Hanna Alk checker reads low

[Jaco2420]

Hey guys, I just tested my tank I’ve been cycling for about 3 months for alk, it read 151ppm. So I added Red Sea alk. 2 part (30ml in 40g system) and checked 6 hours later and got 152ppm I added enough additive to raise the alk by quite a lot. Why isn’t it showing? Probably user error, but I am being very careful and making sure everything is clean and level

 

[tautog83]

What alk are you trying to attain and why? Do you have anything in there in terms of corals ? Why do you think 151 is bad ? Are you using a calculator in terms of how much to.dose in order to reach what your goal is ? If you do in fact of corals in it test everyday at same time for 3 or 4 days to guage how much consumption you actually have

 

[Jaco2420]

What alk are you trying to attain and why? Do you have anything in there in terms of corals ? Why do you think 151 is bad ? Are you using a calculator in terms of how much to.dose in order to reach what your goal is ? If you do in fact of corals in it test everyday at same time for 3 or 4 days to guage how much consumption you actually have

The tank is cycling meaning no coral, I want an alk. Of 180ppm (10 dkh). It has nothing to do with the reading being bad, it is just wrong. I can’t think of any reason that I would add 30ppm worth of 2 part for my tank size and see no change.

 

[Dan_P]

Hey guys, I just tested my tank I’ve been cycling for about 3 months for alk, it read 151ppm. So I added Red Sea alk. 2 part (30ml in 40g system) and checked 6 hours later and got 152ppm I added enough additive to raise the alk by quite a lot. Why isn’t it showing? Probably user error, but I am being very careful and making sure everything is clean and level

Remove a gallon of aquarium water, dose alkalinity solution, 1/40 of 30 mL, stir and measure the alkalinity immediately. What is it?

 

[homer1475]

Mag level? I'm guessing its precipitating out. Could be why you show no increase.

 

[Jaco2420]

Mag level? I'm guessing its precipitating out. Could be why you show no increase.

I added mag. Based off what my salt mixes at a few days ago. I don’t have a mag. Test kit so I might have to get one

 

[Jaco2420]

Remove a gallon of aquarium water, dose alkalinity solution, 1/40 of 30 mL, stir and measure the alkalinity immediately. What is it?

I’ll try this when I get home from school. Thanks for your help

 

[madweazl]

If your salt is mixing up around 8.5 dKh, I'd just leave it be honestly. While some have good results with higher alkalinity levels, you're straying further and further away from natural sea water levels the higher you go. Don't arbitrarily pick a number.

 

[madweazl]

Hey guys, I just tested my tank I’ve been cycling for about 3 months for alk, it read 151ppm. So I added Red Sea alk. 2 part (30ml in 40g system) and checked 6 hours later and got 152ppm I added enough additive to raise the alk by quite a lot. Why isn’t it showing? Probably user error, but I am being very careful and making sure everything is clean and level

Do you have sand in the tank? If so, has it hardened up? Any whitish build up on the heaters by chance? You added enough to increase alkalinity by about 2 dKh. It went somewhere.

 

[Jaco2420]

Do you have sand in the tank? If so, has it hardened up? Any whitish build up on the heaters by chance? You added enough to increase alkalinity by about 2 dKh. It went somewhere.

I just checked and there isn’t any precipitation on any heater/equipment, glass, rocks, or sand. And I just tested with a salifert alk test kit and got 7.7dkh twice. So the hanna isn’t wrong

 

[Jaco2420]

I just tested the Hanna again and got 146

 

[Jaco2420]

I added

I just tested the Hanna again and got 146

10ppm worth Of 2 part and got 157. Maybe I added too much at once

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I added

10ppm worth Of 2 part and got 157. Maybe I added too much at once

That is a small boost that may have been used up, miscalculated, misdosed,or just mismeasured.

note that the Hanna only claims accuracy of +/- 5%, so for 150 ppm, either reading (first or second) may have been off by 7.5 ppm, and that assumes everything was done perfectly.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

If you want a dKh of 10, why not use a salt mix that mixes closer to that than by dosing. This will make water changes much easier in the future since you don't really want to add new salt water with a dKh of 7.7 to a tank that is at 10 dKh. You would then have to dose ALK into your new water before dong the water change.

Make things simple, either stick with your current salt and that ALK level, which should be fine, or change your salt mix to one that mixes at your desired ALK level.

 

[Jaco2420]

If you want a dKh of 10, why not use a salt mix that mixes closer to that than by dosing. This will make water changes much easier in the future since you don't really want to add new salt water with a dKh of 7.7 to a tank that is at 10 dKh. You would then have to dose ALK into your new water before dong the water change.

Make things simple, either stick with your current salt and that ALK level, which should be fine, or change your salt mix to one that mixes at your desired ALK level.

Thing is I’m using seachem vibrant sea salt, it mixes at 10 dkh, the problem is the alk is seemingly disappearing and there isn’t any precipitation. I don’t have coralline algae, snails, or coral. I don’t even have the lights on. I added 20 ppm worth of alkalinity with no raise. Then I tried 10ppm worth and it worked.

 

[Jaco2420]

That is a small boost that may have been used up, miscalculated, misdosed,or just mismeasured.

note that the Hanna only claims accuracy of +/- 5%, so for 150 ppm, either reading (first or second) may have been off by 7.5 ppm, and that assumes everything was done perfectly.

I tested several times, even with other test kits. If you read earlier in the thread I said I added

Thing is I’m using seachem vibrant sea salt, it mixes at 10 dkh, the problem is the alk is seemingly disappearing and there isn’t any precipitation. I don’t have coralline algae, snails, or coral. I don’t even have the lights on. I added 20 ppm worth of alkalinity with no raise. Then I tried 10ppm worth and it worked.

30 ppm*

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I know what you said. I stand by my answer. People have excessively high expectations from cheap tests to see small differences.

 

[IslandLifeReef]

Thing is I’m using seachem vibrant sea salt, it mixes at 10 dkh, the problem is the alk is seemingly disappearing and there isn’t any precipitation. I don’t have coralline algae, snails, or coral. I don’t even have the lights on. I added 20 ppm worth of alkalinity with no raise. Then I tried 10ppm worth and it worked.

@Jaco2420, what is your salinity and what are you using to measure salinity? That salt mixes anywhere from 8 dKh to 11 dKh. The lower your salinity, the lower the dKh. If your salinity matches a dKh of 8.0, then your tests are pretty accurate.

As said above, the ALK you added could have been absorbed by a number of factors.

 

[Jaco2420]

@Jaco2420, what is your salinity and what are you using to measure salinity? That salt mixes anywhere from 8 dKh to 11 dKh. The lower your salinity, the lower the dKh. If your salinity matches a dKh of 8.0, then your tests are pretty accurate.

As said above, the ALK you added could have been absorbed by a number of factors.

My salinity is 35 ppt and I calibrated the refractometer right before testing