alk low

[shyland83]

I recently bought a salifert test kit to measure my alk. It's reading right around 6.4 and my calcium is around 450. should i be worried about the alk levels? and if so any suggestions to bring it up? I have to admit I'm way behind on water changes, and i just recently bought a refractometer and it turns out my salinity was around 1.021. I am slowly bringing it up, it's up to about 1.024. thanks

 

[xhaust50]

First, take everything slowly as you don't want to change the water parameters too quickly and shock the inhabitants. I use baking soda to raise dkH and calcium carbonate (dowflake) to raise ca. You shouldn't dose more than a tbsp at a time. Your calcium looks good though, so just the baking soda for a day and then retest both parameters, as a raise in one can cause a decrease in the other. Also, dhK should be tested right before the lights go out.

I'm sure others will chime in here to help you out. I use the homemade 2-part method. You can also you kalkwasser.

Depending on what type of salt mix you use your parameters will most likely change, so you may want to do a water change first since you are in need of one.

 

[shyland83]

I've been using instant ocean because it's what i had, but I'm out, and I just ordered some coralife and i plan on doing a water change this weekend. I'll test again and think about adding a little baking soda. I have a 2 part buffer, but i dont want to change the calcium so i'm afraid to add it.

 

[rtecanoe]

Alk is pretty easy to raise, all you need is baking soda. Check out the reef chemistry forum here on reef central. One of the stickys at the top of the forum- reef chemistry articles - will bring you to the 'reef chemical calculator'. The calculator will tell you exactly how much you baking soda you need to reach your desired level for your tank volume. You may also want to check out 'Randys improved two part recipe'. It a do it yourself two part recipe that is real cheap compared to the store brands. The reef chemistry forum is great - it will teach you a lot, I wish I found it a lot sooner, it would have saved me a lot of headaches and a lot of money!

 

[jdieck]

You alkalinity a bit low from the minimum recommended of 7 dKh,
You can just use baking Soda as mentioned above or if you have a two part supplement you can use only the alkalinity part of it without adding the calcium portion.
The calculator can help you determine how much to add:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html