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I do have a Triton test available - it's probably a good time to do it.
I don't see how you would think it's down to water changes. To expand on what I said earlier, 8% water change on Sunday, test the next day and no increase in alkalinity... gradual increases every day since then. Tests before the water change and 24 hours later did not show any difference. TMPR is supposed to be quite a low alkalinity salt as well.
Real Reef Rock (the product) was used. It was absolutely covered in GHA for quite some time due to using Triton and having an algae bed that was of insufficient size (in my opinion). I believe the rock became clogged up and saturated with phosphate but I now seem to have pulled it out based on the reaction of the GHA. It took about 6 months and is now disappearing rapidly.
Maybe its the decaying hair algae then?
Also i found a long time ago that dosing sugar to grwo bacteria caused my alkalinty kit to read bad. Are you dosing anything like that? Vodka?
Read bad in what way?
Id actually say these rocks are raising your alkalinty. They are "marine safe" man made rocks. That means cement, and cement is basically calcium hydroxide.
I once put an uncured dime soze piece of cement in my tank thinking i could maintain alk and calcium with it, all my fish died alk was very high and ph too. The fish looked burned die to high ph. So don't underestimate the effects of cement marine safe or not
If the rock is inadequately cured, that could well be it.
Nothing broken.
It's not a case of doubting everything you say - it's discussion. I don't quite see some of the suggestions being the logical cause and I'm not inclined to disturb the tank by taking large rocks out. The increase in alkalinity has been very recent, gradual and fairly small - I'm not seeing it as a major issue yet, it just seems odd for alkalinity to rise.
Can alkalinity have been bound up in the rock or algae and then released with the GHA die off. If not then it's a coincidence...