how perfect do I have to be

[sansouci01]

So my alk and calcium parameters are pretty stable after using my new dosing pump. My calcium is 470 and alk is 9. I'm using red sea coral pro salt. My alk stays between 9 and 9.5. Is that too much of a swing for alk or is that ok? I always test at the same time

 

[Holygral]

If you are talking about your all being 9 meq/l it is way too high. It should be 3.5-4 at 470 on the calcium. Many reefers get into trouble dozing anything. Stick with water changes and it will be fine for 95% of reef tanks. My set up is about 5 years old and I rarely ever test and when ever I do they are always within range except PH that get low in the winter but I still don't dose for it. Don't get caught up in getting perfect text book numbers. The oceans change all the time.

 

[sansouci01]

sorry..it's 9dkh

 

[Gregcoyote]

The oceans change, but very slowly. Your calcium/alkalinity/magnesium numbers will fluctuate depending on the stoney coral loads you are supporting. A minimal load of SPS and LPS can be accommodated by occasional water exchanges. But higher loads require testing and dosing. Just try to not get a see-saw effect going. 9dkh is fine, 400+ calcium is also fine. Check Mg sometime to insure it's in balance as well. My tank for example gets kalkwasser to keep the average hardness up, but I fine tune with dosing both calcium as well as sodium carbonate to keep hardness and alkalinity in balance. But I have approximately 100 pounds of stoney coral colonies. That 100 pounds of carbonate rock was created out of the ingredients in my saltwater.


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