high alk! after water changes

[DQM5]

hey guys,
Quick question so I been having high alk for the past month ranging from 10-14 alk. Yesterday I tested my alk with Hanna Checker it was at 10. After doing 50% water change my alk went up to 13 the next day. i'm not dosing any alk or calcium. I'm using red sea salt mix ( blue bucket ). did some testing after work i mixed so new batch of salt water 5 gallon bucket with half cup of salt, the salinity was around 20ppm with 13 ALK.... I am thinking maybe salt is bad?? also calibrate my refractometer my display is at 11.8 alk. No coral since alk spike.

Also i want wondering since, my dt is low in salinity should i raise it up, if i do my alk will go up also. not sure what to do
Any help would be much appreciated THANK YOU

 

[Ludders]

Sometimes during transport the different elements that make up the mix drift apart, or some settle lower than others. Give your salt a good mix up and try another water mix.

 

[DQM5]

Sometimes during transport the different elements that make up the mix drift apart, or some settle lower than others. Give your salt a good mix up and try another water mix.

ill give that a try thanks!

 

[hybridazn]

Red Sea blue bucket alk shouldn't be that high. As already suggested try rolling the bucket to get the salt to mix. If you continue to have these issues I would contact red sea about this. Although I haven't seen or heard anything recently about Bad batches of red sea salt.

 

[DQM5]

Red Sea blue bucket alk shouldn't be that high. As already suggested try rolling the bucket to get the salt to mix. If you continue to have these issues I would contact red sea about this. Although I haven't seen or heard anything recently about Bad batches of red sea salt.

just did some mixing with the salt. I am still getting high alk from 13-16 at 25ppm.

 

[Ludders]

Yeah I would take it back then if it is a bad batch.

 

[Ludders]

Take a tank water sample for testing as well from where you bought the salt, assuming is wasn't online.

 

[mjlash22]

Just to confirm, you have the normal Red Sea salt and not the coral pro? Those numbers seem closer to coral pro numbers.

 

[DQM5]

Just to confirm, you have the normal Red Sea salt and not the coral pro? Those numbers seem closer to coral pro numbers.

i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

 

[mjlash22]

i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

Maybe they put the wrong bag in your bucket

 

[DQM5]

i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

Maybe they put the wrong bag in your bucket

gonna go to my lfs and see if they are gonna exchange it.

 

[Finhead]

Just out of curiousity, are you mixing the salt with RODI or do you use Tap water with conditioner? RODI Water has 0 Alk TAp will have 7-8 or whatever you tap tests out at, they combine to give a higher alk mix.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

Yikes, I use blue bucket and have never had a problem with salt not mixing correctly. Always right around 8dKH. I'd definitely get that refunded from your LFS or thru Red Sea themselves... Get your LFS to mix up a gallon or so and have them test it so they can see how far off it is.

 

[DSC reef]

Could be a mix up from red sea. The blue bucket should mix between 8-9dkh. Just make sure your using RODI and your mixing at 35ppt. If your using a refractometer make sure it's calibrated. I use coral pro it mixes around 12-12.5 dkh at 35ppt.

 

[madweazl]

It looks like you have a very large variation between tests as well; if the same water sample is testing between 13 and 16 dKh, there is likely a problem with the test kit, procedure used to test, or the tester.

 

[SashimiTurtle]

I just saw that part about 20ppt... you need to be at 35ppt. If your display is that low, slowly bring it up. I'd also mix up a fresh bucket of salt and RODI at 35ppt and see what you test at. I normally need 2 cups of salt for a 5g tote, it's more around 6g where I fill tho.

 

[DQM5]

Thanks I knew, why my alk was high... I'm at 9 alk right now. you think it's ok to buy a coral to test my water or should I just wait till alk hits at 8

 

[madweazl]

The corals dont care if the alkalinity is 8 or 9 dKh, they just want it consistently one or the other so pick a target and stick with it.

 

[Tautog]

Wait and get your water stable, don’t buy a coral, wait a week.
I don’t want to start another salt fight, but I’m using Reef Crystals. It’s much cheaper than most, and a lot of commercial coral growers use it or regular Instant Ocean. I doubt it’s the salt. Double check your Refractometer, better yet, buy a large floating Hydrometer/Temp. They are reliable, but fragile, just to check. It’s the only thing I use, it’s close enough.