Alkalinity 25..need help..

[nanomania]

Hey guys, i had a major low alk issue, so i use to add seachem reef builder to my ato and alk use to stay manitained at 8.. last time i made a mistake and dosed double the amt, and now my alk is 25. I read online, they say not to do a major wc, that can be more harmful. So let it be and alk will automatically come down as it gets consumed. However i dont have hard corals, jus softies and they look stressed.. also i threw all the ato water and filled it with normal water without any supplement..

Am i doing things correct? Plz help

 

[donnievaz]

You could do small water changes over time to get it down. The main concern is not to make a huge change fast.

 

[nanomania]

You could do small water changes over time to get it down. The main concern is not to make a huge change fast.

So daily 10%?

 

[themcnertney]

25 what? I don't understand this value.

 

[DoubleSolid]

I assume by "Alkalinity 25" you mean your dKH is 25. I'm not a chemist by any means, but I would say do a 10% water change, and see what that does and then go from there. How big is your tank?

 

[donnievaz]

So daily 10%?

I assume by "Alkalinity 25" you mean your dKH is 25. I'm not a chemist by any means, but I would say do a 10% water change, and see what that does and then go from there. How big is your tank?

This

 

[Anirban]

Hey guys, i had a major low alk issue, so i use to add seachem reef builder to my ato and alk use to stay manitained at 8.. last time i made a mistake and dosed double the amt, and now my alk is 25. I read online, they say not to do a major wc, that can be more harmful. So let it be and alk will automatically come down as it gets consumed. However i dont have hard corals, jus softies and they look stressed.. also i threw all the ato water and filled it with normal water without any supplement..

Am i doing things correct? Plz help

Which kit you used to test the water? First I dont understand how much you are dosing that it became 25 from 8? You are using Kalk and Reef builder both? As far I know they both increase alk. You say you have only LPS and your salt mix is not sufficient to maintain that alkalinity for you which is very strange. Which salt mix you use?

Now, decreasing 1 to 1.5 dkH a day should be good to start with as it will not stress the corals....so start with 5% then measure dkH after some time and then repeat it.....and stop dosing Kalk and reef builder together.....you should identify the problem first to find the cure.

 

[nanomania]

Which kit you used to test the water? First I dont understand how much you are dosing that it became 25 from 8? You are using Kalk and Reef builder both? As far I know they both increase alk. You say you have only LPS and your salt mix is not sufficient to maintain that alkalinity for you which is very strange. Which salt mix you use?

Now, decreasing 1 to 1.5 dkH a day should be good to start with as it will not stress the corals....so start with 5% then measure dkH after some time and then repeat it.....and stop dosing Kalk and reef builder together.....you should identify the problem first to find the cure.

I only have softies, no lps or sps.. and yes a gorgonian.. i measured using tetra test strip.. it works perfect. I dose only reef builder. I use blue treasure salt (its tested and works best). I do 5% monthly wc, as i use home water purifier and not rodi as we dont get them here in india. If ever i do a bigger wc, i get algae bloom. Also the water is more on the acidic side, so use reef builder in ato as alk had droped below 3 dkh.

 

[Naiad]

Given what you are working with I would do a 5 percent waterchange now. Test your level. Do not dose anything and see how the change and pure ato bring it down.

 

[Anirban]

How you know your tetra test strip works perfect???? Also how you know your blue treasure salt works best????If the salt is tested whats the tested parameter for Alk in that salt? Get a TDS meter and a phosphate kit to measure ions and phosphate level in the water. You can run a GFO reactor to get rid of extra phosphate.
Trust me what you have there in the tank can not eat up alk a lot.

 

[nanomania]

How you know your tetra test strip works perfect???? Also how you know your blue treasure salt works best????If the salt is tested whats the tested parameter for Alk in that salt? Get a TDS meter and a phosphate kit to measure ions and phosphate level in the water. You can run a GFO reactor to get rid of extra phosphate.
Trust me what you have there in the tank can not eat up alk a lot.

Well i many have tested the blue treasure salt here and most of the hobbyist have started usin them successfully.. tetra test strips were compared to my friends salifert, and results were similar. I use phosguard as seachem is the only brand readily available here. I have a salifert po4 kit and tds meter..

 

[Anirban]

Whats the basic alkalinity of the salt when you mix it?

 

[Anirban]

R u talking about this test???

 

[North Borders]

I only have softies, no lps or sps.. and yes a gorgonian.. i measured using tetra test strip.. it works perfect. I dose only reef builder. I use blue treasure salt (its tested and works best). I do 5% monthly wc, as i use home water purifier and not rodi as we dont get them here in india. If ever i do a bigger wc, i get algae bloom. Also the water is more on the acidic side, so use reef builder in ato as alk had droped below 3 dkh.

3dkH or 3 meq/L? There's a huge difference

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

There are other ways to reduce alk than water changes, but I'm not really following what is going on.

I also do not know what you mean by water being on the acidic side, but NEVER dose a buffer into top off water unless you need alkalinity, and a buffer is NEVER the best way to boost pH.

The pH of top off water is irrelevant to the tank pH if it is pure freshwater (such as RO/DI).

 

[twreefer]

Check your calcium levels as well. If calcium is low, add calcium chloride slowly over 2-3 weeks and alk dKH should come down. Do not add reef builder/buffer. That likely led to this problem by trying to drive pH up.

 

[nanomania]

R u talking about this test???

KH

 

[nanomania]

3dkH or 3 meq/L? There's a huge difference

KH

 

[nanomania]

There are other ways to reduce alk than water changes, but I'm not really following what is going on.

I also do not know what you mean by water being on the acidic side, but NEVER dose a buffer into top off water unless you need alkalinity, and a buffer is NEVER the best way to boost pH.

The pH of top off water is irrelevant to the tank pH if it is pure freshwater (such as RO/DI).

What would be the best way to get alk down? My kh was 3 and ph was 7.5. So i added some dead corals in ato, but it didnt help. So i started adding reef builder, this took care of my ph and kh. Now my ph is 8 but alk has reached 25 due to my silly mistake. Well since its summer here, i keep the air condition on, i dont know the reason but, if the ac is on, the water evaporates more faster. Generally it takes 3 days for my ato reservoir to empty but when ac is on, within 2 days all the water is empty, on top of that i dosed double the amt of reef builder. I use a big fan for cooling.

 

[Anirban]

What would be the best way to get alk down? My kh was 3 and ph was 7.5. So i added some dead corals in ato, but it didnt help. So i started adding reef builder, this took care of my ph and kh. Now my ph is 8 but alk has reached 25 due to my silly mistake. Well since its summer here, i keep the air condition on, i dont know the reason but, if the ac is on, the water evaporates more faster. Generally it takes 3 days for my ato reservoir to empty but when ac is on, within 2 days all the water is empty, on top of that i dosed double the amt of reef builder. I use a big fan for cooling.

Did you just said your kH was 3????? I really dont understand how a LPS tank with nothing stony in it can use up so much Kalk. Your salt analysis show it has probably 7-11dkh of alkalinity and without having any stony coral how can it become 3dkh? do you have a lot of coralline growth?