Helllp! Alkalinity is 11meq/l

L

lubyone1

New member
I know we have extremely hard well water (like mega hard) - could this be a reason why my Alk is so high? I also have a culligan RO/DI system underneather our sink which I use for water changes and top off.

Lastly, I'm using Kalkwasser to try and up my calcium levels - but is my Ca low because my alk is so high...I thought I read that somewhere.

How do I get this down aside from stopping the kalk dosing?

Other parameters are

Nitrite/Nitrate/Ammonia all 0
Calcium 360
Mag 1300
Temp 79-81
PH 8.3
Salinity 10.26

Help me out plz!!!
 
Maybe your alk is realy 11dkh not meq. I think it's 2.8dkh for every 1 meq. so your alk in meq is 3.9meq. Which is fine. Don't go any higher. Just raise calcium with a separate supplement. Stop dosing with Kalk for now.
 
Here is more information on the testing procedures that I used. Hopefully this will help others understand my problem (i think).

Total Alk Test
1. Fill cavity blah blah blah
2. Hold pipette vertically and add 1 drop of alk reagent and stir after each drop.
3. Count the number of drops until the color turns from blue to yellow. Each drop is equal to .5 meq/L. The number of drops to get to yellow divided by 2 is the total alkalinity. It took my 22 drops to get to yellow.

Am I doing something wrong?

I see that on the bottom it says "For reference only, 1 meq/L corresponds to 2.8 KH" This would put my KH at 30.8?
 
11 meq/L is like 30 dKH I think.. I'm with Percula, I think you're reading dkh, not meq/L.

Be more worried about your s.g. of 10.26 ;) I know, I know, it was a typo..

Just because -- this is a great read regarding the relationship between Ca, Alk, and pH.
 
The number of drops to get to yellow divided by 2 is the total alkalinity. It took my 22 drops to get to yellow.
Click to expand...

In what unit is the question. For some reason I don't think they want you dividing by two then multiplying by 2.8.. I'm betting you're at 11dKH.
 
Since I got my calcium test about 2 weeks ago, it read about 320-340. My tank is only 7 weeks old with a few soft corals, no LPS or SPS so why would my calcium be so low? The LFS response was....oh you should use Kalk in the top off to get your calcium up but it seems as if all it did was raise my alkalinity.

I'm a little confused - time to do some more reading I guess.
 
It says on the test that:

Meq/L = Drops divided by 2 to get total meq/L.

I'm using the Seachem Lab Marine pH and Alkalinity test if it helps.
 
Remember not to fill the pipette all the way. It should be filled until the water reaches the bottom of the big bubble. I thought my alk was bad until I read the directions more closely. Use the reference test to get the pipette filled correctly. If it takes 6 drops...that is 3 meq/l or 8.4 dkh

I like the seachem test kit now that I know how to use it :)
 
Alas! Thanks for pointing that out Serum. I retested a third time ensuring my accuracy on the amount of water to be testing and I got 4.5 meq/L or 12.6 dKH!

I don't know what I'd do w/o Reef Central!

Any thoughts about why my Ca is so low? 340-360. I did a 25% water change 3 days ago and that didn't alter my Ca tests. I did get 100 lbs are live rock that had coraline all over it when I first started my tank 7 weeks ago. Could that coraline be eating up my Ca?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10755668#post10755668 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by lubyone1
Alas! Thanks for pointing that out Serum. I retested a third time ensuring my accuracy on the amount of water to be testing and I got 4.5 meq/L or 12.6 dKH!

I don't know what I'd do w/o Reef Central!

Any thoughts about why my Ca is so low? 340-360. I did a 25% water change 3 days ago and that didn't alter my Ca tests. I did get 100 lbs are live rock that had coraline all over it when I first started my tank 7 weeks ago. Could that coraline be eating up my Ca?
Click to expand...

Calcium Carbonate Precipitation?

Read the link I posted, specifically this section
 
You also asked about hard well water -- if your RODI unit is doing its job, I don't think it will effect Alk, but you can test your RODI water's pH/Alk quite easily -- and you may also want to invest in a TDS meter (very cheap -- ebay one) if for nothing else than to see when you need to change your RO membrane.
 
Since your alk is a little on the high side it has been precipitating some of the ca out a little. Dose calcium with a separate supplement, like turbo calcium by Kent. I'm glad your alk was really okay. These things are usually testing errors.Don't dose with Kalk for a while. Wait untill you can balance your alk and calcium.
 
What is the calcium level in your freshly mixed salt water. If you are using a salt like Instant Ocean you will have to supplement calcium.
 
I'd test the output of the RO-DI unit to make sure that it's working properly. If it is, the water changes aren't the problem.

I agree that some salt mixes are low in calcium, so 360 ppm isn't that bad.
 
if you want to raise the calcium with min raise in the alk level use a calcium chloride---Kent's turbo was suggested---that's a good one.
 
Kent turbo is what I use to boost my water change and Randy's 2 part to maintain my params. I do about 10 gallons a week and my instant ocean only gets me about 340 callcium, so a heaping teaspoon of turbo calcium does the trick. You should test your water change waters alk...that's how I found out why my alk never needed to be dosed.
 
I've been using IO since day 1 and it seems as if I'll have to continually does with Ca if I continue to use it which is fine. Coraline growth thus far is pretty limited to what the rock had to begin with.
 
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