help high kg

[dermer]

cal 440
sal 1.26
ph 8.4
KH 18 I tested it 3 times thinking that was wrong how do you lower it and keep it maintained were it needs to be
nitrates 0
nitrites 0
phosphates .1
temp 79-82

 

[affan]

err if you're dosing any supplements by the kilograms, you can expect your Alkalinity to be around 40 lbs :lol:

But seriously, just leave it alone. If you're supplementing with a two-part etc, just don't dose the Alkalinity part until the levels have depleted to a desired number.

 

[dermer]

that is my bad it is KH is 18 im just going nuts trying to figure this all out i havent added nothing to the tank is over a month and was just getting ready to make some of randies aditives and did tests prior to find this there are no problems in the tank all is healthy and so on no major growth and i cant grow coraline and the tank has been up for over 8 months now

 

[affan]

You may be able to attribute your lack of coralline growth to lower Magnesium levels. Do you ever test for Mg? Take it easy, if 18 dKH hasn't hurt anything yet, don't worry too much. The demand for Alk by Corals will most certainly bring down your dKH level within a couple of days.

 

[dermer]

i hope so ive tested it in the past and it was high then as well as for mag i dont have a test kit for it het but soon i think thats the issue there as well

 

[jdieck]

If you have not added any supplements I would doubt the tests are right. Get your water tested at your LFS or try to use an alternate kit. There is nothing worst than trying to fix something that is no broken.
What brand and kind of kit are you using?

 

[dermer]

aquarium pharmaceuticals not the best but its all the lfs had i plan to order some good ones soon at least the main tests needed

 

[theatrus]

Aquarium pharm should be accurate enough. I'd simply let it sit, or slowly do water changes (small one per day or so). Its worse to change KH rapidly than it is by leaving it at 18dKH.

 

[jdieck]

Those kits are roughly accurate so I would still recommend finding where your alkalinity is comming from otherwise it may never come down if you do not resolve the source. Are you using Tap water, what about your salt?

 

[dermer]

im using ro from the local water distribution store ill check it but im almost possitive it is ok

 

[Billybeau1]

Yes, I would mix up a small batch of replacement water and test the alk before you put it in the tank. This will eliminate some things.

Your not using any pH buffers are you ?

 

[dermer]

nope nothing has been added im in the pricess of making some of the 2 part additives from randy

 

[Billybeau1]

Well you need to find out where all that alkalinity is coming from first.

 

[dermer]

i plan to test my water latter when i can to see if that may in fact be the problem im hopping this is just some type of mistake and there is no real problem but im must get to the bottom of it either way

 

[dermer]

ok so i just tested my top off water and it is at 8 so thats not the problem any other ideas were the problem could come from

 

[jdieck]

Any kind of substrate that does not come from natural sources?
What supplement were you using before you stopped addition a month ago? Any chance the Alkalinity was already sky high then?

 

[dermer]

yes it has been high for a while and i stopped adding additives to get it down i did have cc as a substrate and i recently in the last week changes to sand from lowes

 

[jdieck]

Do you know anything about the sand from Lowes? is it silica based or Carbonate based?

 

[dermer]

it is silica based has been in the tank for a few days now and the alk was high before the sand was put in and i had cc

 

[jdieck]

Silica usually do no increase alkalinity so it got to be something else and I ran ut of ideas. Just make some water changes and wait. Test often and if you see it comes back up again then we will keep on looking for the source.