I've sent an e-mail to a local pool/spa joint (the guys next to J&L) so we'll see what's available locally after the weekend

Cool. Keep me posted Greg!

Update
 

I read up on carbon dosing (biopellets) and alkalinity. The consensus seems to be that if you carbon does, then the Alk has to be close to natural seawater (i.e. 7-8 dKH).

It took about 4-5 days of no Kalk and no Alk solution added to bring the Alk down to the desired range. It read 7.6 this morning, which is in line with yesterday's reading. I've also been feeding the fish a fair bit and adding aminos and BRS reef chili for the corals, just in case the corals were starving. This morning I had the best polyp extension I've had in weeks. Hopefully this means they're out of the woods.

Now what?...

the alk at 7-8 is only what some people noticed with acros whether this is true or not differs from person to person and there are still lots of people who carbon dose and have no issues with higher alk;)


i keep a dkh of 9 while i read zero for no3 and 0.006 for po4 so fairly low and have no issues with acros or hard corals in general :)

my system is carbon dosed with vinegar


so.........well now its time to go back to the basics its important to supply your demand for alk and calcium as there nothing else that adds to it , so monitor and add as needed.

don't make any drastic changes but change things that you feel you need to one at a time and monitor the results that ways you can find out whats sensitive or not in your system without having to guess.

glad to hear things are on the mend , fwiw its the rise in alk suddenly that hits corals hard , not just acros but most hard corals ....the drop can be as harm full if its as fast by allowing it to drop naturally and slowly the damage isn't near as severe:)

things should start to mend for you now again quickly:)

No luck
The kit I looked at today only tests up to 13ppm
I'll let you know if I find something on the web ...

pH?
 

OK, so the Alk hit 7.0 dKH at the end of the photoperiod. Which means I need to start dosing. The question is what? Alk solution based on baking soda? Or Kalk?

I noticed that the pH hovers around 8 during the day, but falls to 7.86 at night. I am thinking of adding some kalk at night only. Small dose and test n the morning. Perhaps dose minute amounts of Alk solution during the day?

Any other ideas guys? I have no idea what to do...

Soda ash over bicarbonate if you want a slight ph boost should help , do you run a fuge? :)

Yes, I have a 55 gallon fuge full of cheato, sand and some rock. I pump water from the middle compartment of the sump into one end of the fuge. It then overflows from the other end of the fuge and it drains by gravity into the return pump section of the sump. The fuge is full of pods and critters, which occasionally end up in the display tank to my copperband's delight...

So, are you saying no Kalk?

Both are fine really it's up to you if kalk worked before I can't see the harm in doing it again and works great as well I was just saying that sodium bicarbonate won't give a noticeable boost in ph whereas soda ash will give more:)