by now, but my question is pretty much this: I use WAY more ALK than CALC. I understand kalkwasser to be a 'balanced' supplement, but I keep needing to add alk. Is this normal? Why are my reefs consuming alk at a significantly higher rate than the other elements? I know Randy Holmes-Farley has cited alk uptake as a component of nitrification, but does that account for what I see? Am I in a phase that will correct itself?
Measurements for both tanks are 1.025 salinity, 420 ca, 1350 mag, 9 dkh alk, 81 degrees, (.04 Phos for tank B, .36 tank A), and near zero nitrate in both (tank B is always zero, tank B from zero to .25). Both tanks need ALK way more that ca and mag. With the stated kalk dosages, I almost never dose ca, I sometime need mag (duh), but I always need lots of alk supplementation. Typically, ca will never be less than 10ppm than 420, mag never less than 50ppm from target, but I am always about 1 dkh less than 9 before I supplement.
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