Do acropora consume elements throughout the night?

[Smite]

I know a lot of people are running equipment that monitor and adjust alkalinity. I'd like to hear from you guys about what happens with consumption during lights out periods.

Is there uptake fo alk durning the night?

My ph drops a bit at night, my nutrients are too low to really support much macro algae growth to offset it. I got to wondering if I could run my calcium reactor only during the day to offset that drop a bit.

 

[pledosophy]

They do uptake nutrients at night time, but running your reactor during the day would be just fine. Aslong as the levels stay consistent it doesnt matter when the reactor runs. Many acro keepers that dose 2 part only dose once a day and their corals grow just fine.

I just installed on of those C02 scrubbers on my skimmer intake and there is a noticable difference 4 days in on the pH level and also it is already showing in some corals (mostly LPS) which is pretty weird. If you are having low pH at night installing a scrubber, or maybe even cracking a window would be a good thing to try.

 

[Smite]

They do uptake nutrients at night time, but running your reactor during the day would be just fine. Aslong as the levels stay consistent it doesnt matter when the reactor runs. Many acro keepers that dose 2 part only dose once a day and their corals grow just fine.

I just installed on of those C02 scrubbers on my skimmer intake and there is a noticable difference 4 days in on the pH level and also it is already showing in some corals (mostly LPS) which is pretty weird. If you are having low pH at night installing a scrubber, or maybe even cracking a window would be a good thing to try.

Gotcha. Maybe I’ll give it a go hate to mess with stability though.
It’s not dangerously low but I hit 7.9 at night with a scrubber pulling air from outside to my skimmer. I calibrated the probe and I think it’s correct because I do exhaust my co2 media weekly.

 

[pledosophy]

7.9 isn't terrible but I get wanting it to be perfect for growth reasons.

 

[drexel]

Matt, you should try putting your effluent into your skimmer intake. You may have to do more maintenance to keep it clear/clean, but it's a pretty good hack.

 

[drexel]

You could also run your skimmer at night only to help bring up your N/P.

 

[joseserrano]

No consumption when lights are off

 

[joseserrano]

You could get them to consume if your ph was higher. Steve Garrett did this with an oxygen machine at night. Forgot the magic number he had to reach