ALK too High - What to do

coralfragger101

Gone Postal
My ALK was running a steady 10. I did a water change 3 days ago. I brought the water change water up to 10 before doing the water change. I did the water change and now all of a sudden my tank's alk is at 12.

I unplugged the CA reactor and have been adding seltzer water 4 oz at a time about 3 times per day and 3 days later I'm still at 12.

?????????????
 
you could do another wc without boosting the alk but that will only change it slightly, from there just let it fall on its own.
 
Coralfragger, I have noticed drops in alk when running fresh GFO and also when changing out Zeoliths. I do not think you are running Zeo anymore, but you can always throw them in for a few days to see if this helps.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14829419#post14829419 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brians4671
you could do another wc without boosting the alk but that will only change it slightly, from there just let it fall on its own.

Good Idea. I may actually do this first and then move on to the zeo rocks/GFO.

Have to get to a Dr. Appt first though.
 
lol lend me some alk. My parents complained about burnt tips on my acros again, and so I had them test the alkalinity, and it's at 5.5ish. :(

I would change out GFO like mentioned if you can't bring it down with water changes..

11 isn't the end of the world either though, people swear by running at 11dkh with their calcium in the 500s.
 
increase from 10 to 12 while not desired isnt the end of the world. Depending on your salt used some have high alk (~12), including IO and reef crystals, so wc wont do much, it actually might have been the cause depending on % of WC. let it ride just dont add more.
 
Slowly add calcium and it will come down, but don't be in a hurry. It would be worse to change it too quickly than to leave it at 12. Everything should be okay at 12 anyway.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14833765#post14833765 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by roblack
Slowly add calcium and it will come down, but don't be in a hurry. It would be worse to change it too quickly than to leave it at 12. Everything should be okay at 12 anyway.

^^^Truth. Adding calcium will tend to draw your carbonate readings down. Kalkwasser will do it quite well (too well in some cases), just do it slowly, so that you don't shock anything. If you don't like Kalk, liquid calcium will work too, but not as well...
 
adding kalk will increase the alk level though im not sure kalk is the solution. get it, kalk, solution... dont pay any attention to me.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14839547#post14839547 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by brians4671
adding kalk will increase the alk level though im not sure kalk is the solution. get it, kalk, solution... dont pay any attention to me.

ROFLs

FWIW, Kalk doesn't directly increase alkalinity. It neutralizes acids, but doesn't actually add bicarbonates. I can see why kalkwasser isn't the best advice, but used properly, it can level off calcium and alkalinity levels. Used improperly = :( ...
 
Back
Top