Any way to lower alk?

[Bifferwine]

My alkalinity test kit must've been bad. I bought a new one today, and it's at 21 dKH. My old one is reading 4.

Anything I can do to lower the alk besides my continuous water changes? I suspect that's what's continuing to stress my corals.

 

[VAreef]

Sorry but think your stuck with water changes. On the brite side water changes are good for everything in your tank. Water changes help with trace elements, calcium, and lowering all the bad crap. So think of it this way. When in doubt change it out.

 

[ccCapt]

That doesn't seem right. Is the water still cloudy at all? The precipitation from the kalk OD should have dropped the alk way down. If it is right, lots of water changes.

 

[yote]

I bet its right since in the panic mode she tryed to stabilize the alkalinity with baking soda.

Probably a good idea to plan on daily water changes until its back to normal.

 

[Bifferwine]

Rightyo. Water changes it is. I've got 30 gallons ready to go for tonight. I'll start doing 30 gallons a day. Man our water bill is going to SUCK this month.

 

[Bifferwine]

I just did a 30 gallon water change. Alk dropped from 21 to 20 after about an hour of the tank mixing together.

I'll buy another trash can tomorrow and start doing 60 gallons at a time. Le sigh.

 

[rwynn]

Wouldn't removing 33% of your water reduce any concentration that is not added back in by that much? Or am I using fuzzy math?

 

[Bifferwine]

Well, I tested the alk of the new water, and it was 11. Most salt mixes will put alk anywhere between 7 and 12 (which is normal). And it's a 90 gallon tank, but I have about another 50 gallons of sump/refugium volume, so a 30 gallon water change isn't 33%.

 

[ccCapt]

If your running low on salt, you may want to switch to a brand lower in alk...like Red Sea with an alk level around 7-8 dKH.

 

[sen5241b]

I've done a gazillion 50% changes and my tank was never the worse for it. In your case you may wish to ensure Ph is matched in addition to temp and salinity.

 

[Bifferwine]

If your running low on salt, you may want to switch to a brand lower in alk...like Red Sea with an alk level around 7-8 dKH.

I did. I finished my bucket of Oceanic and bought Red Sea Reef.

 

[VAreef]

AHA you could use my concentration equation here to find out what final concentration you would get and how much water would need to be changed etc :) See I knew there was a time that thing would come in handy