Raising Alk

[Neogenesis]

How fast should I go about raising my ALK if it's low.  What a acceptable amount to raise it per day.  I obviously don't want to over do it and hurt everything in the tank.

Thanks,

Scott

[Wall_Tank]

How low is it?   What is your target?   What are you going to dose to raise the alk?

I would raise it as slow as possible.    The slower you raise it the less of a chance anything will happen.   Barely a detectable change per day.    Maybe a point of dKH per week.   You can probably be more aggressive that this, but unless there is a compelling reason, why risk it.

[Ashlar]

A decent rule of thumb that I've used with pretty sensitive corals without problem is no more than one point dkh per 2 days.

[Neogenesis]

If my tests are correct, ALK was at 5.6 last night.  I've got Brightwell KH buffer Alkaline 8.3 here, which is all you can find local, and DID NOT follow their directions as it seemed a little drastic and fast.  I dosed to 2 cap fulls last night instead of the multiples like the directions called for.  I re-tested the ALK tonight and it was at 5.88  I dosed another 2 cap fulls tonight and expect the same result...but won't know until tomorrow.

Thanks for the input, Chemistry isn't my strong point in this hobby.

Scott

[Ashlar]

Well, another simple (and cheap!) supplement for raising alkilinity is baking soda.

If your ph is on the low side, use it straight from the box. If your ph is good (8.3-8.4) then use baked baking soda.

Here's a good site to help you calculate how much you need to use to raise the dkh by 1 point -- then split that dose over 2 days:

http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

[Neogenesis]

ashlar....thx for that.  I just mix that into say topoff water?  NVM....once I used the calculator.....it says that at the bottom.  I worry about it suppressing my pH though.

[Ashlar]

Well, you can do that.. but I just make up a small amount and use a piece of tubing with a knot tied in it to control the drip..

I was just mixing up some to raise my alk before this post.. 9g of baking soda in about a pint of water dripping into my sump to raise my alk by 0.5 dkh. (based on my water volume.)


p.s. I was actually wrong on the above, reverse the baked v unbaked..

[Neogenesis]

so bake it to help with the PH.

[Ashlar]

You got it.. if your ph is low, use baked baking soda (drives off the CO2).. if your ph is good, you can use regular baking soda (drip it to offset the ph drop.)

[Wall_Tank]

Here is the Randy Holmes-Farley article.  http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#5

I would use the baked baking soda mixture even if your PH is fine.    (Recipe #1)   You still don't want to dose like crazy......don't increase more than 1 dkh per 2-3 days.

Do you know why your Alk is that low??

What is your Ca and Mg?   

[Neogenesis]

To be honest I'm not sure why my ALK is that low.  I'm a little behind on water changes, but since I don't have a SPS dominated tank I wasn't real worried about it.  I've been getting small water changes done, but haven't been able to get a 30g change done in a while.  I'm around 300g total.

As far as the rest of my water parameters, salinity was right at 1.025, my Ph was a little low at 7.8 which surprised me.  I've never seen that budge for it's normal 8.0.  The ALK reading were done using my Hanna checker, which I know there is skepticism about it's accuracy.  Whether it's right or wrong, it's reading consistently.  My calcium, on my Hanna checker again, read at 600, and I don't believe that.  I'm going to retest with a standard kit tonight.  I don't have a Mag test kit, but it's at the top of my list the next time I order.

How much can environmental changes effect the tank?  I've had my crawl space open for about 2 and a half weeks, we had a small lake under there due to the washing machine emptying out onto the floor, which a lot made it's way in there.  And now that I think about it I have made some changes in the system.  I started running GFO to take care of a cyano issue, and I installed a different skimmer which seems to be pulling more gunk out.  My DT is upstairs and the sump and all support equipment is in the basement.

Scott

[Neogenesis]

And while I'm thinking about it, Salifert are the preferred kits for Alk and Mag right?  I think I'm going to order up today, and want the Alk kit to test against my Hanna.

[Ashlar]

To be honest, I use cheapie API test kits for alk, but I double the sample size which doubles the sensitivity.

Re the usage of alkalinity- don't forget that it's not just SPS that consume alk. All kinds of organisms use carbonate as a carbon fuel source. Even something like cyano can suck it up.

[Wall_Tank]

I prefer the Elos Mg test kit.

How is your coraline algae growth?   I would suspect that your Mg is low as well.

[Neogenesis]

Historically, coraline growth has been good, but I've noticed that growth overall has slowed compared to what it used to be.  Anything that's stony or has a skeleton has slowed.  I'm placing a order tomorrow for kits so I'll know exactly what's going on.  Maybe I'll order some Mag supplement as well just in case.

[Neogenesis]

Ok....finally got my shipment in from Marine Depot.....that's the only thing I don't like about them....it takes a long friggin time to get your stuff....and other then my alk being low and my calcium being a little high...it all looks good.

Salinity 1.026
PH - 7.9
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - 0
Alk - 6.104 - verified this Hanna reading with a Salifert test tonight
Calcium - between 560 and 460.  Hanna read the higher number, API read the lower number
Mag - 1320

So....I'll continue to bring my alk up and see what happens.  I've seen one Ricordia wilt away....not happy about that, but everything else looks great.

Fingers crossed everything keeps going well.

[jeblin]

Ok....finally got my shipment in from Marine Depot.....that's the only thing I don't like about them....it takes a long friggin time to get your stuff....

If you buy something from Premium Aquatics over in Indy, we are in their 1 day ground delivery zone. PetSolutions is based over in Beavercreek and they have a distribution facility there as well. No local pickups, but anything shipped via ground should be 1 day delivery as well. I would use PremiumAquatics (or another local sponsor) if I could though.

Just my 2 cents.

Jerry

[Neogenesis]

I normally try to buy from Pet Solutions, but they were out of one of the test kits...and it wasn't expected in for another 3 to 4 weeks.  I'll have to take a look at Premium Aquatics.....never shopped there.

Thanks!!