Alkalinity issue

holdyourlight

holdyourlight

New member
Tank has been going downhill for the past month. I finally figured out i must have got a bad batch of salt. My alk is @ 5.4 dKh. I have already lost a couple acans and my chalices look like crap some are showing hints of skeleton. Besides raising the alk slowly what else should i do? Do the chalices need to be dipped in ReVive or should i leave them alone?
 
calc is fine: 440

i've already dosed with Seachem Reef builder which i have had success with in the past

do i need to do anything else?
 
bertoni said:
The Reef Builder is fine, but you need to dose more of it. This calculator might help:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html
Click to expand...

thanks
it says i need to dose 6 tsp in all to get it to 9 dkh-where i would like to be....could you recommend a schedule of dosing?

i dosed 2 tsp already today...

i know i need to space it out...

should i leave the corals alone, the ones that are starting to recede or dip them in revive?
 
If you're dosing baking soda, I'd do it in two shots, one tonight, and one tomorrow morning, with a measurement in between. The daily dose might be 2-3 tsp or so, going forward, thus the need to dose fairly quickly.

Unless the corals are being attacked by a parasite, I don't think the Revive will help.
 
Rising your alkalinity is a good start. , Phosphate and nitrate levels are worth a look. I'd check salinity too. A dip in Revive won't hurt them in my experience but I might wait until potetnial chemistry issues were settled or ruled out. If the recission on the chalices and acans continues , fragging and dipping might be an option to consider.
 
tmz said:
Rising your alkalinity is a good start. , Phosphate and nitrate levels are worth a look. I'd check salinity too. A dip in Revive won't hurt them in my experience but I might wait until potetnial chemistry issues were settled or ruled out. If the recission on the chalices and acans continues , fragging and dipping might be an option to consider.
Click to expand...


Phosphates are .02 tested with the Hanna and nitrates are undetectable

I am dosing with Seachem Reef Builder, i am too scared to dose alot at once because the chemistry calculator says it has a big impact on PH

I need to dose 6 tsp in all, have already dosed 2 tsp, should i dose another 2 today another 1?
 
To make matters more confusing...the salt i am adding tests out to 11.4 dkh....tank water is 5.4 (acutally now its 6.4 after last nights dose)

I am thru 1/3 of the new bucket. I was thinking that the old bucket could have been bad, but after using that much new salt that would not make sense??

tank is lightly stocked too.....no sps either save a few tiny frags of encrusting monti

so confused....
 
Yes, dose more, assuming you have confidence in the test result. Don't worry about the pH too much. Coralline algae can use a lot of alkalinity.
 
my whole back wall of my tank (72bow) is covered in coralline....can it really use THAT much?
i dont dose anything for alk, maybe i will have to start doing it? or scrape my glass :/
 
my mag is 1290

i would like it at about 1400 but magnesium is impossible to bring up without dumping like half the bottle of Tech M to raise it 100 points so i never felt it was worth it....any comments?
 
1290 ppm for magnesium is fine, and I wouldn't try to raise it. I don't see any point to that.

If you know someone local with a Hach or perhaps a Salifert phosphate test kit, I'd get a second opinion on that parameter.
 
make sure to shake/mix your salt bucket/bag before use!!

i just learned this lesson the hard way, my freshly mixed saltwater had a mag reading of 2350, calcium at 650, and alk at 5 dkh. and no, my test kits weren't off, i had the levels double checked at my lfs! called the salt manufacturer (tunze) and they said: make sure to shake/mix the salt before use!
 
i have been testing for the last several days and apparently i am losing 1 dkh per day of alk. this is unacceptable. the salt i am adding (coralife) is testing at around 10.5 dkh for a fresh batch. i am struggling to keep it over 7.

i know corraline uses alk but can it really use THAT much. my tank is lightly stocked right now. 87 total gallons
 
A drop of 1 dKH per day is actually fairly small. Coralline growth can consume that much or more in many systems.
 
Yes that is not a very high alk demand. You just need to come up with a way to make dosing easier for you. Do you have an auto top off of any kind?

Kim
 
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