low KH (carbonate hardness)

[Dusty44]

hello all,
Is it common practice to add a buffer to keep the KH at 7Dkh? My tank was always at 7-8 Dkh for the first 8 months without adding anything and now without the buffer the KH goes down to 3-4 Dkh within 2 weeks. What could be using up the KH. I do not add anything else other that the KH buffer to the tank. I do (religous) 10 gallon weekly water changes.The new water is at 7DKH and all water that has ever been in my tank has came from the LFS. The rest of the water per. are

Nitrate 20........this is another problem I've been battleing
ammonia 0
phosphate 0
calcium 480-520.......I add nothing for this either (maybe to high?)
copper 0
PH 8.3..... always never moves (that I have seen anyway)
nitrite 0

any Ideas?

thanks, Dusty

 

[dustin_P74]

what are your tank inhabitants, and also your calcium is to high, 450-500 is good but above natural sea water, NSW is around 400. also can you find out what your magnesium is

 

[Dusty44]

I dont have a way to check the magnesium. Tank inhabitants are 2 clowns, 1 coral beauty, 1 royal gamma, 1 yellow wrasse, 1 wardli wrasse,1 blue hippo tang, and a spotted mandarin, 20-30 hermits, 20-30 snails, and 1 skunk cleaner shrimp. The hermit and snail population gets depleted and I have to replace them every couple of months due to the wrasse...he loves them

I had a large annenome (volley ball size) until about 2 weeks ago and I took it back to the LFS because it got way to big. Not sure if that matters or not.

 

[dustin_P74]

my guess would be that your calcium being over 500 could knock your KH down but not to a 3-4

 

[Dusty44]

what should I do about the calcium? Could I be doing water changes too ofte n. My water changes are about 20% per week. plus 10% a week evap.

 

[yote]

Its not the calcium knocking the DKH down.
What are you using for buffer?
And get yourself a magnesium kit.If you want a reef tank.Magnesium is just as important as having water in the tank.IMO.

 

[dustin_P74]

also what is your water reading when its mixed up

 

[Dusty44]

What are you using for buffer?
And get yourself a magnesium kit..

Im using Seachem Reef builder (raises carbonate alkalinity) on the front of the bottle.

I called the 2 LFS by me today neither had them but one said they will order 2 and have it on Friday if I havent found 1 @ $35.00.

also what is your water reading when its mixed up

this water came from a 5 gallon jug I got on Saturday at the LFS. there was a half gallon left over from my water change. I has been sitting in my garage for a couple days but I shook it up before the test



nitrate 0
ammonia 0
phosphate 0
CALCIUM 480.
copper 0
ph 8.1
KH 7 dkh

 

[messiah023]

Dusty,

You may be feeding too much (Nitrates) and I think you may have a bit too many fish in that 46g....
Those wrasses get a decent size as well as the hippo tang.

Do you have a skimmer? All those fish will pile-up some waste in the tank.

As for your the dKH, I agree with above posts.

 

[yote]

Hows your coralline algae growing?
You shouldnt be losing that much alkalinity.But once alk and calcium gets out of whack like that,it can cause all kinds of problems.
I'd about do a 50% water change and see where that puts the levels.Then slowly dose bring the alk on up from there with 2 twice a day dosing.

Another thing to look at too.Have your LFS run a few test.That way you rule out a bad kit.

 

[simpleman]

IMHO Cal is too high. There is a relationship between Ca, KH, and Mag. Too much of one will throw the other out of wack. Do you have white dust forming on your powerheads?
This is what I use to keep my tanks params in check
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

 

[dustin_P74]

i was thinking that too simpleman, but IMO its not high enough to make alk drop to 3-4dKH. and 480 isnt really that high, over 500 is too high

 

[Dusty44]

My Coraline seems to be fine....I transfered everything into this tank 8 months ago and there are places i cant get to to scrape and the glass is covered with coraline.......maybe it has slowed down a little from before or maybe I don't notice it as much because its everywhere.

I do not have anything forming on my powerheads except coraline ....no dust of any kind.

I do have a skimmer not sure what kind the pump says gx-1000 on the side, or something that. LFS told me it was good for about 75 gallons.

I may be feeding to much im not sure. below is a pic of what I feed a day (about 2 pinches)only once per day.....and yes maybe once a week I feed them twice a day but the second feeding is about .half that amount. almost forgot once every 3-4 weeks I give about a 1/4 cube of brine shrimp. Is this too much...I use to give flakes too but thought it was too much and have been feeding this current way for 5 months

the pellets are the small size formula 2 marine pellets

 

[yote]

I dont know whats causing your alk problem.But heres what I'd try.
Step up your water changes to at least 10% a week,might even go 15 or 20% for a while.
Use that calculator that Simpleman linked to and get get your alk up to at least 8 to 10DKH.
Also get yourself that magnesium kit and use it.Magnesium,calcium,and alkalinity are all linked together.If one gets out of whack,then you have trouble maintaining all 3.

 

[Dusty44]

Step up your water changes to at least 10% a week,might even go 15 or 20% for a while.
.

I currently change about 20 % so should I do more % or maybe 20% 2 times a week? I change 10 gallons of water EVERY weekend and its a 46 gallon tank.

 

[yote]

I'd trying uping them to twice a week untill you get the alkalinity stabilized.Plus that will help lower your nitrates.

 

[simpleman]

Any luck yet? I personally use baking soda to raise alk.

 

[simpleman]

i was thinking that too simpleman, but IMO its not high enough to make alk drop to 3-4dKH. and 480 isnt really that high, over 500 is too high

I agree Dustin, I was just thinking he could have a bad test kit as well.

 

[JAG107]

Get a salt mix with a more balanced dkh to calcium ratio if you can. Reef Crystals is ok.
In the meantime you can add regular ol arm&hammer baking soda to raise your alk (do a search to find out how much for your tank vol) and get a salifert magnesium kit and test that as well. You can raise your mag with epsom salts ( the same kind old people use to take a bath with)
HTH

 

[BigH55]

Try B-ionic two part. I use it and it works great. It has a good balance of alk ca and trace elements