Help! Dkh at 16.2

[PeterB113]

I bought seachem 8.3 buffer and added it to my tank. I tested all my parameters after and everythings fine but now my dkh is at 16.2! What should i do. i do all my weekly water chnages on thursdays so tomm id do a 30% change. I have a 20 gallon long no fish(fallow because of velvet) but lots of corals mixed reef. What should i do to lower my dkh i usually have it around 10dkh.

 

[DaddyFish]

Water change(s) without buffer.

 

[DaddyFish]

I found this, but I have never personally used acetic acid to lower dKH. I prefer water changes.

1. Water changes: Perform 20-25% water changes daily until your alkalinity reading is within your desired range (normally 8-12 dKH.)
2. Add organic acid: A small dose of white vinegar will immediately reduce alkalinity.
3. Wait: Your corals will uptake alkalinity each day, causing your dKH to drop over time.

 

[PeterB113]

I saw that too ill stick with the water change hopefully it reduces it. I dont want to put vinegar in my tank lol.Thanks for your help!

 

[GnarcoticFiend]

I bought seachem 8.3 buffer and added it to my tank. I tested all my parameters after and everythings fine but now my dkh is at 16.2! What should i do. i do all my weekly water chnages on thursdays so tomm id do a 30% change. I have a 20 gallon long no fish(fallow because of velvet) but lots of corals mixed reef. What should i do to lower my dkh i usually have it around 10dkh.

Probably shouldn't be using anything that raises ph and alk when you're using red sea coral pro salt. Red seas coral pro salt already raises those parameters substantially at 1.025. Try using kalkwasser in your ato instead to maintain those parameters rather than raising them.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I found this, but I have never personally used acetic acid to lower dKH. I prefer water changes.

1. Water changes: Perform 20-25% water changes daily until your alkalinity reading is within your desired range (normally 8-12 dKH.)
2. Add organic acid: A small dose of white vinegar will immediately reduce alkalinity.
3. Wait: Your corals will uptake alkalinity each day, causing your dKH to drop over time.

Where did you find that? It's poor advice, IMO. Very misleading since the alk all comes back as soon as bacteria metabolize the acetate. That might only be a few hours.

 

[DaddyFish]

Where did you find that? It's poor advice, IMO. Very misleading since the alk all comes back as soon as bacteria metabolize the acetate. That might only be a few hours.

I should have noted the source but didn't, my mistake. I believe it was the top result from a Google search.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I should have noted the source but didn't, my mistake. I believe it was the top result from a Google search.

Sadly, that's pretty much an apparently dead web site (or at least one with no interest in accuracy). I tried to contact them in February to get them to change their misinformation, but never got any response.

This is what I wrote them them:

Hi nanoreef,

There is an error in your article on lowering alkalinity

https://nanoreefadviser.com/how-to-lower-alkalinity/

Unfortunately, it is the first thing google sees when bringing up how to lower alkalinity in a reef aquarium, and it is wrong.


Specifically, organic acids such as vinegar are NOT a way to reduce alkalinity. Any impact on alkalinity only lasts until the acetate is metabolized by bacteria to convert it into CO2 and bicarbonate.


An example of someone being misled is here:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reduce-kh.799412/#post-8527915


I can go into more chemical detail on why this does not work if you think you are correct, but the simple fact that lots of folks dose vinegar to reef tnaks (myself included) without lowering the alkalinity is evidence even if you do not want to read chemical equations.


Thanks in advance for correcting this,


Randy