Dkh of 6, pH 8.2

[Gdbyrd]

Do I need to do anything? The pH is fine, but a little worried about that dkh.

Rest of my labs:
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
pH: 8.3
dkh: 6
Ca+: 400

Just wondering if I need to do anything. I checked it twice, both times it's been 6. Hell, it might be able to pass at 5..but I'm not real sure. I have no mg test, but I do have that 3 part series stuff handy: that DT's pure stuff with a blue and black label.

I just switched things over to a different tank, so I'm not sure if that had anything to do with it.

 

[ccCapt]

Your alk (6 dKH) is low. You can use the DT's alk supplement, but it would take quite a bit. That stuff is pretty weak. I would shoot for alk more in the 8-9 dKH range.
You can also use plain Arm & Hammer baking soda to raise alk and then use the Reef Chemistry calculator to figure out how much you need to dose.

 

[sen5241b]

Baked baking soda will raise your alk and raise your Ph but dose slow. UN-baked baking soda does not riase Ph. Do not dose all at once.

 

[Gdbyrd]

I'm not really familiar with this stuff. I went to the calculator page and it says to add 5.3 tsp of baking soda to the tank, but to do so slowly. I'm assuming I should dilute this in some RO/DI water prior to adding it to the tank, but how much do I dilute it?

How quickly should I mix this in and how long will the effects last? The website also says to monitor pH during the transition. How frequently should I be doing this and again, how long should it take for me to add the full 5.3 tsp? I think after you add it each time you're supposed to wait an hour and check the alk, is that correct?

Thanks guys.

Also, the tank is a 55g..BUT, how many actual gallons are in there? I have 60lbs of sand and 100 lbs of LR. Want to make sure I'm doing this correctly.

 

[yote]

Heres how I dose mine.
I'll use the calculator to figure out how much I need to dose.Then I'll fill a measuring cup with fresh RO water and add the recommended amount of baking soda and stir to dissolve.Then I'll dose half,wait an hour and dose the other half.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Heres how I dose mine.
I'll use the calculator to figure out how much I need to dose.Then I'll fill a measuring cup with fresh RO water and add the recommended amount of baking soda and stir to dissolve.Then I'll dose half,wait an hour and dose the other half.

Is that it though? That won't hurt anything going from 6 to like 10 in an hours time?

 

[daugherty]

my calc that i use says only increase the alk by 1.5 dkh a day

 

[Gdbyrd]

my calc that i use says only increase the alk by 1.5 dkh a day

I'm going to recheck it tomorrow and start slowly increasing it. See how it goes.

When you add stuff like this to the tank, how often do you have to keep adding? I'm sure it's different per system, but what's a good estimate?

 

[ccCapt]

As James mentioned, you don't want to raise your alk by more than 1-1.5 dKH per day. You can use the DT alk supplement you have, but as I previously mentioned, it will take alot. (I know the rep for DT's and he gave me a few bottles of all 3 to try) If I rermember correctly, it takes 1 capful per 10g to raise your alk 0.5 dKH. I would suggest you 1st test your alk, then add 4 capfuls and test again.

If you want to use plain Arm & Hammer baking soda, mix 1 1/8 cups in a gal of water and then choose Randy's Alk Recipe #2 on the Reef Chemsitry calculator for the proper dosage.

As far as how often you may need to dose once you reach the level you want, it depends on your specific system. Do you have many/any hard corals, do you have lots of coralline algae growing, do you use a salt that has a high or low alk level when you do water changes, etc.
The best way to see how much your tank consumes is.......test, test and test. :)

 

[Gdbyrd]

As James mentioned, you don't want to raise your alk by more than 1-1.5 dKH per day. You can use the DT alk supplement you have, but as I previously mentioned, it will take alot. (I know the rep for DT's and he gave me a few bottles of all 3 to try) If I rermember correctly, it takes 1 capful per 10g to raise your alk 0.5 dKH. I would suggest you 1st test your alk, then add 4 capfuls and test again.

If you want to use plain Arm & Hammer baking soda, mix 1 1/8 cups in a gal of water and then choose Randy's Alk Recipe #2 on the Reef Chemsitry calculator for the proper dosage.

As far as how often you may need to dose once you reach the level you want, it depends on your specific system. Do you have many/any hard corals, do you have lots of coralline algae growing, do you use a salt that has a high or low alk level when you do water changes, etc.
The best way to see how much your tank consumes is.......test, test and test. :)

Thanks for the advise guys. I'll give it a go today and see how things start going.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Just a few quick questions. When's the best time to dose? Hopefully in the evening will be alright. I oftentimes get home late from work.

Also, will I need to make any adjustments to Ca? I seem to remember something about there being a close relationship between Alk and Ca..you increase one, you have to add to the other..something like that.

I ended up dosing the DT's, and Capt you were right on the dosing instructions. I couldn't find a damn 1g container to mix up the baking soda and was getting tired of waiting it out.

I need to wait an hour before I can recheck the tank right?

 

[ccCapt]

Best time to dose is when you have time. ;) It really doesn't make a whole lot of diff when you do it as long as you try to be consistant.

When calcification occurs, whether it be hard corals forming their skeletons, coralline algae growing or even calcium precipitation on pumps/heaters, the process will use a ratio of aprox 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH) alk, 18 ppm calcium and 2 ppm magnesium.

I use an empty gallon milk jug for my DIY supplements.

You can dose both (calcium and alk) about 5 mins apart and test about 15 mins afterwards.

 

[Gdbyrd]

Well, I had to dose twice to get it to go up 1 pt. I went ahead and added a few capfuls of Ca too, won't hurt to bring it up a little.

I'm just gonna keep dosing until I get my alk around 9 or so.

 

[yote]

Is that it though? That won't hurt anything going from 6 to like 10 in an hours time?

Yeah,that would probably cause a lot of stress in the tank.But I basically just dose enough to maintain 12 DKH ( 1-1/2 tsps baked baking soda) daily in my 125.So I'm trying to bring up a whole lot cause I dont dose unless it tests at 11 DKH.

 

[Gdbyrd]

I was REALLY trying hard to avoid having to dose my tank. Where did I go wrong : / I only have two LPS and 1 SPS..and they're all small.

I've gotten it up from 6 to about 7.5ish from yesterday till today. I'm also dosing for Ca at the same time..it's been at 400 consistently so a little higher won't hurt anything.

For now I'm going to check it daily and dose until it's higher. Then check it every three days. Also going to adding buffers to my IO when I do water changes. See if that helps any.

Getting worried now because I take a lot of 3-4 day vacations and I have no one to watch my tank for me. Was really hoping to find a way to automate all of this stuff.

Anything else I should be doing?

 

[yote]

There one thing that nearly everybody forgets about that uses calcium and alkalinity.And thats coralline algae.Even you just have soft corals,the coralline will still use up the calcium and carbonates.