Alkalinity problems

[TylerJaid]

Hey everyone I have a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for 42 days, I have not done any water changes. I have to hang on back filters on the tank they have those filter packets in them which do have charcoal. I am using ocean direct salt (purple label) there is no fish inverts or coral in the tank. Anyways these are my main parameters.

Temp:78
Salinity:1.0245
Ph:7.9
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:15ppm
Dkh:6.7

My dkh seems very low so I tested my batch of already made saltwater, which I used to fill the tank with. The dkh on that is 10.7, also the salinity is 1.026 which is what my tank was when it was started. I am stumped and don't know what to do, I have fish and coral coming in next week, anyone have any ideas??

 

[TylerJaid]

Also u salifert test kit

 

[Glenner’sreef]

At this stage you shouldn’t be concerned about alk. Your tank appears to be cycled. Your scheduled water changes will increase your alk just fine for many months. Just take it slow.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey everyone I have a 55 gallon tank that has been set up for 42 days, I have not done any water changes. I have to hang on back filters on the tank they have those filter packets in them which do have charcoal. I am using ocean direct salt (purple label) there is no fish inverts or coral in the tank. Anyways these are my main parameters.

Temp:78
Salinity:1.0245
Ph:7.9
Ammonia:0
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:15ppm
Dkh:6.7

My dkh seems very low so I tested my batch of already made saltwater, which I used to fill the tank with. The dkh on that is 10.7, also the salinity is 1.026 which is what my tank was when it was started. I am stumped and don't know what to do, I have fish and coral coming in next week, anyone have any ideas??

I’d maintain at least 7 dKH. Baking soda is a fine additive for now.

 

[TylerJaid]

At this stage you shouldn’t be concerned about alk. Your tank appears to be cycled. Your scheduled water changes will increase your alk just fine for many months. Just take it slow.

I did a 30% water change tonight so I'll go ahead and test parameters tommorow probably and see if that helped anything, I was hoping to do a 30% monthly water change as I will only have soft corals so I hope this works for me!

 

[TylerJaid]

I’d maintain at least 7 dKH. Baking soda is a fine additive for now.

I will watch some videos and try to figure that out thanks a lot!