Low Alk

[Maize & Blue]

A fellow reefer friend of mine with a 360 gallon mixed reef full of corals using a calcium reactor was unaware his Alk got down to 6.4 and a low, low PH. What’s a safe way and how fast should he raise his parameters?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Depends on calcium, but for alk alone…

baking soda is easiest but no pH boost.

Sodium carbonate is a good choice.

Sodium hydroxide is the best pH boost (same as kalkwasser per unit of alk added) but must be added more slowly.

 

[Maize & Blue]

Thanks I’ll pass it along. He’s much more advanced than I am. I was just interested for my own knowledge if I ever had the issue, he may have the problem fixed who knows

 

[X-37B]

A fellow reefer friend of mine with a 360 gallon mixed reef full of corals using a calcium reactor was unaware his Alk got down to 6.4 and a low, low PH. What’s a safe way and how fast should he raise his parameters?

What does he consider a low ph?
I ran an alk of 7 for years and it would get to 6.5 at times before adjustment was needed. I had no issues.
My carx runs an effluent of pH of 6.7 and my system day night ph is 7.7-8.1.
I target 7.5 alk now with a range of 7-8.
Also.average ocean alk is actually 6.5 so not really an issue, imo.