trying to lower my alk??? help!

[MplsMan]

calc: 410
alk : 15

ok i'm getting frusterated why the alk keep going up then down, the bubble count is almost a stop drip, as slow as i can get it.
what do i need to do to get it down
i have slowed the bubble count from last week and the alk went up
go figure.

i top off with pickeling lime just at night is that raising it too much
should i change the setting on the controller:
what it's set at now:

If pH2 > 06.50 Then CO2 ON
If pH2 < 06.58 Then CO2 OFF

what can i do to drop it down

thanks for all your help.

 

[MplsMan]

so i've been toying with the fact of turning off the alk and calc RX all together and letting the alk drop and rely on the pickeling lime to see what happens, from what i've herd from a reefer the CAL RX and CO2 is whats raising the alk. they also mentioned a water change?
what are your thoughts ??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I'd shut off the CO2 entirely, and start replacing evaporated water with just RO/DI until the alk drops at least a few dKH.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

calc: 410
alk : 15

what units?
15 dKH or 15 meq/L?

to avoid a potentially lethal situation to your reef animals always express numbers with the unit of measurement!


this is a bad set of commands.
If pH2 > 06.50 Then CO2 ON
If pH2 < 06.58 Then CO2 OFF

should be:
if pH > 6.58 then CO2 on
if pH < 6.50 then CO2 off

> equals greater than
< equals less than

it's generally advised NOT to run reactor media at pH 6.5 or lower because it will melt inside the chamber.

 

[mm949]

u can add some calcium chloride to bump the calcium which will drop the alk...
im not sure what size the tank is but my CA reactor does 1 drip per second
u can try bumping up the pH controller to 6.8 - 7.0 and see if that helps

 

[MplsMan]

what units?
15 dKH or 15 meq/L?

to avoid a potentially lethal situation to your reef animals always express numbers with the unit of measurement!


this is a bad set of commands.
If pH2 > 06.50 Then CO2 ON
If pH2 < 06.58 Then CO2 OFF

should be:
if pH > 6.58 then CO2 on
if pH < 6.50 then CO2 off

> equals greater than
< equals less than

it's generally advised NOT to run reactor media at pH 6.5 or lower because it will melt inside the chamber.

alk is in dkh
i did change the CO2 settings that you sug as well.
do you think i should leave the CO2 on then ??

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Why would you want to keep it on?

 

[MplsMan]

ok as i have it now the CO2 is off till i can get the alk down but i still have the RX running. shold i still continue to top off with the pickeling lime or will that continue to rise the alk then.

thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Yes, run the reactor pump, just shut off the CO2.

As I said, I'd top off the RO/DI for now, but if you continue with the limewater and alkalinity is actually dropping, that's fine too.