ALK at 11.7, supposed to be 7.5

[Daniel91]

Hi There,

I’ve been maintaining an alkalinity of 7-7.5 according to my Hanna ALK checker for at least 6 months. All is well in the tank.

To my great surprise, I realize last week that the reagents are way beyond expiration so I obviously buy new. My first test alk is 11.7, same with the second and third. So testing error out of the question but I highly doubt I have been overdosing..

Now, there is no panic because as I said, all looks just fine and is thriving but I’d like to lower it to 7.5 to meet the values that my Tropic Marine salt mixes at, as I do about 20-30% WC every three weeks.

What’s the best I can do here to avoid a stressed system in lowering? I currently dose about 5ml AFR daily to keep ALK stable. Lower dose, stop dose, more WC?

 

[VintageReefer]

Stop AFR and test daily and see how much you drop daily. Test same time.

Figure out avg daily consumption

When you get to 7.0 add AFR based on daily consumption, to bring to 7.5. Then dose this amount daily and test daily same time to make sure you’re steady and not trending up or down

 

[Daniel91]

Stop AFR and test daily and see how much you drop daily. Test same time.

Figure out avg daily consumption

When you get to 7.0 add AFR based on daily consumption, to bring to 7.5. Then dose this amount daily and test daily same time to make sure you’re steady and not trending up or down

And the sudden stop dose from day to day won’t be stressful for the system?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Hi There,

I’ve been maintaining an alkalinity of 7-7.5 according to my Hanna ALK checker for at least 6 months. All is well in the tank.

To my great surprise, I realize last week that the reagents are way beyond expiration so I obviously buy new. My first test alk is 11.7, same with the second and third. So testing error out of the question but I highly doubt I have been overdosing..

Now, there is no panic because as I said, all looks just fine and is thriving but I’d like to lower it to 7.5 to meet the values that my Tropic Marine salt mixes at, as I do about 20-30% WC every three weeks.

What’s the best I can do here to avoid a stressed system in lowering? I currently dose about 5ml AFR daily to keep ALK stable. Lower dose, stop dose, more WC?

How much AFR are you dosing daily?

You want to drop Alk by about 0.5 dkH a day to avoid stress

 

[VintageReefer]

And the sudden stop dose from day to day won’t be stressful for the system?

Unless you have full packed acro tank your alk consumption is probably low. .5 dkh a day? That’s a safe speed to drop at.

I did make this assumption so I apologize if I’m wrong. How much alk does your tank consume per day?

 

[Daniel91]

How much AFR are you dosing daily?

You want to drop Alk by about 0.5 dkH a day to avoid stress

About 5ml/day

 

[Daniel91]

Unless you have full packed acro tank your alk consumption is probably low. .5 dkh a day? That’s a safe speed to drop at.

I did make this assumption so I apologize if I’m wrong. How much alk does your tank consume per day?

I believe its about .5-7/day. But I reduced my dosing regiment by about half, so I’ll see what testing says over the next few days. Then have it dropped around .5/day consistently

 

[Cool tangs]

Stopping your dose will be fine, I believe AFR is a delayed reaction before you see a spike. So it might be expired reagents or it might be a delayed overdose. Personally I wouldn't use it, but others have great success with it. Just my 2 cents

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

There’s nothing wrong with 11 dKH and I’d go very slow lowering it, assuming you want to at all,

If the tank is fine, why change?

 

[Daniel91]

There’s nothing wrong with 11 dKH and I’d go very slow lowering it, assuming you want to at all,

If the tank is fine, why change?

Only to match the normal tropic marin levels. I do about 30% WC every two/three weeks and that mixes at 7.5, so I would constantly “shock” the system with each water change, no?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Only to match the normal tropic marin levels. I do about 30% WC every two/three weeks and that mixes at 7.5, so I would constantly “shock” the system with each water change, no?

Try the kit on some of that water.

A "shock" obviously depends on the change, but if the new salt water is 7.5 dKH and the tank is 11.7 dKH, then a 10% change drops alk to 11.3 dKH. That might not be any problem.