HELP! dKH increase on day 6 using Red Sea Reef Mature

[M Neher]

Hi and thank you in advance for your answers. I am on day 6 of the Red Sea Reef Mature Pro kit and instead of seeing a drop of dKH it has increased. Day 2= 10.0 / Day 4= 10.3 and Day 6=10.8

I am now to calculate the amount of KH-Coraline Gro to add based on the last 4 day drop, going forward this is the daily add. I'm guessing I did something wrong or have not enough bacteria to offset the amount of NO3 PO4?

Any suggestions on how to get back on track would be much appreciated.

 

[DaveK]

I wouldn't worry too much about a minor change in your dKH reading, or any other readings when it comes to a new tank. A new tank is going through a lot of rapid changes, and it needs time to stabilize. Now if there was a major change say from 10 to 16, then there might be something worth looking into.

I'm not a big fan of using any additives during the initial cycle, but this seems to be something Red Sea is pushing nowadays. If your going to use their method, follow there instructions exactly.

As for Coraline Gro, many new reef keepers seem to want purple coraline algae all over everything in their tank. Don't worry, given a little time you'll get plenty. Given a little more time, once you start needing to scrape it off your equipment, your find that coraline algae is just another problem algae you need to deal with. The bottom line, you don't need to use their product at all.

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I'm with Dave. Aside from maybe dosing the Bacto-Start product, I wouldn't dose anything while cycling.

Personally, I wouldn't ever dose anything like the KH Coralline Gro. I'm sure the product is not bad, but I'm not a huge fan the types of products that purport to do something. This one claims to grow coralline algae. Typically you can grow coralline by maintaining high and stable alkalinity, as well as healthy magnesium levels. Some trace elements might help move the coralline along, but it has been my experience that coralline algae grows without dosing any sort of trace elements. In my opinion, this product is not necessary at all. Furthermore, as you've seen, it's ratcheting up your carbonate alkalinity levels before there's anything even in the tank to consume it. Which is not good.

This is my main "beef" with these types of supplements. They encourage reefers to use them without actually understanding what's going on with your tank's chemistry. Many pH buffers, for instance, are just alkalinity/carbonate supplements. Lots of novice reefers add these, thinking they will just raise the pH. What happens is their alkalinity goes through the roof, and their pH is largely unchanged. Raising alkalinity is a legitimate way of maintaining a higher pH in reef aquaria, but I just don't like the idea of abstracting the understanding away from reefers by saying "here, dose this stuff, it will raise your pH."

What I would advise (and what I do personally) is to focus on keeping steady magnesium, calcium, carbonate and salinity levels. Calcium, carbonate and magnesium supplements are very cheap and very simple, and most will tell you how much you need to dose to get to the levels you want. In most cases with most common reef inhabitants, these are really the only things you have to dose and maintain.

EDIT: Here are some good beginner articles on reef chemistry. Reef chemistry is fairly straightforward once you understand the relationship between the elements:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/2002/11/chemistry
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-09/rhf/

If you'd like the TL;DR versions, these Bulk Reef Supply videos do a decent job covering the concepts:

 

[Florida Sunshine]

Also check out our reef chemistry forum. We have stickeys there from the best in the biz. Some are written at beginner levels and some more advanced but you will learn a lot reading them.

 

[M Neher]

Thank you guys for the info, I've watched the enitre BRS 160 videos, oddly enough I purchased the Red Sea Reef Mature kit from BRS along with a Red Sea kit and the Hanna dKH checker...So far have spent more on chemicals and test equipment than my tank and equipment.

Again, I really appreciate your insights and prompt response, I will rest easy and let things take a more natural course.

 

[nanoreefing4fun]

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