Need help with Alk

[jddaniel]

I have a 50 gallon reef with mostly softies and zoos that I need to boost the alkalinity in. It is dosed regularly with Kalkwasser for all top off. The alk is normally in the 8-9 dkH range, however after having my g/f take care of the tank while I'm out of town the alk has dropped to 6.4 dkH. I need an easy fix to boost the alk back to "normal" levels that she can add in addition to the regular kalk dosing. I believe part of the contributing factor to the low alk is the phosban I run in the tank, but this has never caused the alk to drop this much in the past. Any help on a good additive would be appretiated.

 

[reefshadow]

You can add arm and hammer pure baking soda, or cut it in a 5:1 ratio with washing soda. Same as you can buy in any lfs and in some cases better, as some commercial supplements contain borate.

 

[jddaniel]

Wouldn't the baking soda cause the PH to rise at the same time? I do have Kent Superbuffer that I had her add to the tank tonight, but I don't know how effective that will be on the kH.

 

[aquaman67]

The pH of Baking Soda is about 8. That's it.

The pH of washing soda is about 12.

So just adding the baking soda will do the trick.

The Super Buffer will do the same thing. Just add per the instructions.

 

[Avi]

Chose a reliable additive, like Seachem's Reef Builder, and then test first, and use this after testing:

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html