Low alk, low PH, high calcium

[SaltySqueeble]

Hey chemists of reef.
Do I need to dose alkalinity?
I have a 25 gallon that was pretty steady with weekly WC and kalk drip to up my low 7.7 ph. My corals are happy and growing but since I’ve added more corals, my alk has dropped to 7 and declining and calcium sky rocketed to off the chart, maybe 650-700. I’ve since stopped the Kalk drip and did a water change. Maybe should do more changes, quicker? What do you guys think? I also got a liquid carbon doser I was considering adding for micro algaes.

Salinity 1.026
Nitrate .04
Phosphate 0.01
Running AI Blade coral grow

 

[Garf]

Hey chemists of reef.
Do I need to dose alkalinity?
I have a 25 gallon that was pretty steady with weekly WC and kalk drip to up my low 7.7 ph. My corals are happy and growing but since I’ve added more corals, my alk has dropped to 7 and declining and calcium sky rocketed to off the chart, maybe 650-700. I’ve since stopped the Kalk drip and did a water change. Maybe should do more changes, quicker? What do you guys think? I also got a liquid carbon doser I was considering adding for micro algaes.

Salinity 1.026
Nitrate .04
Phosphate 0.01
Running AI Blade coral grow

Are you sure your calcium test is not telling you lies? Try testing some fresh saltwater.

 

[SaltySqueeble]

Okay. Good idea. Trying that now

 

[SaltySqueeble]

Are you sure your calcium test is not telling you lies? Try testing some fresh saltwater.

So this May all be error. My calcium test is weird. Are you familiar with Salifert tests? When I add .6 ml of the reactant the water is supposed to turn pink. Then 1 drip at a time till it turns blue again. But it doesn’t turn pink at all, until I drop the full 1ml

 

[Garf]

So this May all be error. My calcium test is weird. Are you familiar with Salifert tests? When I add .6 ml of the reactant the water is supposed to turn pink. Then 1 drip at a time till it turns blue again. But it doesn’t turn pink at all, until I drop the full 1ml

Yes, I use Salifert. It starts off pinky red, then you add a drop at a time till it go’s blue. What colour is yours starting off at?

 

[SaltySqueeble]

It is just staying blue then starts to pink out after adding the whole syringe

 

[SaltySqueeble]

And this is in my fresh salt batch

 

[Garf]

It is just staying blue then starts to pink out after adding the whole syringe

Starts blue? Let me dig mine out and have a gander.

 

[Garf]

It is just staying blue then starts to pink out after adding the whole syringe

My powder is pinky red, as I thought. Is your powder blue?
Does it have CA-1 written on the powder tub?
Only blue powder I’ve got is in the magnesium test kit.

Edit - perhaps the new kits are different to mine, its a few years old.

Edit 2 - appears its a different test method now after a little google.

 

[SaltySqueeble]

Weird. My powder is blue/purple. It says the first liquid should be blue, then pink, then back to blue for the final reading. It does say ca-1. Hopefully it’s not the wrong stuff

 

[Garf]

Weird. My powder is blue/purple. It says the first liquid should be blue, then pink, then back to blue for the final reading. It does say ca-1. Hopefully it’s not the wrong stuff

No, I’ve googled it and appears to be a different test method, I’m not familiar with the new one, sorry.

 

[sc50964]

What’s your magnesium level?

 

[Garf]

Let’s assume your new salt is reading greater than 500ppm, is it supposed to be that high? If not I’d be checking it’s alkalinity, perhaps magnesium to see if you’ve got a salinity measurement error.

 

[SaltySqueeble]

thanks for all your time. I appreciate you. Probably should have tested my fresh salt before posting. The alk is good with the fresh salt. Reef crystal is about 9dkh, 450 calcium, and, I think, 1300 magnesium. I need a new magnesium tester. That’s pretty crucial right? Seems I may have inaccurate readings. I calibrated my ph probe and now am reading 8.0 in my reef tank, 8.2 in my fresh salt. So I’m better than I thought. Good practice…. Always calibrate and test equipment. What do you think about sea lab 28 to keep mag and trace at check?

 

[SaltySqueeble]

I miss typed and meant 10.9 dk on the alk for my fresh salt water. So my DT is still pretty low at 7 right? The calcium matches with my fresh water and DT, with the calcium test. So, I feel they must be pretty close but something is wrong with that test.

 

[sc50964]

I miss typed and meant 10.9 dk on the alk for my fresh salt water. So my DT is still pretty low at 7 right? The calcium matches with my fresh water and DT, with the calcium test. So, I feel they must be pretty close but something is wrong with that test.

your DT mag must be low then

 

[Garf]

I miss typed and meant 10.9 dk on the alk for my fresh salt water. So my DT is still pretty low at 7 right? The calcium matches with my fresh water and DT, with the calcium test. So, I feel they must be pretty close but something is wrong with that test.

Sounds like the salinity may be high. How are you checking that? And if applicable, is it calibrated to a known standard? There are some DIY options available if needed.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

your DT mag must be low then

Why?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I miss typed and meant 10.9 dk on the alk for my fresh salt water. So my DT is still pretty low at 7 right? The calcium matches with my fresh water and DT, with the calcium test. So, I feel they must be pretty close but something is wrong with that test.

7 dKH is fine and is higher than the ocean, but if you want to raise it, it is easy to dose a little alk.

Don’t waste money and time on a bogus product like Sealab 28. It cannot possibly too what it claims.

I would not assume there is a calcium issue.

if you get to the end of the first syringe of Salifert calcium titrant and have not reached the endpoint. Start a second syringe, then when you get to the end point, add the two values together.

 

[sc50964]

Why?

It takes a healthy level of mag and dKh to keep the ph right & steady. That’s what I’ve always done to maintain my tanks.