Advice needed - Alk & Ca

[jpc763]

I have had my tank up for 8 months now and been in this hobby for 2.5 years now.

Since day 1 I have had a hard time with Alk. I have tested my RO/DI water and it is in range ~9 or 10?

Anyway, I did my water test over the weekend. Here are my results.

Temp - 80
SG - 1.028
pH - 7.8 (early morning test before lights)
Ammonia - 0
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Phospate - 0
dKh - 5
Calcium - 520

I use API test kits (and have since day 1) and a refractometer. I have had good growth on my corals but recently have started to lose a few (pink birdsnest, peaberrry acro and an unknown LPS). I do not dose anything right now.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

 

[jonthefb]

You need to get some type of alk supplement going in there. Natural sea water has an alkalinity of 8 DKH and you are significantly below that, which could be the cause for your recent losses. Calcium and alkalinity are inversely proportional so if one is high (in this case your calcium) the other is low (in this case your alk). you need to begin dosing something that will raise only your alk and monitor both parameters. As your alk begins to creep up, your calcium will begin to lower. Once you get the levels where you want them (Ca 400-500, Alk 8-12DKH) then you need to begin dosing both a ca and alk supplement on a regular basis to MAINTAIN these levels. You could also look into either a kalkreactor, or calcium reactor to automate the dosing of these levels

Cheers~!
Jon

 

[LooseHip]

Here is a link to Randy's two part solution, which is a cheap and easy method to dosing CA, ALK, and Mag.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[murfman]

SG - 1.028 is a little high. Drop to 1.026 if you are running an SPS tank or 025 if you are running a mixed tank.

Natural sea water has a dkh of 7. I shoot for 9-11.

http://www.faunatic.com/chemistry

 

[jpc763]

SG - 1.028 is a little high. Drop to 1.026 if you are running an SPS tank or 025 if you are running a mixed tank.

Natural sea water has a dkh of 7. I shoot for 9-11.

http://www.faunatic.com/chemistry

OK, I re-read the article that I was following and you are right. I need to get the SG down to 1.026 at 80

You need to begin dosing something that will raise only your alk and monitor both parameters. As your alk begins to creep up, your calcium will begin to lower...
Cheers~!
Jon

What do you suggest that I dose with to get the Alk up?

Also, what automated method should I use?

Thanks, John

 

[iceman79]

kalkwasser or baked baking soda or baking soda

 

[Zooid]

I would check my magnesium level if I were you. It might be low if you haven't dosed it. This will cause fluctuations in your calcium and alkalinity I believe.

 

[Dreamer6381]

Hi John,

Plus one on your mag levels. I had one heck of a time maintaining my alk Jiggyfly is the springs told check you mag lvl and dose it since i started to dose mag My alk have been a average of 10. It stays steady. Everything in the above posts that you should dismiss it is all good sound advice.

Be Safe
Mark

 

[jpc763]

I have been trying to get the Alk up slowly while bringing down Salinity. I am up to 8 today.

Temp 80
SG 1.027
pH 8.2
dKh 8
Ca 460
Mg 1410

I am trying to get the dKh stable around 9 or 10 by topping off with Mrs Wages Pickling Lime (Kalkwasser). I have an ATO and top about 15g per week in my 200g system.

At this point I don't think I need to dose Calcium.

 

[jonthefb]

John, you should stop dosing calcium until your alk gets in your range. At that point, and from then on, you will only need to dose calcium at the rate at which it is being consumed!
Cheers~!
Jon

 

[jpc763]

John, you should stop dosing calcium until your alk gets in your range. At that point, and from then on, you will only need to dose calcium at the rate at which it is being consumed!
Cheers~!
Jon

I am not dosing Ca. I am only dosing Baking Soda to get Alk up while waiting for my Mrs Wages to come in.

460 is good for Ca right?

 

[Dave & Monica]

460 is high for Ca - I think the range is 410-420. Just to give you a reference point, I have roughly half your water volume and put a dry teaspoon of Randy's 2 part Baking Soda and Snow melt into the sump each day. I measure my system now once a month and adjust as needed, but I've been on target for several months.

 

[Zooid]

I use this website. It shows the window graphically.
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html

I like to keep my calcium at about 425 and alkalinity at 10dKH

 

[jpc763]

Alright, I have been dosing Baking Soda to try to bring Alk up without increasing pH. Here is my test results for today @ 6pm

Temp - 80
SG - 1.026
pH - 8.4
Nitrate - 0
Nitrite - 0
Ammonia - 0
Phosphate - 0
dKH - 9
Ca - 420
Mg - 1200

The two things I see are the pH being 8.4 which is high and Magnesium is 1200 which is low.

Any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[jimmyhof]

Reactors

Reactors

If you want a way to keep your levels steady with out having to dose all the time I have both a AquaMedic Kalk reactor with plenty of picking lime included and a Myreefcreations Calcium reactor with everything to make it work including the media. I have been out of the hobby for 8 months and i am ready to sell the stuff at a very reasonable rate. Call me if you are interested - 303-895-8655

 

[csueeman]

Are you buffering your RO/DI water? If not, that can be holding your alk levels down as well. Buffer your top off water and when you are doing water changes before adding salt.

And Kalkwasser can affect the PH.

 

[jpc763]

Are you buffering your RO/DI water? If not, that can be holding your alk levels down as well. Buffer your top off water and when you are doing water changes before adding salt.

And Kalkwasser can affect the PH.

I do not buffer my RO/DI water. What should I use and how do you do that?

 

[csueeman]

I believe you can use baking soda like was mentioned before. Do you aerate your RO water before using it? Just getting the CO2 out of it can help. You can test your water after mixing salt into it. If the Alk is low there, then yes, buffer it up. Just don't assume your salt mix is getting it to the right level.

 

[murfman]

Since the house has been shut up for fall/winter, my ph has been dropping to around 8.0 I started using kalk, about 2 Tsp and dosing. Brings my 300 up by .1 when I dose.