Safely Raising Alkalinity

[Randyp79]

Need some advice here...

I just discovered my doser on my frag tank was not dosing alkalinity. When I tested this month I found my Alkalinity was 4.0 dkh. All corals look healthy, even my sps have PE and good color.

My question is, how much can I safely raise my alkalinity per day and what should I use? Should I use baking soda or Randy's recipe formula 1 or formula 2?

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[homer1475]

Randys recipe is baking soda mixed with RO/DI.

Part one calls for baking the baking soda(soda ash) and will have a raising effect on your PH. Recipe 2 calls for just plain old baking soda and will not raise the PH, but rather lower it a bit.

For your situation I would use recipe 2 and only raise it by 1 DKH a day to not shock anything.

 

[nereefpat]

That value is suspiciously low. If you haven't already done so, double check that with another test kit or stop by the LFS.

I agree with homer on the baking soda or soda ash. Either is fine. And 1 DkH per day is usually fine, but it might not hurt to go a little slower (say 0.5) with the value starting so low.

 

[Silly clownfish]

I agree you should double check those test results.
Baking soda OR soda ash will work, but note that they are different substances. Which to use depends on your ph. Soda ash increases pH, so if your pH is good, use baking soda. Read Randy's 2 part write up for details: http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#5

As for how fast to raise it, 1dKh/day is the normal recommendation. But note that your tank is still consuming alkalinity each day, so what you need to add is in addition to your daily maintenance dose. So is if your tank is using 1dKH/ day, to increase by 1dKH, you need to add enough per day for 1dKh. If you just add enough to keep up, you will never raise your actual levels. I think it is common to forget to factor this into your math and wonder why levels aren't increasing.

If you aren't sure how much you are using per day, then aim low, test daily and adjust as needed.

 

[nashorn]

Need some advice here...

I just discovered my doser on my frag tank was not dosing alkalinity. When I tested this month I found my Alkalinity was 4.0 dkh. All corals look healthy, even my sps have PE and good color.

My question is, how much can I safely raise my alkalinity per day and what should I use? Should I use baking soda or Randy's recipe formula 1 or formula 2?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G935A using Tapatalk

Be carful of chasing numbers when all looks good.
Fastest way of getting into trouble with sps.
I learn that the hard way over and over again...lol

 

[bertoni]

I'm skeptical of the reading, too. I'd definitely get a second opinion. If the animals are having issues, some water changes might help.

 

[nashorn]

Be carful of chasing numbers when all looks good.
Fastest way of getting into trouble with sps.
I learn that the hard way over and over again...lol

I guess I needed to learn that again..lol

 

[PeteStarks]

Slowly is always better than faster in this hobby. I was in the same boat with a really low Alk level and found it better to slowly step it up ~0.5 dkH/day and observe any changes. I first knew something was wrong when growth came to a standstill, but health looked normal. Chasing numbers normally comes back to bite me too...