Alkalinity Low

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I recently added a few new corals to my tank plus a baby ultra maxima. (I plan on upgrading to a 120 or 180 next year). I am new to kalkwasser and am using a 6 x 12 reactor which I fill with 1 to 2 cups of calcium hyroxide (currently TLF). My calcium levels stay fine, but my alkalinity level is low. I am supplementing with Randy's alkalinity and calcium recipe 1 to raise the alkalinity. pH is usually 8.28 -8.40. The kalk reator runs with an ATO connnected to my APEX. (Fallback Off; Set On; If kalk reactor pump on then of; Defer 40'; If pH is greater than 8.40 then off). Last Sunday I performed a large water change and alkalinity was around 11dKH. I test every day and alkalinity drops to 7dKH. I supplement with Randy's recipe to raise calcium to 420 and add the equivalent ml for alkalinity. Calcium levels test around 400 daily; so I am adding about 200 ml supplement for both. How do I raise my alkalinity to a reasonable 10dKH or so without passing 420 calcium? I plan to do another large water change Sunday and test every day after again. Frustrated that this is having a negative effect on the corals and parameter is not stable after water change.
 
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Dosed based on Alk level alone and calcium level will follow.
[Randy meant increasing dosing to increase Alk by 2.8 will only increase Calc by 20]
 
Thanks Randy and Steve175.

What could be possible reasons my alkalinity is dropping faster than calcium?
(I overfeed.)
 
Thanks Randy and Steve175.

What could be possible reasons my alkalinity is dropping faster than calcium?
(I overfeed.)

That is always the way if you are underdosing both:

When Do Calcium and Alkalinity Demand Not Exactly Balance?
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-12/rhf/index.htm

from it:

Apparent Excess Demand for Alkalinity

One of the most common complaints of new aquarists is that their aquaria seem to need more alkalinity than their balanced additive system, such as limewater, is supplying. While there are reasons this may actually be the case over the long term (these will be detailed later in this article), frequently these aquarists are seeing a "chemical mirage" rather than a real excess demand for alkalinity.

One of the interesting features of seawater is that it contains a lot more calcium than alkalinity. By this I mean that if all of the calcium in seawater (420 ppm; 10.5 meq/L) were to be precipitated as calcium carbonate, it would consume 21 meq/L of alkalinity (nearly 10 times as much as is present in natural seawater). In a less drastic scenario, let's say that calcium carbonate is formed from aquarium water starting with an alkalinity of 3 meq/L that it is allowed to drop to 2 meq/L (a 33% drop). How much has the calcium declined? It is a surprise to many people to learn that the calcium would drop by only 20 ppm (5%). Consequently, many aquarists observe that their calcium levels are relatively stable (within their ability to reproducibly test it), but alkalinity can vary up and down substantially. This is exactly what would be expected, given that the aquarium already has such a large reservoir of calcium.


So the first "deviation" from the rule of calcium and alkalinity balance really isn't a deviation at all. If an aquarist is supplying a balanced additive to his aquarium, and calcium seems stable but alkalinity is declining, it may very well be that what is needed is more of the balanced additive, not just alkalinity. This scenario should be assumed as the most likely explanation for most aquarists who should look for more esoteric explanations for alkalinity decline only if calcium RISES substantially while alkalinity falls. Likewise, if alkalinity is rising and calcium seems stable when using a balanced calcium and alkalinity additive system, the most likely explanation is that too much of the additive system is being used.

The real imbalance effects described later in this article take effect slowly, and are manifested over weeks, months and years. This short term "chemical mirage" caused simply by the mathematics of calcium and alkalinity additions can be seen in a single addition. Any effect that develops rapidly over the course of a few days is almost certainly not a true imbalance.

The following scenarios show what can happen to a reef aquarium whose dosage with a balanced additive system does not match its demand. Table 1 shows what can happen when the dosing is inadequate. Alkalinity drops fairly rapidly. After two days, many aquarists might conclude that they need additional alkalinity, when in reality, they need more of both calcium and alkalinity to stabilize the system.

Table 2 shows what happens when too much of a balanced additive is added. After a few days, many aquarists would conclude that alkalinity is rising too much, but that calcium is fairly stable. Again, what is needed is less of the balanced additive, not just less alkalinity.
 
Cool. So in the short term, alkalinity is the "sensitive needle" and will show the need for more or less additive quickly.
 
Yes, alk is much more sensitive to over or underdosing, and you can probably even get away with only rarely measuring calcium if you dose a two part to maintain alkalinity (and if you do not use a salt mix that is driving calcium away from where you want it). That's the beauty of a two part or other balanced calcium and alkalinity methods. :)
 
Randy,

Should I be able to stabalize the levels with calcium hydroxide and two part? Or with the ultra maxima clam, do I need a calcium reactor or return the clam to the LFS for credit?

Thanks,
Gary
 
A two part can meet any demand.

I have a couple of clams and I use only limewater, but it will depend on your evaporation rate and what else is in the tank. :)
 
I tested mine today and had a mini freak out when I saw kh 5.4! my calcium was about 340. I don't have a lot of coral just a few frags and I do a 20% wc weekly with io salt (last wc was 3 days ago). figured my numbers would be better!

so now I'm looking to cross the same bridge as the op and raise the alk. i only have about 27 gallons of volume and only handful o frags. wonder if fully saturated kalk in top off would do the trick?
 
It might, but there's no easy way to tell at this point. If you don't mind investing in a peristaltic pump or something similar, along with some float switches, you could try kalk as ATO, which is a convenient way to go.
 
ok sounds good. I have a float switch hooked up to a minijet. I mixed up some kalk tonight and added it to my reservoir.

i also thought about making a cheap dripper using a milk jug and some airline.

either way, hope this works. if not next investment will be a dosing pump.
 
How fast does that minijet deliver water when the ATO is on? And how much with each triggering of the ATO?

Adding limewater too fast can cause problems with excessively high pH and precipitation of calcium carbonate.
 
roughly just a squirt at a time. I've got the little slider on the intake turned down to the lowest setting. is that too much, you think?
 
thanks Randy! I need to calculate this up for piece of mind! I'm coming up with about .04 being 1% of my sump volume. now how can I figure exactly how much is being pumped in each go-around?
 
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