I found my system did best with alk at 9 and calcium around 380 measured with salifert test kits :biggrin:

I guess i'm at the high end of the scale. Cal 440, Alk 11.2. I use a Salifert for Cal and a SeaChem for Mag/Alk


Why is it important to keep Alk low when you dose vodka?

Thanks for the responses everyone!! :)

I wish they had a monitor like they do for calcium. I guess they have one for freshwater, but for some reason they don't work for saltwater. If there was a monitor I would be better at keeping my Alk where it's supposed to be... LOL.

When dosing vodka or using any of the probiotic/carbon source systems like Zeo and Fauna Marin alkalinity is apparently supposed to be kept below 8 dKH to avoid "burning" the tips of SPS. I wouldn't say it's kept "low" per se - it's still within typical reef values in the real world: http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php