Alk is tough..

[victorcan]

Man trying to keep my alk up is a tough biz... been dosing kalk every other day but still getting jumps in dkh readings?
Last 7 days
Tues 9.6
Weds 9.3
Thurs 9.8
Fri 8.9
Sat -
Sun 9.3
Mon -
Today 8.0 (check 2x)

What the heck Ive got Sodium Bicarb but dont like using it much.. Just got up the nerve to plug in and sertup my ATO yesterday should I just be adding kalk to that mix and dosing kalk non stop?

 

[Capt_Cully]

What is your Ca, Mg, pH, SG? What else are you doing to supplement besides Kalkwasser?

 

[victorcan]

Ca is 500
PH 8.2
SG 1.025
Mg 1450

Nothing but kalk added sodium bicarb 1x 2 weeks ago (april 2nd) was a steady 7.8 prior for months.. I feed salifert coral food and combo vital 3-4 times p/week alternating brands on alternating days

 

[boosted chemist]

did you treat the NaHCO3? I think it has some acid in it that can only decarboxlate from heating it in the oven. This may be a problem.

 

[Capt_Cully]

How much Kalk are you adding? are you adding it all at once? dosing?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

kalkwasser raises Ca and alk evenly (along with pH)

kalkwasser raises Ca and alk evenly (along with pH)

what saltmix did you use on your last water change?

 

[victorcan]

Oceanic same as always from day 1

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

as I figured.

Note that I'm not saying O is bad!
There are saltmixes that boost dKH more than others.

This is what I'd do:

Keep using Oceanic. Use kalk for all makeup water. Boost alkalinity with sodium carbonate or sodium bicarbonate but (and this is the important part!) boost alkalinity SLOWLY.

Remember- every water change you do with Oceanic is going to boost calcium sufficiently but you will probably have to play a slight ketchup game with alk. This isn't a bad way to go since Arm & Hammer baking soda is CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP but the main danger is OD'ing alkalinity too quickly.

 

[victorcan]

I just added 1 quart of water w/ 1 tsp of SB (BRS) Ill test again in the AM.. what salt do you use and what are you dosing on top ?

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

jmo

jmo

everybody does things differently for good reasons and it doesn't always pay to copy others.

I use whatever saltmix I can get cheaply.
I use Oceanic, Instant Ocean, Reef Crystals etc etc.
(Avoid Crystal Seas!)

I have a good idea what each saltmix needs in the way of tweaking for my particular application.

 

[Gravesj1s]

You can try and stop dosing for a full day.The following day test Kh and you now know what your tank consumes over a 24hr period.Use one of the calculators on rc or brs for whitch product you prefer or are using.

 

[sandworm]

are you doing your tests at the same time of the day? are doing a test before and after?