High Alkalinity & Low PH

[tgurske]

Hey all,

For some reason my Alkalinity is 11.8 or 13 (depending on which red sea test I use) and I am not sure if I should try to lower it. I just did a 30% water change with reef crystals. I just added some corals and other cool stuff and I don't want to kill it all. Should I add some acid or leave it alone?

PH is 8 and I don't want to raise it because it will raise the ALK even higher.

 

[Timfish]

I'd only do water changes for alkalinity and would never use acid to drop it. As our corals start growing their demand for bicarbonates will increase so be sure to keep monitoring it. For pH you might try running an airline from outside to aireate the tank to see if that helps with pH.

 

[griss]

I'd only do water changes for alkalinity and would never use acid to drop it. As our corals start growing their demand for bicarbonates will increase so be sure to keep monitoring it. For pH you might try running an airline from outside to aireate the tank to see if that helps with pH.

I completely agree.

 

[tgurske]

I tested again this morning and it's still reading 11.8. My input water is reading 6.7. Add in the salt and it's off the charts. Ordered a new RO filter so hoping that will fix the problem.

 

[griss]

To make sure I understand:
Tank water - 11.8
RODI water - 6.7
Salt added to RODI - Off the Charts

Is that correct?

If so, the salt is the culprit. Either you got a bad batch or it settled and needs to be mixed.

I had two bad batches of salt a while back. Both were definitely different batch numbers but had extremely high CA and low Alk.

I keep my salt in buckets and when I add a bag, I roll the bucket around for about 5 minutes to make sure it’s mixed (not settled) before using.

 

[tgurske]

To make sure I understand:
Tank water - 11.8
RODI water - 6.7
Salt added to RODI - Off the Charts

Is that correct?

If so, the salt is the culprit. Either you got a bad batch or it settled and needs to be mixed.

I had two bad batches of salt a while back. Both were definitely different batch numbers but had extremely high CA and low Alk.

I keep my salt in buckets and when I add a bag, I roll the bucket around for about 5 minutes to make sure it’s mixed (not settled) before using.

Yes, correct. And great idea about mixing up the salt.

Thank you for your help. I dumped the rest of that salt in to the pool. I have a new case instant ocean so hopefully that does better. I will report back when I mix some up.

 

[tgurske]

UPDATE: I mixed up one gallon of new water. Input water tested at 6.7 (same as before) and the mixed water (after one hour) tested at 14. I will let the water sit for a day and see where it's testing then. The original salt was intant ocean reef crystals from a local store and the new salt is instant ocean (not reef crystals) purchased from amazon. The test kits are both red sea and were purchased a few weeks ago and both are getting similar results although the pro test seems more accurate do to not using a dropper. I wonder if the high Alkalinity is intentional since most people need to raise it.

 

[tgurske]

UPDATE: New RO filter Alkalinity is too low to register on the test (which is good) so I think the problem was just with the old water filter. Thank you for your help!

 

[griss]

Great news.

 

[monkeysee1]

Sure.
Sounds like changing out the old water filter did the trick.
I think you need a better salt than Instant Ocean, though. Next time you run out try Red Sea Coral Pro and if you in the future need to raise your pH without messing with your alkalinity add in some Reef Buffer, following directions EXACTLY, of course.