Alk issues still, again, ongoing...

[ninjamini]

Well 3 weeks ago I discovered I had an alk issue. IT was low. In fact it was 4. The test that I had been using was telling me it was higher but when I lost a monti and my toadstool leather started to disintegrate I took some water to our friends at Eco reef. They tested my water and:

alk 4 - (My test at home was saying: 7)
calk 420 - (My test at home was saying: 540)
ph at 7.8 - (My test at home was saying: 7.8)
Phosphates 1.8 - (My test at home was saying: 1)


Needless to say I started to dose. Which I now do almost every day. 30 ml of Kent pro buffer DKH/PH.

The leather quickly recovered and started to look happy. The monit was a goner. But Fortunately I lost one of three. Sadly it was my favorite.

Now My alk is at 5-6 and my ph at 7.8-8.0 depending on the day. I need advice. Should I add more buffer than I am or switch to something else. What I am doing seems to not be working.

 

[scubasteve247]

i would say increase the dose by 10-15 ml to increase your alk more, then once your reach your ideal level, i like to keep mine between 9 and 11, slowly reduce your dosage 1-2 ml , if your dosing daily, test daily, and once you see it start to drop again, bump up your doseage from that day a ml or two, you should be pretty stable at that point but continue testing to be sure,

also remember when you add corals you dosing may need to be increased.

good luck

 

[reefsahoy]

what brand test were you using at home?

 

[jeffbrig]

I would suggest dropping the buffering solution in favor of a straight alkalinity additive (i.e. baking soda / baked baking soda) to correct the problem.

Pick a product and use the reef chemistry calculator to decide how much you need to fix your alkalinity deficit.
http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

 

[scubasteve247]

i agree, i never even noticed he was using that instead of the super buffer.

yeah kent marine liquid products are watered down quite a bit

 

[ninjamini]

http://jdieck1.home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html [/B]

OK So by that I would do. This is a big change. Over how many days should I add this?


100 gal volume
Current Alk: 5dkh
Desired Alk: 9dkh

Product: Baking soda

Instructions
45.4 grams, approx 9.6 tsp, or 1.6 oz
425 ppm at 3.21 meq/l

Do not dose all at once. This should be slowly dosed into your aquarium. Monitor pH while dosing. Do not allow immediate impact of pH to be more than +/-0.20.

 

[a2fire2i]

i have a 120 (with around 140 total volume) and haved added at the most 200 ML of Randys ALK with no issues. I would AIM for increasing it by .7 dKH a day making sure to test each day.


ADDED: Since your PH is on the lower side, follow Recipe #1, Part 2: The Alkalinity Part on the link below.

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#1

 

[jeffbrig]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11627018#post11627018 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ninjamini
Over how many days should I add this?

You can push it pretty fast, as long as you watch the pH swing. If you have a pH meter, it's very easy. Add as much as you can without changing more than .2 pH units. Without a pH meter it's a little more tricky. When I've done corrections I've done 2-3 doses each day (the short-term pH change settles out after a few hours). I wouldn't expect you to need more than 2-3 days total to get Alk back where you want it.