Honestly, whats your SPS tanks ALK.

[krzyphsygy]

I want to know what you are keeping yours at mine stays around 9dkh nad want to know what it should be kept at for Pocilla's, acro's and Monti's??

[bamann345]

I keep mine just under 9 and have had good results.

[SDguy]

About 9 dKH. I notice slower growth if it goes below 8.

[Sk8r]

I had a major disaster when mine hit 12 in a topoff accident. I lost most of my acroporas. I have generally kept mine at 8.3.

[DMK]

7.5

[jay2525]

tested today at 8.6

[bigt0706]

i try to stay at 9dkh but have hit 7 a couple of times

[E-A-G-L-E-S]

8.3

[GraviT]

Just buffered mine to 10 a few days ago. I use Randy's 2 part to kick things up when needed and drip kalk 24x7.

[JAANDGC]

between 7.5 and 10 is good, stability is key. I find alk. to be one of the most important parameters. If you move it around alot or make big changes to quick you are going to end up mad. JMO
Jerry

[DMK]

exactly.

[murphreef]

mine seems to stay around 8.3

[Sk8r]

Definitely a spike is not a good idea. My own thinking is that corals, like fish, acclimate to varying readings in the 'safe' zone, but very, very slowly. If your alk has always been 8.3 and it gets to 12 over the course of two weeks, you're in danger. If you rise or fall a few tenths of points, no great problem.

I also suspect that there is a general 'safe' zone between 8. something and 9, and that if you get above 12, things can go bad with just a .1 increase. I can't prove this, because I have only my own tank to go on, but I know that my tank was bulletproof so long as I was around 8.3, and when I got above that, and got to 12---yes, fairly fast, over a 2 week period---disaster was right around the corner. I think I could have gone to 9 or 9.5 safely and then back down fairly fast; but more it went to 12--- maybe too many points of rise, or just that the higher it gets the worse the reaction.

[coqui1pr]

I keep mine at 7.8

[ReeferKeith]

I'm not trying to hijack your thead. I try and keep mine around 8 to 9 range. What would a spike in alk cause? Bleaching events?

[JAANDGC]

ReeferKeith
IME big Alk spikes usually mean rtn.

[Froggy]

I like to keep mine around 9. Over the past month and a half since I tested last my Alk has crept up from 9.3 to 10.4 DKH. I am dosing a bit less of the alk portion of Randy's 2 part now to SLOWLY back it back down to the 9 range. Not sure why I shoot for 9, I just prefer to target that.

[Horace]

I try to keep mine at 8.0 ish.

Just for reference, I had two different events that caused a spike of alk to 15dkh. Both times I reacted quickly and brought the alk back down to around 10dkh, but both times the tips on my birds nest got burned. Fortunately that was the only coral that was effected visibly. The rest made it through ok.

[JB NY]

Around 8.

[ejocam]

7dkh - 8dkh seems to work best for my tank.

[REEF-DADDY]

between 8 and 9. I prefer closer to 8.

[slojmn]

I shoot for and have been staying steady at 7.7dKh-8.3dKh. Most of the time when my alk drops to low, usually the case when I have problems with alk, the tips of corals react first. If I don't notice or get to it in time some of my more fragile corals will begin to STN. Once the alk is back in line they heal up but the event is just plain stressful and growth seems to halt for a while. I am pretty good these days at testing Alk more often than anything.

[tatoofr]

At an Alk of 8-9 what should the calcium level be?
My alk went up to 11 and some corals turned brown.
I was trying to raise my Ph. Ph stayed the same

[REEF-DADDY]

Originally posted by tatoofr
At an Alk of 8-9 what should the calcium level be?
My alk went up to 11 and some corals turned brown.
I was trying to raise my Ph. Ph stayed the same

check out this handy calc:
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Raising PH by adding buffer is a ineffective way to go. You can raise it to a certain extent by using limewater or the like, but you can't make up much way without raising your alk/ca too much. Just keep you tank aerated, and make sure there is good air circulation in the room the tank is kept. My tank is in my finished basement, so I use outside air to run my skimmer. There is just not enough air getting in for keep the o2 levels up in my tank.

[mntl]

around 8