Alk

[Suki]

I set up a 150 gal tank its been running for 3 months,
160 lbs rock from old system
same fish from the old tank
same coral, all mushrooms and softies from the old tank
new live sand 80 lbs
last month my alk went to 16+
calcium was 340
Mag was 1300
Started dosing calcium to drop alk, Got the snow and alk dropped to 13, the following week alk went back up. after several weeks of this my calcium is 460 and my alk is 15. mag is 1320, I repeated the tests with different kits and also took water to LFS. Same results. He tested my salt mix, tank water, and my source water then recommended doing several water changes over the last couple weeks to try to Flush all the junk that's been added. I blew the rocks off with a powerhead before each water change even stirred the surface of the sand a bit to remove any sediment. My alk keeps going up. I have no reactors, no kalkwasser, no buffers for tank or R/O, and am not using any supplements. Anyone got any Ideas?

 

[rigleautomotive]

what salt are you using and what are your parameters of your freshly mixed salt water you use for your water change.what kits are you using.

 

[disturbed]

if you have a fresh water bubbler with a bubble bar that will temporaly lower your alk to a safe level but its not a permant fix.it could be your test kits are bad.how ofter are you doin water changes?

 

[CarlC]

Since your using tap water have you tested it? You could have high alk in the tap water and then when you mix in the salt it just rises even higher.

What is your Ph?

Carl

 

[Suki]

I use R/O
T.D.S.= .01 (in line tester and confirmed by stick)
Alk = 15 (salifert and elios)
mag=1350 (salifert) Also confirmed by LFS
Cal =450 (salifert, and confirmed with strontium test)
salinity= 1.024 (hydrometer and the eye thing)
ph= 10 am 8.3
Salt mix= Reef Crystals
Salt checked out fine and after an aggressive water change the alk is lower but then walks back up. No supplements, no buffers, nothing added but flake food. I'm assuming its either built up in the rock and dissolving or I'm missing something........