Alkalinity too high, ride it out?

DaddyFish

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@Randy Holmes-Farley
New tank roughly 2-months old. Fishless cycled to accommodate a large initial livestock move. I'm having pH issues pretty much as expected. Room atmosphere CO2 levels frequently reaching 900+. I know most all the techniques for raising pH but when it dipped to 7.6 and began to stay there I intervened with several large doses of Seachem Marine Buffer. I've done two 15% water changes since then but my Alkalinity remains extremely high at 15+ dKH and pH hovering around 7.8.

My question is not about further tampering with the pH. My question is when is it clearly time to address the dKH, or just ride it out?
Tank is mixed with large fish population, softies and only a couple LPS, no SPS.
It's a 215-gal so big water changes are no small feat.
 

tjohnson3

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@Randy Holmes-Farley
New tank roughly 2-months old. Fishless cycled to accommodate a large initial livestock move. I'm having pH issues pretty much as expected. Room atmosphere CO2 levels frequently reaching 900+. I know most all the techniques for raising pH but when it dipped to 7.6 and began to stay there I intervened with several large doses of Seachem Marine Buffer. I've done two 15% water changes since then but my Alkalinity remains extremely high at 15+ dKH and pH hovering around 7.8.

My question is not about further tampering with the pH. My question is when is it clearly time to address the dKH, or just ride it out?
Tank is mixed with large fish population, softies and only a couple LPS, no SPS.
It's a 215-gal so big water changes are no small feat.
Few small water changes spread out over a week should help. Tank is still new so it’s going to fluctuate roughly up to the 6-8 month mark before it evens out.
 

Dkeller_nc

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If you have no SPS, my recommendation is to simply allow it to fall by abiotic precipitation. My guess is that you'll fall into a somewhat more normal range of 8 - 10 dKH in about a week. The only real issue I'd be concerned about is your equipment, specifically return and/or circulation pumps, freezing up from precipitated calcium carbonate.
 

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