Jump to content

Dosing alk while lights are off


gmerek2

Recommended Posts

I want to dose my alk at night to stabilize my pH. I drip dose baking soda which is known to raise pH. Right now it is dosed around the clock at various times. I just have a couple concerns. Is it the pH swings that kill SPS or the alk swing?? I don't want to steady the pH if the alk will raise during the night dosing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neither unless you're overdosing and have wild swings. Baking soda will cause a mild lowering of pH in the short term, if dosed quickly. Overall, as the carbonate system's balance is restored, you should see pH move upward slightly and stabilize. This might take a half hour or an hour, but it's normally not a long time as long as you have good aeration in your system. Longer term, if you have wild swings in alkalinity, it can stress some corals. But I wouldn't expect night time dosing to be a big issue as long as it's being done every day (so the changes are small).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have often wondered about this. I do not have a fuge running a reverse light cycle which people do to help with nutrient export and to keep the ph more stable. What I do have is two dosing pumps. My alk runs at the top of every hour and my cal runs 30 minutes later 24 hours a day. My Ph stays pretty stable 8.3 in the day 8.2 at night. I have noticed after about two weeks it starts to stray a little but after I dump about 30oz of magnesium in my tank it goes right back to normal. I know some say not to chase numbers but every since I got my apex I can't help but watch the chart...

 

One thing that all experts agree on is stability so I decided to run alk/cal all day. Most people run it at night so don't listen to me haha

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1da5742f008fcf5594d8a18a6a8ac1ab.jpg

I'll try dosing the alk at night then to see if there are any changes. I run a light in my sump but it doesn't seem to do much

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would focus on keeping the alk steady and let the pH swing a bit.  My pH runs 8.2 at night and 8.4 during the day.  My corals (mostly sps) do not seem to be bothered by the pH swing.

 

Bruce

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is .3 considered a swing in ph? I really don't know the answer to that

 

I can say your ph is way more consistent than mine. I've often considered running the intake to my skimmer outside to see if that helps with ph. My tank is right by the rear door where we let the dog vs being in an area with little fresh air so I would have a hard time convincing the wife I need to poke a hole in her house for fresh air for the fish haha

 

Let me know if you notice a difference. I was trying to find an article where someone mentioned corals grow at night and that's when they need alk/cal the most but I can not find it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do you dose throughout the whole day Bruce?

 

I would focus on keeping the alk steady and let the pH swing a bit. My pH runs 8.2 at night and 8.4 during the day. My corals (mostly sps) do not seem to be bothered by the pH swing.

 

Bruce

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not dose alk and calc separately, but I do dose kalkwasser as my primary means of maintaining my water parameters.  I run the kalk doser 24/7.

 

Here is a link to an article on my dosing setup.

 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B5QJJLprX7aQclZsN2pyLU1zTU0/view?pli=1

 

Thanks,

Bruce

Do you dose throughout the whole day Bruce?
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

"why not?"  you said it yourself.  You might get an alk swing?

 

I would rather a pH swing than an alk swing.

 

Bruce

I don't think .3 is bad. But if I can make it .1 simply by dosing during lights off why not?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...