Alks Issue Need Quick Help!!!

[SteveNMegz]

Hey guys

We've had our tank set up for a year now and after many problems the one that we just can't fix is our ALK.

We use coralife salt which has a high CALC level always above 420ppm, but low alk. We bought a calcium reactor around the 6 month mark and this temporarily fixed our problem.

But we cleaned the whole thing out and filled it with new ARM media and since ti hasn't done a thing for us we have no clue how to fix this???

Our bubble counts the same as before as well as our drip, but it jsut doesn't seem to produe any results.

Any ideas of what we can do to fix this problem???

Thanks!!!

 

[jeremyj0247]

baking soda will raise it. There is a calculator some where that will tell you how much to add. I am not sure where to find it, sorry. Maybe do a search for baking soda.

 

[jeremyj0247]

Here is the calculator.
http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Have you adjusted the reactor properly? How do you know?

I expect you are just not adding enough CO2.

This should help:

A Guide to Using Calcium Reactors
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/sh/feature/index.php

 

[SteveNMegz]

We've used baking soda to slowly raise the ALK but it always drops right back down.

as for adjusting the reactor, we had it running perfect for a bout 2-3 months until we cleaned it and put everything back together (figures right). our co2 has been around 40-50 bubbles per minute, which I think is pretty high considering we don't have many corals. drip is about 2-3 drips/second.

 

[bertoni]

If the alkalinity is dropping rapidly, that means corals and coralline are consuming it. I suspect the device isn't adding enough, but I don't know how to trouble-shoot calcium reactors.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There should be no need for extra alkalinity additives if you have a CaCO3/CO2 reactor on a tank with little demand.

Can you measure the alkalinity of the effluent?

 

[SteveNMegz]

our sps have been slowing showing signs of tissue recession since the problem began, also the coraline that was once completley covering our back glass seems to be disinigrating. (assuming this is because of no alkalinity)

I'm just headed out to work right now I will measure the ALK of the effluent as soon as I get home.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

OK, let us know.

 

[SteveNMegz]

So we jsut measured the ALK of the drip from the calcium reactor, and it reads 9.5 dkh.

 

[bertoni]

If that's accurate, that's too low. It seems like the reactor isn't tune properly. The alkalinity should be much higher. I'd start dosing a 2-part until the reactor can be made to work.

How did you measure alkalinity?

 

[SteveNMegz]

We measured with a test kit, the results came out to be 170ppm, we then divided that by 17.9 to get the DKH value.

this is correct isn't it?

 

[bertoni]

Usually, the effluent alkalinity is high enough that diluting the mixture with water is necessary.

Did you collect just the output from the reactor, or was it mixed with some tank water? I'd try diluting the output 5:1 with RO/DI and measuring that.

 

[SteveNMegz]

ues we did collect it from the output line and then measured it. wouldn't diluting it just give us a reading less than the previous 9.5?

 

[bertoni]

Well, I'm not sure why the dKH should be so low. I was thinking that dilution might help weed out testing errors and issues. I think you'll have to wait for some help from someone with reactor experience. My guess is that there's not enough carbon dioxide going into the reactor.

 

[SteveNMegz]

ohh ok i see what your saying....

we thought we weren't pumping enough co2 either but we've had it cranked really high the last 3-4 weeks, like at least 40-50 bubbles per minute and its a small chamber (knop-c reactor). the media is dissolving fairly quick (mostly turning into a sand/mush) and settling on the rest of the media.
its weird, I have the day off tomorrow so i'm oging to go through resetting/tuning the reactor and see if that helps any, we're new to calcium reactors (only know what we've read) so its hard for us to figure this stuff out haha

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I agree that there is a problem, either too little CO2, too high of effluent flow rate, or maybe too little internal flow through the media, wrong media, or some such thing. You are just not dissolving it properly.

Do you have a pH meter?

The article linked above should help you get it running properly.

 

[SteveNMegz]

so yesterday we ended up adding 7 tsp of baked baking soda into our 85G total water volume. 4tsp in the morning and 3 at night. (mixed with RODI before of course)

the alk was right back to 6DKH this morning, I thought it would have held a little longer. should we jsut keep adding more? how much a day would you recommend?

 

[SteveNMegz]

sorry no no ph meter, only the hagen PH test and its always at 7.8-7.9

 

[bertoni]

I'd try testing the alkalinity a few minutes after adding the supplement. 6 tsp per day of baking soda is reasonable. The baked baking soda should be more potent per unit volume. I might check the magnesium level, but the consumption rate doesn't seem excessive yet.