Hey everyone, I have a loaded question with a few moving parts that I was hoping someone could give me an advice or clarity to what the heck is going on in my tank!
I have a standard 125 with a Ruby 36 sump for a total of a 130g (roughly) total system volume. It's been running for about a year, but half of the rock has been in water for over 2 years. The tank is lightly stocked with only a handful of corals with minimal Cal/Alk demand. I am running Kalk in hopes to raise ph and a refugium on a reverse light cycle.
My alkalinity seems to be depleting rather quickly for the amount (or lack there of) of coral with Cal/Alk demand. I tested on Tuesday night with a Hanna checker and got a 7.9 reading. I dosed 90ml of alkalinity to bring it to 8.5 based on the BRS calculator. I again tested Wednesday night around the same time for a reading of 7.6. It went down?! Checked yet again Thursday night for a reading of 6.9 and dosed the 90ml again (not trying to raise the Alk any more than 1dkh in on dose). Hanna checker has new batteries and reagent was just purchased and doesn't expire until 2025/2026.
I noticed my sand binding together a few weeks ago but have since gotten my hands in there and went around the entire tank to break up the chunks. I have also had a decent amount of coralline growth (lots of small spots starting). Clean up crew is rather minimal with only about 15 snails, maybe 6 or 8 crabs and one peppermint shrimp for aptasia control.
Also, I tried switching to All For Reef thinking that my BRS alk mix may be bad or something, but my mag and cal has gone up but alk still low.
Rock structure is NSA if the bonding between rocks(low viscosity super glue and sand) may effect anything. (Pic below in comments)
As of yesterday
Cal: 510
Mag: 1320
Alk: 6.9
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 77-78
Does anyone have a clue as to why my tank would be consuming so much alkalinity with such minimal demand? I'm at a loss..
Feel free to ask away if I have missed anything.
Thanks for any and all help/advice!
I have a standard 125 with a Ruby 36 sump for a total of a 130g (roughly) total system volume. It's been running for about a year, but half of the rock has been in water for over 2 years. The tank is lightly stocked with only a handful of corals with minimal Cal/Alk demand. I am running Kalk in hopes to raise ph and a refugium on a reverse light cycle.
My alkalinity seems to be depleting rather quickly for the amount (or lack there of) of coral with Cal/Alk demand. I tested on Tuesday night with a Hanna checker and got a 7.9 reading. I dosed 90ml of alkalinity to bring it to 8.5 based on the BRS calculator. I again tested Wednesday night around the same time for a reading of 7.6. It went down?! Checked yet again Thursday night for a reading of 6.9 and dosed the 90ml again (not trying to raise the Alk any more than 1dkh in on dose). Hanna checker has new batteries and reagent was just purchased and doesn't expire until 2025/2026.
I noticed my sand binding together a few weeks ago but have since gotten my hands in there and went around the entire tank to break up the chunks. I have also had a decent amount of coralline growth (lots of small spots starting). Clean up crew is rather minimal with only about 15 snails, maybe 6 or 8 crabs and one peppermint shrimp for aptasia control.
Also, I tried switching to All For Reef thinking that my BRS alk mix may be bad or something, but my mag and cal has gone up but alk still low.
Rock structure is NSA if the bonding between rocks(low viscosity super glue and sand) may effect anything. (Pic below in comments)
As of yesterday
Cal: 510
Mag: 1320
Alk: 6.9
Salinity: 1.026
Temp: 77-78
Does anyone have a clue as to why my tank would be consuming so much alkalinity with such minimal demand? I'm at a loss..
Feel free to ask away if I have missed anything.
Thanks for any and all help/advice!