Water parameters out of whack again (Alk too low).

hansnfrans

hansnfrans

New member
I need some advice in getting my Alk back to normal. Here are the readings of the tank:

Alk: 5.8 dKH
Mg: 1125
pH: 8.0 (reading at 12am) and 8.0 (reading at 12pm)
Ca: ~400
NO3: 5ppm
P04: 0.1
ORP: 390 mV (morning) and 360mV (evening)

The changes that have been made recently:

I have been using Kent Liquid Reactor for 3 weeks now, in order to provide calcium. No other products are being added at this time. Also, 3 weeks ago, I added one of Rod's Carbon Gizmos filled with ESV carbon (carbon has been running 24/7). My montiporas are growing very well and so is the coralline algae. On the other hand, some of my zoanthids seem unhappy with the water conditions.

Should I start dripping Kalk in order to bring up the Alk? If so, then should I do it fully concentrated (2 tsp/gallon)?

What should I do to correct the magnesium?
 
Just a suggestion..... why not start using a home made 2 part? Or even something like ESV's 2 part? It will make your life so much easier.

For now use some baking soda to raise you ALK. Use the reef chemistry calculator to determine the amount you will need. For the magnesium you will need to buy mag supplement or find someone to sell you some mag flake. If you find mag flake you will want to mix it with epsom salt on a ratio of 10(mag flake) to 1(epsom salt) I believe. Ask Randy if that's correct first.
 
I stopped using Kent products years ago cause they are expensive and never seem to get results. I had the same problem with that liquid reactor, it's junk and I ended up throwing it away! I have been using B-ionic by ESV for years now and am really happy with the results. B-ionic also makes a Mag supplement which I also use and it works well too. I'd agree with Aquaticman and use the baking soda for now (remember to bake it first) or try Randy's 2 part. FYI, kalk wont raise your levels, only help to maintain them when they are where they need to be. HTH
 
Yes the ALK is low, but DO NOT raise this too fast. A knee-jerk reaction and dumping in a large dose of any thing to raise this level will result in tragedy and be more of an issue than the low level is now.

Aquaticmans offer is a good one as is his advice. Use one product or another to slowly raise the ALK to your desired level and work from there to maintain it.

Speaking of maintaining - Yes you should be topping off/dripping saturated kalk water. Like a calcium reactor, saturated kalk water is a method for maintaining a desired ALk (and CA) level. There are many reefers out there who use only Kalk for their CA and ALK balance (Rod is one of them), so you could theorhetically stop dosing with the Liquid Reactor provided your system requirements can be met with kalk alone.

The best stuff I've used to raise the Mg level is Kent Tech-M. Jdieck recommends this stuff so that's good enough for me. I have been using this on my system for the past 3 months and it helps me maintain a 1250 - 1300 level.
 
Good old arm & hammer baking soda disolved in fresh water will get your alk up like was said.

I also use Kent Tech-M for mag with excellent results.
 
calcium addatives will bring down your dKH....best to correct with buffer&Mg then worry about CA boosters

get those PO4 down to zero.....
 
Aquaticman74 - I was actually using a 2-part 1.5 months ago, and it was the reason for my last post about water parameter problems (Alk was 12dKH and Ca was 330). I won't be able to make it to the Alsip swap but I greatly appreciate the offer on the
mag flake.

mm949 - I have some Kent Superbuffer sitting here. Would this help?

So, would I be able to.....Use the Kent Liquid Reactor, Drip Kalk (2 tsp. per gallon), use the SuperBuffer, and supplement with Tech-M all at once or is the combination of so many products going to cause a whole new problem??
 
Why use 4 differant products? Just get you alk up to a good level using the calculator above and then start useing kalk aka limewater. Its a heck of a lot cheaper if you use pickleing lime. As far as the Mg goes just get it up however you can
 
raise your mg to 1200 and try buffering your topoff water with whatever you use per day in buffer x whatever number of days your topoff reservoir will last. That evens out any peaks and valleys, since it's pegged to the evap rate.
 
I am going to use Kalk in the top-off water. Now, with that in mind, is it okay to add the Superbuffer in with the Kalk in the Kent Aquadoser that I'm using.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8248450#post8248450 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by hansnfrans
Oh, and also, is it okay to raise the Mg2+ rapidly or is it like Alk where it should be raised slowly?
Click to expand...
If you use commercial products you can increase say 100 ppm in one shot. If you are using Mag flake, I would go for 25 ppm per day at a time just in case you get an out spec batch that can contain some Ammonia. This way any small amount of ammonia gets taken care by your aquarium bacteria.
 
Garen, you can not add any type of Ca, alk or MG additive to kalk, the super high PH will just cause it precipitate out of the water. You won't be able to raise the ALK and CA levels with kalk, only help to keep them in balance. HTH

PK

PS...Browse those articles in the chemistry forum, without Randy's articles I would be out of this hobby by now.
 
I know--Garen asked in his first post "Should I start dripping Kalk in order to bring up the Alk? If so, then should I do it fully concentrated (2 tsp/gallon)?" That was a kind offer of you by the way :)

PK
 
well i see Garen about every other week anyways..
i just saw him 2 days ago.. i would have given him some had i know..

Gheez Garen..lol we only spent like 2 hours BS'ing.. im guessing it was after you left you discovered it?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

F
High calcium, low alk
Replies
12
Views
1K
Jposch
J
D
Algae issue - and I feel like I've tried everything
2
Replies
21
Views
3K
JCOLE
JCOLE
TBishop
Cycle Day 6; Weird parameter readings
2
Replies
20
Views
2K
TBishop
TBishop
Sk8r
Setting your water parameters to stay....
Replies
0
Views
1K
Sk8r
Sk8r
jam.jo
Help! Added BTA too soon
Replies
0
Views
2K
jam.jo
jam.jo
Back
Top