alkalinity

E

eclipse_001

Reefing newb
Don't know why or how but it seems that a tank of mine just keeps using up alkalinity. Calcium stays up around 440-460 but the alkalinity keeps dropping, I use ro/di water for top off, and Seachem Reef Builder and Reef advantage calcium. run tests twice weekly and dose accordingly, but for some reason the alkalinity keeps dropping down around 6dkh. I bring it back up to 8dkh and three days later it is back to 6dkh, all the while the biggest swing that I get from the calcium is about 20 ( 420-440 ). is this normal or should I try over the next week to raise the alkalinity up to 10dkh or even 12dkh? so that when I do get these big swings in alkalinity it doesn't drop it below 8dkh?
 
You want to shoot for consistency, not swings.
So you need to figure out by trial and error, the correct amount to dose every day or every other day to keep your alk where it should be. Shoot for around 9dkh and see how stuff does.
This is where dosing pumps can come in handy. I have two of them and use the two-part solutions from Bulk Reef Supply for calcium and alk. The dosing pumps add minute amounts throughout the course of the day so there's no big swings.
 
So I may need to be dosing the alk everyday and in larger amounts just to keep it stable? I just don't understand why this tank is using up or loosing so much alkalinity and the other ones don't,
 
You would need to follow the instructions on the package to bring the alk up safely over a period of time, and then once you reach your preferred level, you can reduce the amount to a portion that lets dose every day or two and keep it stable. This will take some experimenting and you will still need to test periodically to see if anything changes.

As to why this tank soaks up more than your others, i don't have an answer for that.

Also test of Magnesium. Alk, Mag and Calc all work hand in hand. If one is too high it can prevent another from getting up to preferred levels.
 
Have you double checked your test results using a different test kit? What's going on just doesn't make sense, and it sounds like a bad test kit.
 
Mine is alway running low as well but my Ca drops too. I dose very other day with Bionic just to keep the Alk at 9 and the Ca at 420. My tank is new and there is a lot of new coralline growth.

Don't mean to hijack but where do you get dosing pumps?
 
When calcification occurs (or precipitation), for every 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH) of alk that is used, aprox 18 ppm calcium and 2 ppm magnesium goes with it. Taking into account the lack of accuracy in hobby grade test kits (what brand test kits do you use?), it looks like what's happening in your tank is perfectly normal.

Kalk is sort of the same as a DIY 2-part, except you use kalk to maintain levels not raise them...if that's required. Kalk has an extremely high pH and should only be dripping into a system.
 
My Ph is fine and steady at 8.2. So what you are saying is that Kalk will keep my Ca and Alk steady if dripped. If I dont dose the Bionic 2part it will drop. How high will the Kalk raise the ph? Or is it safer to just drip the DIY 2part?

I have read that article on Ca and Alk and Mag from reefkeeping.com but it makes my head hurt.

Sorry again for the hijack Eclispe
 
So what you are saying is that Kalk will keep my Ca and Alk steady if dripped.
Click to expand...
Yes.
Or is it safer to just drip the DIY 2part?
Click to expand...
You don't need to drip the DIY 2-part. I add about 240 mL (almost 1 full cup) of each and just slowly dump in the whole cup at once. I dose them about 5 mins apart.
How high will the Kalk raise the ph?
Click to expand...
What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime
"Adding 1.25% of the aquarium’s volume (1.25 gallons of limewater per 100 gallons of aquarium water) as saturated limewater all at once raises the pH by 0.6 to 0.7 pH units. Such an increase is clearly too large. Adding a smaller portion all at once can, however, be acceptable. Adding, for example, 0.25% of the aquarium volume (0.25 gallons or 1 L of limewater per 100 gallons of aquarium water) will raise the pH by only 0.1 to 0.2 pH units. Unless the pH is high (>8.4) before the addition, that amount is likely acceptable. The other concern with all-at-once dosing is that the local pH in the area of the addition will rise considerably higher than the values above. So dosing must be done far from living organisms, and in high flow areas that will facilitate fast mixture. In some aquaria, such restrictions make all-at-once dosing of limewater prohibitively risky to living organisms."
 
Im going to make a DIY dripper. The Kalk makes me nervous. Can I just drip the DIY 2part to replace the water that evaporates? Sort of like the Kalk? Or will that raise the Ca to high?
 
I would say no, it won't work. Besides the fact you can not mix the 2 solutions together, it would be really hard to figure out how much supplement you would need in the volume of water that you are replacing from evaporation.

If you find, by testing every day for a week, how much you need to dose each day you can make 2 drippers and have each dispense the needed amount. IMO, your looking for problems by even trying to do it like that. If you need to dose 50 mL/day, just dump it in at once.
 
Thanks cc I wasn't going to mix them together. That makes sense. I guess Ill go with the Kalk. That seem to kill two birds with one stone. Ill watch the PH.
 
How are you going to determine how much kalk to put in the water so what goes into the tank is a strong enough solution? The max kalk you can add to water is 1 tablespoon/gal to make a saturated solution. Adding any more will just cause the calcium and alk to precipitate out. You are going to have to figure out if you need a fully saturated solution to maintain your levels or if you have to make a weaker solution.
Unfortunately it isn't as easy as just mixing it up and letting it drip on auto pilot. ;)
 
I have had he same problem for a long time. Cal, Mag and other parms stay good but only Alk drops below its accepted range. Coralline uses up a lot of carbonates and will cause Alk to drop. I dose with Unbaked baking soda.
 
sen5241b said:
I have had he same problem for a long time. Cal, Mag and other parms stay good but only Alk drops below its accepted range. Coralline uses up a lot of carbonates and will cause Alk to drop. I dose with Unbaked baking soda.
Click to expand...
Yes I have alot of new coralline growth. How do you dose with unbaked baking soda?
 
ccCapt said:
How are you going to determine how much kalk to put in the water so what goes into the tank is a strong enough solution? The max kalk you can add to water is 1 tablespoon/gal to make a saturated solution. Adding any more will just cause the calcium and alk to precipitate out. You are going to have to figure out if you need a fully saturated solution to maintain your levels or if you have to make a weaker solution.
Unfortunately it isn't as easy as just mixing it up and letting it drip on auto pilot. ;)
Click to expand...

:pooh: There is no way I can do the math in this one ! Im a painting contractor.

So I made myself a drip system today and filled it with tap water to test it. I have it set up to drip one drop per second. Im just guessing that this will equal about a gallon over 24 hours? I will measure the amount of water tomorrow. I lose about a gallon of water a day.

As far as the Kalk I was thinking a teaspoon per gallon mixed with RODI water? I would drip the settled solution. If I error on the shy side and test daily I can bump it up as needed. Is some Kalk better than none?
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

Mike
We're Back!
Replies
0
Views
686
Mike
Mike
Hellybell80
Water quality advice needed.
Replies
4
Views
2K
Hellybell80
Hellybell80
R
Giving it a second try
Replies
0
Views
2K
Reefydude360
R
Loz
Introducing my self
Replies
2
Views
1K
Loz
Loz
Nick
I've learned something...
Replies
6
Views
1K
jahel318
jahel318
Back
Top