amazing fishfood!

[murfman]

What problems did you have to fix?

 

[Delta_zeta]

well...my calc was well over 600 (heck if I know how it got that high b/c I stopped dosing well before it got over 400) and my flow was too much for my tank so I had to adjust powerheads. I had SPS that weren't extending their polyps at all until I'd put that food in but now I'm getting better PE since I did a huge WC and changed flow so it's even more evident when I feed this stuff now

 

[murfman]

What did you test with? What was your ALK measurement?

good post
http://ozreef.org/faq/water_parameters/calcium_level_too_high_what_to_do.html

 

[Delta_zeta]

I just have an aquarium pharm test kit. It's a brand new test kit too. My alk is 200ppm w/out any additional supplements or buffers so I haven't messed w/ it at all b/c though it's just a bit on the high side it's close enough to what it should be that I'd rather leave it be than add anything more.

 

[Delta_zeta]

btw...after water changes my calc is back down to about 420 and my alk is still 200.

 

[murfman]

high alk = low Cal and visa versa. Is your Ca staying at 420? KH is a little high, 170 would be better. If you increase your Ca, you will bring your KH down. What is your PH?

 

[Delta_zeta]

pH is 8.3-8.4. Ca is still at 420 as of today and KH is still 200. talking to crit on pm's about it and i'm positive it's the fact that i'm having to use tap water at the moment but we're hooking up the RO/DI unit today so no more tapwater after it's set up.

 

[racer69]

Calcium and alkalinity work independently of each other. Both can be high and both can be low. Raising one will not lower the other. You need to let it lower on its own and only add ca as needed to keep you level where you want it.

 

[Crit21]

Using the 2-part Alk solution with sodium carbonate will definitely have an effect on pH. Randy's recipe #1 will raise pH because it's made with sodium carbonate (baking changes the sodium bicarbonate to sodium carbonate). "It will tend to raise pH due to its alkalinity part's elevated pH, as do most of the commercial two-part additives."

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/june2002/chem.htm
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

I'll bet that adding more sodium carbonate to the water than calcium chloride will result in an excess of sodium carbonate, which will raise pH.