Alkalinity 2.0....I give up.

[Humatrigger32]

My is my alkalinity dropping? I did add some more live rock in the past 4 weeks, I have new ceramic media. Not sure if these are factors.

Anyway....all staying stable very little swing other than alk.

SG 35ppt
PH 8.2
Mg 1350
Ca 460
Nitrate (dosing a little) 2.5
Phos .011
Alk - All over! Currently 6.0

I'm dosing BRS 2 part...spreading it out to dose 8x a day, 15 min apart. 7ml each 8x a day so 56ml each per day.

62 gallon AIO. Mixed reef pretty heavy LPS
I have been adding some lps maybe that's part of it?

Alk:
Jan 1st 8.6
6th 7.3
9th 5.8 (found out dosing pump clogged)
11th 6.1
12th 6.1 (increased dosage 5ml each)
15th 6.2
18th 6.0

Any advice why it stayed steady for a couple days and dropped after increasing dose?

 

[officialreefbros]

What test kit are you using and are you testing around the same time of day?

 

[Garf]

My is my alkalinity dropping? I did add some more live rock in the past 4 weeks, I have new ceramic media. Not sure if these are factors.

Anyway....all staying stable very little swing other than alk.

SG 35ppt
PH 8.2
Mg 1350
Ca 460
Nitrate (dosing a little) 2.5
Phos .011
Alk - All over! Currently 6.0

I'm dosing BRS 2 part...spreading it out to dose 8x a day, 15 min apart. 7ml each 8x a day so 56ml each per day.

62 gallon AIO. Mixed reef pretty heavy LPS
I have been adding some lps maybe that's part of it?

Alk:
Jan 1st 8.6
6th 7.3
9th 5.8 (found out dosing pump clogged)
11th 6.1
12th 6.1 (increased dosage 5ml each)
15th 6.2
18th 6.0

Any advice why it stayed steady for a couple days and dropped after increasing dose?

Dunno, but you wouldn't be the first person to be reading the Alk test upside down.

 

[Justfebreezeit]

And for what its worth the last 4 tests are all within testing margin of the same thing.

Getting hung up on .1 changes can make the brain hurt

 

[rishma]

I recall when I started up my current tank that my alkalinity was variable, and didn’t respond as I expected based on what I was dosing. I never did figure out why, perhaps some precipitation on new surfaces, but it didn’t start behaving normally after a few months.

 

[Humatrigger32]

I'm using hanna for phos and alk. Salifert for the rest.

 

[Humatrigger32]

How much more should I dose to bring it up a bit more? I feel like 56ml a day is a lot for 62 gallons...but also it is lps heavy so I don't know.

 

[rishma]

Dp

 

[rishma]

How much more should I dose to bring it up a bit more? I feel like 56ml a day is a lot for 62 gallons...but also it is lps heavy so I don't know.

I feel comfortable raising it up to 0.5 dKH in a day. I’m not sure if there is a commonly accepted rate.

I have had my Hanna Alk reagent go bad, and read persistently low. When I got a new bottle my alkalinity was 3 dKH higher than I thought. Consider a backup test method or new reagent bottle to be sure

 

[Humatrigger32]

I feel comfortable raising it up to 0.5 dKH in a day. I’m not sure if there is a commonly accepted rate.

I have had my Hanna Alk reagent go bad, and read persistently low. When I got a new bottle my alkalinity was 3 dKH higher than I thought. Consider a backup test method or new reagent bottle to be sure

Been testing with salifert and hanna. Same numbers.

 

[rishma]

Been testing with salifert and hanna. Same numbers.

Good! That eliminates one issue. I’d use an online calculator and try increasing the dose equivalent to an additional 0.5 dKH for a few days a monitor.

 

[gbroadbridge]

Been testing with salifert and hanna. Same numbers.

Calculate how much baking soda is required to raise your tank 1dkh using this calculator

https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalcnew.html
Mix it into some RODI and add to the tank.
Wait one hour and test again.

Let us know what the test result is.

1 dkh change is not going to bother anything in the tank

 

[ingchr1]

How much more should I dose to bring it up a bit more? I feel like 56ml a day is a lot for 62 gallons...but also it is lps heavy so I don't know.

From the 11th to the 18th I would consider that to be stable Alk and 56ml per day is what your tank needs. I'd leave the dose there and keep testing to make sure it remains stable.

Use a calculator to determine how much additional Alk supplement you need to add to get to the value you want to maintain your tank at.

My tank, a 40 gallon AIO (~31 gallons of water) mixed reef uses 49 ml/day of soda ash.

 

[Humatrigger32]

From the 11th to the 18th I would consider that to be stable Alk and 56ml per day is what your tank needs. I'd leave the dose there and keep testing to make sure it remains stable.

Use a calculator to determine how much additional Alk supplement you need to add to get to the value you want to maintain your tank at.

My tank, a 40 gallon AIO (~31 gallons of water) mixed reef uses 49 ml/day of soda ash.

How would I increase? I'd really like to get back to 8.5

 

[ingchr1]

How would I increase? I'd really like to get back to 8.5

Using the following assumptions and the BRS Alkalinity Calculator:

Total System Volume = 62 Gallons (actual amount of water in the system)
Current Alkalinity Levels = 6.1 dKH
Desired Alkalinity Levels = 8.5 dKH
Product = BRS Liquid Soda Ash

You need to add 106ml of Soda Ash to get to 8.5 dKH. Use the calculator to adjust any assumptions that I made if incorrect.

I would manually dose 25ml per day in one shot (in addition to your 56ml) for four days. Testing along the way to see where you are at. I would test at the same time of day and not immediately following a dose. Adjust using the calculator until you get to 8.5 dKH.

 

[SliceGolfer]

Do you find precipitation anywhere? White chalky buildup, lots of particles floating in water column, or is your sand bed turning to stone?

 

[Humatrigger32]

Do you find precipitation anywhere? White chalky buildup, lots of particles floating in water column, or is your sand bed turning to stone?

No precipitation and sand bed is fine

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Was the title a typo, or alk in meq/L, or what?

 

[Humatrigger32]

Was the title a typo, or alk in meq/L, or what?

Sorry was saying 2.0 as in let's try this again

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sorry was saying 2.0 as in let's try this again

lol, ok, now I get it. :)