ALK/CA, pH, B-Ionic and something not right.

[frenchduck]

All -- I have done my best to avoid having to ask a needless question, but at this point I am think I need some assistance. Here is the story:

BACKGROUND & PARAMETERS
Tank -- 30 gallon cube (no sump) roughly a 1.5 years old; moderately stocked with 2 SPS, a gonipora, candelabra, birdnest coral, pulsing xenia, toadstool, bulb tipped anenome, 2 fish; weekly 10% water changes
Lighting -- 250 W 14k (8 hours/day); T5 flourecence antic (10 hours/day)
nitrites - 0
amonia - 0
Alk - 3.5ish
Calcium - 410 - 430
Mg - 1680 (high)
PH - 8.2 (morning) - 8.5ish (evening)
Temp -- 78 degrees

ISSUE
As my tank matured all was going very well (good coralline growth, all seemed healthy, etc.). Then things began getting out of wack (xenia stopped pulsing; coralline began receding or turning white, etc.). Determined alk/ca (2.5/340) were low and took measures to bring them back into wack by adding turbo calcium and baking soda, etc. I then decided I needed to regularly dose a two part system to keep my system more in balance. I heard good things about B-ionic and began dosing per the instructions (I use a litremeter with an extra pump to does uniformly throughout the day). This is when things start to get odd -- I am dosing 50 ml (what seems like way too much) of each part of B-ionic and I can barely keep my alk/ca from drifting down from the 3.5/420 level; not surprisingly my pH has move up as a result and now I am having what I believe are indications of high pH (not only by way of a test kit but also by corals -- towards the end of the photoperiod my leather coral closes up; no coralline growth to speak of, etc.). I'll be the first to admit I have trouble distinguishing between high end pH readings of the test kit (purple is purple to me) so my pH could be as high as 8.6 at times. The long and the short of it is I am concerned that I am doing so much b-ionic and can't keep stable levels. I thought of switching to the bicarbonate b-ionic system to help with pH but that does not seem like it will fix what I perceive to be the underlying problem -- my need to dose so much alk/ca in the first place. My test kits are up to date and I am familiar with how to use them so I do not think it is my test reading. Something seems out of wack and I am having trouble telling what -- any advice? Oh, and as Mike notes below, my Mg has been reading high at 1680. Thank you.

[Mimbler1]

I got tired of cleaning pumps and powerheads, and now keep my 200 gal reef at 7 to 8 dkh and 340 to 360 CA. I'm sure this has slowed my SPS growth (although it is still growing), but coralline grows rapidly even so. What I'm trying to say, is that your first determination that your problem of 2.5/340 ca/alk was probably incorrect. That being said, if you are determined to up those numbers, you might want to check to make sure you don't have low mag,
Mike

[bertoni]

50 ml is a fair amount of B-Ionic. Hmm, I've found a pH meter to be a handy addition to my testing supplies. The kits are harder to read, IMO, and less flexible.

Are you seeing much abiotic precipitation? White films covering the heater, etc?

More aeration might help stabilize the pH. Does the tank have a protein skimmer? How much circulation is there?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Welcome to Reef Central and the Reef Chemistry Forum. :)

What salt mix? Are you doing much in the way of water changes with it? If the mix doesn't match your target, water changes can skew readings over time. How if the magnesium get so high?

High pH can increase abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate, creating an increased demand. Bring it down may be a good next step. More aeration, or the B-ionic bicarbonate (or my DIY) may be a good option.

[frenchduck]

Thanks for the responses guys. That is sort of the perplexing part as I have virtually zero abiotic precipitation (white film), which would make compete sense as to why I need so much b-ionic.

I have been using Tropic Marin Pro Reef to bring salt to about 1.0025 but I am switching back to the regular tropic marin now to see if that might help. My Mg is high because of a misguided believe that my issue was low Mg -- I am going to check it again but I suspect it has drifted down a bit since my last test and I am obviously not going to be adding more of Mg supplements anytime soon.

I have a deltec protein skimmer on it and I believe that provides a good amount of aeration into the system (there is circumstantial evidence of this as when I need to shut it down for 3 days because of using Aquastik my pH dropped to the 7.8 range).

I am going to test my water today along with a water change (testing that new water as well). I'll post results when I can. I take it that 50 ml of B-ionic is problematic in my tank (as I thought). lol, chemistry mishaps are what happens when I try to be an armchair chemist. Thanks for your help so far.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

as I have virtually zero abiotic precipitation (white film), which would make compete sense as to why I need so much b-ionic.

It is often not present as a visible precipitate, but often does show upon warm objects, such as heaters and pump impellers.

I am going to test my water today along with a water change (testing that new water as well). I'll post results when I can.

:thumbsup:

I take it that 50 ml of B-ionic is problematic in my tank (as I thought). lol, chemistry mishaps are what happens when I try to be an armchair chemist.

There isn't any "problem" by using large amounts of two part additives (aside from cost), but it can be a sign that something is out of whack. Maybe on or more of the kits is faulty.