What the #$%^ is going on every time i do a water change.

[whatcaneyedo]

I prefer slightly higher alkalinity around 9 or 10 for two reasons. One is because it helps to keep my pH higher which I have a problem with in the winter because of my calcium reactor. And two, because it provides a bit of a buffer againts having my alkalinity drop too far if something goes wrong. For example: I had my calcium reactor stop working (long story, doesnt matter) and my alkalinity began to drop by about 1 dkh per day. If I didnt keep it slighter higher it would have dropped a lot lower than the 5 dkh that it ended up at before I corrected the problem.