Can't get Alk back down to 8 with Elementz

[Reflective]

I recently had to leave my tank in the hands of my husband for a month and during that time he forgot to refill the dosing container. Stuff died and algae breakouts happened and I am still trying to get it all back in check. I didn't get the Alk back to 8 before I started dosing again and maybe that is my problem.

Before the parameters were:
Alk - 8
Calcium - 420
Magnesium - 1220
pH - 8.1 to 8.3

Now I have:
Alk - 9.2
Calcium - 380
Magnesium - 1180
pH - 7.9 to 8.1

I've been trying to lower the dosage, and the Alk doesn't seem to move. I've gone from 100mL day down to 75mL and it's in the same spot. I did notice my calcium and mag is lowering though so I don't really want to lower the dosage any more.

I'm not sure what steps I should take to get the alk down to 8 without making the other two go too low.

 

[Oscaror]

add a few acros they seem to soak up alk like sponges lol

 

[Reflective]

Lol I did just add 15 frags on Friday so maybe that will balance it all out

 

[twilliard]

Turn off the elementz all pumps.
Manually add a 2 part calcium as the calcium increases your ALK will drop
Add magnesium bring back up
Fire triton back up

Done

 

[gpwdr]

Good advice from Twilliard

 

[twilliard]

Good advice from Twilliard

Thank you!
I absolutely love Triton and the theory behind it

 

[Reflective]

Turn off the elementz all pumps.
Manually add a 2 part calcium as the calcium increases your ALK will drop
Add magnesium bring back up
Fire triton back up

Done

Thank you!

 

[twilliard]

Any day here to help others

 

[Triton US]

All great advice. Triton sells individual calcium, alk and magnesium just for this purpose. I have a safer recommendation though. Keep dosing the elementz at 75 ml per day since its holding steady, and add some mg and ca to slowly bring up just those two parameters. 9.2 alk is fine as long as it is stable. Shutting off the triton dosing may cause your alk to fluctuate which is worse than anything. 9.2 is perfectly fine as long as its stable. As soon as the sps corals and coralline algae start growing again, that alk will start dropping. Keep in mind that there are people running triton at 7.5 and some even running it at 9.0, but stable! We strive for 8 but in some tanks it just seems that the numbers line up perfectly at a slightly different alk balance.
-Joe

 

[Sangheili]

And keep in mind individual test kits from batch to batch and supplier to supplier can vary more then 1 pt of alk. I run my tank around 8.5-9.5 on a Hanna. 9.2 is fine, but try to keep it from going higher. I found I had issues when my alk dropped below 7.5, but thats just my tank and my test kit. A 7.5 reading on my equipment could easily be 6.5 for someone else on their equipment.

 

[Reflective]

Maybe I will do another Triton test, then start adjusting based on that.
Thanks for the help!

 

[acromike]

Hello
Speaking of alk my alk went down to 5. I thought it was an issue with the API alk test kit so I purchased a Lammotte and also got the same reading. My tank looks great. I am up to dosing a 130 ml of base elements and my alk is not moving.


My calcium is 450
Mag is 1600(don't ask me how)
Alk is 5


Again everything is stable and looks great. The hardest thing to do is to do nothing.

I am going up on dosing every day or two. I wonder if I have a bad batch of alkalinity. Any advice ?

 

[twilliard]

Hello
Speaking of alk my alk went down to 5. I thought it was an issue with the API alk test kit so I purchased a Lammotte and also got the same reading. My tank looks great. I am up to dosing a 130 ml of base elements and my alk is not moving.


My calcium is 450
Mag is 1600(don't ask me how)
Alk is 5


Again everything is stable and looks great. The hardest thing to do is to do nothing.

I am going up on dosing every day or two. I wonder if I have a bad batch of alkalinity. Any advice ?

As joe stated you can get the triton ALK to increase your number.
As long as there is no testing error just add the ALK without increasing the dosing of the Elementz.
If this is a new triton method tank it takes a little to get it all in balance.
Triton water test? To make sure you are not overdosing

 

[helldiver]

twillard is the ****,,,I am have a high alk problem to how do i keep it down ?????

 

[twilliard]

twillard is the ****,,,I am have a high alk problem to how do i keep it down ?????

Let it fall naturally while watching your calcium.
Eventually it will come down to your desired level.

 

[helldiver]

Hey it is cool your name Willard. That is my grandpa name and my middle. Name