Alk Drop / raise quickly or slowly?

[HHN]

Question: My tank has been consuming more and more alk as it starts to mature. I had been maintaining it at a stable 8.3 for months. Las few weeks, its been dropping and I have been in increasing dosing. However, this week it went from 8.3 to 7.3 over a few days. Should I bring it back quickly to 8.3 -- since that's where it was used to? or Should I still slowly bring it back? I know everthing should be done gradually...but if my corals were used to 8.3, maybe I should get back there quickly????

[Kris.C]

1.0 Dkh Is the max recommended daily raise by some reefers. With that said you can always raise .5 then wait 12 hours to bump it up to 1. I personally have raised 1dkh in one go with no ill effects.

[crabbysd]

slowly.

[HHN]

I guess I knew the answer, but since everything is so ancecdotal, I was more curious. Let's say I dump something in my tank that drops the Alk from 8.3 to 7.3 in 1 minute. Wouldn't it make more sense to dump Alk back in to bring it back to 8.3 right away. Answer is probably, yes. So, if my corals are used to 8.3 for months and then over a few days it drops to 7.3, is slowly still better? In end, it's probably always better (less risky) to do it slower. Lot's to learn still.