Lets talk Alkalinity !

[rsteagall]

Some of you may have seen this information in another thread but I thought this information was worthy of a dedicated discussion.

Whats all this about? Alkalinity! Talking with fishdoc, glfat, and pickupman66 and the loss of my superman montipora has got me real concerned with ALK in my tank. Thus the reason for all this.

I've been trying to get my pH (and thus Alk) up for the past couple of weeks. Every two days I've been buffering the tank with Kent Superbuffer dKh and finally today when I took measurements I think I got it right. Over the past week or so I've probably added about 12-14 teaspoons of the Kent Superbuffer dKh to get the PH up to ~8.1 and Alk to ~10dKh.

Further tests on RO/DI and freshly mixed water reveals the following:

RO/DI water of Consolidated Utility District water in Rutherford County = ~0mEq/L <---NOT READABLE!!!!

Using the same RO/DI water with a mixture of Oceanic Salt to 1.026 sg = ~1.7mEq/L or 4.76dKh

extra info...Using the same RO/DI water with a mixture of Oceanic Salt to 1.026 = ~580ppm of ca and a pH of 8.3 according to Wanesworld's pinpoint ca and pH testers.


Needless to say the buffer in the Oceanic salt isn't enough with the combination of my water to get ALK where it should be and with that high of CA I suppose it makes it even that much harder to get it buffered properly.



Thoughts?

Anything to add?

What are your Alk readings of R0/DI, RO/DI+Salt, and where do you live?


-Ryan

 

[crumbletop]

Bummer you lost your superman. That sure is some low alk in the Oceanic Salt. If the Alk isn't wanting to come up, check your Mg. If Mg is low, then you'll have major problems with the whole Ca/Alk/Mg balance. A lot of times, people don't consider the mg.

 

[rsteagall]

I don't have a Ca or Mg test kit. I guess we need to start referring to these as "The Big Three + Two". The other two being SG and pH.

I guess I'll be investing in some test kits for the big three and/or monitors very soon!

I'd love for people to tell what their straight RO/DI water and RO/DI with whatever brand of salt they use tests at.... please... let'em rip.

 

[SRT80]

as many searches I've done on Oceanic salt. Everyone says its high calcium and low alk. Maybe thats why some do a 50/50 Oceanic/Instant Ocean salt mix.

Steve

 

[rsteagall]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9611047#post9611047 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by SRT80
as many searches I've done on Oceanic salt. Everyone says its high calcium and low alk. Maybe thats why some do a 50/50 Oceanic/Instant Ocean salt mix.

Steve

Indeed. I guess my tests confirm this. Honestly I think I'd rather dose Ca rather than constantly fight pH/Alk. I'm definitely considering changing to IO with the next salt I buy. According to Gary and a few other people, it seems to me that Alk is more important than Ca and is a quicker killer than low Ca is. I'm already feeling a little more confident in my tank. Hopefully raising these params will assist in getting rid of this darn hair algae too.

If anyone has a chance this weekend, please test Alk/Ca/pH of IO salt mix before it hits your tank. I think this would be very beneficial for all to know.


-Ryan

 

[fishdoc11]

IO runs around 11 dKH and 380 Ca IME.

I have used IO for years and this just seems to bring up slightly sagging alk whenever I do a water change.
Natural levels are good to shoot for IME.......~8-9dKH and 375-425 Ca...a little higher doesn't hurt on either one FWIW.
I would start using a good 2 part instead of the buffer Ryan....much better as far as stability etc..

hth, Chris

 

[rsteagall]

Thanks Chris. By those numbers I can see why people would mix the two.

I started reading some stuff on the two part tonight. Which recipe are most people using?

Also, is http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php this the one you're talking about?

 

[fishdoc11]

Randy's is what I have been using for a while now(> 2 years I think)
Chris

 

[crumbletop]

Yeah, that's the link. That's what I use too. I believe we are going to demonstrate how to mix it up at the next meeting at Waynes place (later in April). Its not too hard to do, but seeing it can give people confidence.

 

[rsteagall]

I hope that meeting isn't April 21st. I've got a wedding to go to. =\


.... and its not

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=9544653#post9544653

 

[crumbletop]

It's April 28. Time not yet announced by Wayne (It's in the last list of overall meets).

 

[cee]

You can find an interesting on salinity and pH throughout the world's oceans and seas here: http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dy...://www.seafriends.org.nz/oceano/seawater.htm. Note the large variation in salinity and pH around the world, 34 ppt (1.025) and 8.2 pH is kind of an average, although it could be off for certain species from, say for instance, the Red Sea.


NSW is actually 6-7 dKH, not 8-9. Hobbyists like to keep it slightly higher to buffer their pH, which is more difficult to do on a small scale indoors than in the actual ocean. A good (although a bit old) article on different synthetic salts can be found here:
http://saltaquarium.about.com/gi/dy...m/fish2/aqfm/1999/mar/features/1/default.asp.

There are other salt studies out there. You'll quickly find that none are perfect, but by mixing to compensate for the lacking elements, you can come pretty close.

 

[pitbullpooch]

heres an article that i learned alot from when i got serious about my water parameters

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[fishdoc11]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9613246#post9613246 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cee


NSW is actually 6-7 dKH, not 8-9. Hobbyists like to keep it slightly higher to buffer their pH, which is more difficult to do on a small scale indoors than in the actual ocean.

Dave/cee is correct


......8-9 dKH is what I shoot for.

Chris