New here and I have a reef tank of a 40 breeder I’m having some issues and would like feed back if anyone’s had my issues

[googs914]

Hello I’m new here I have a 40 breeder with a 20 g long sump …I’m currently having dkh issues hope someone can help me

 

[shakacuz]

welcome aboard the r2r board. hello from PA!

how new is the tank? how many corals are in there? what are you using to measure ALK? do you dose anything?

 

[Brisk]

Welcome!

 

[PeterC99]

Welcome to R2R. What issues are you having with Alkalinity?

 

[googs914]

welcome aboard the r2r board. hello from PA!

how new is the tank? how many corals are in there? what are you using to measure ALK? do you dose anything?

Hello and thank you my tank is roughly 3 yrs old I was giving up on reefing then decided to jump back in but tank was running since …I have roughly 15 corals 5 fish and a clean up crew I run a skimmer in a 20 long sump with a home maid algae scrubber …I testing with Red Sea kits and also using Red Sea coral pro salt been a favorite for years including test kits and last few weeks my alkalinity is high if I can guess using the test kit I’m around 14.6 of alkalinity magnesium 1400 and calcium 480 I dose or started dosing small amounts of mag and calcium to see if alkalinity will drop some and it’s not budging wondering if a large water change or small changes daily would help

 

[vetteguy53081]

 

[CO2TLEY]

 

[googs914]

welcome aboard the r2r board. hello from PA!

how new is the tank? how many corals are in there? what are you using to measure ALK? do you dose anything?

Thank you

thank you

 

[googs914]

welcome aboard the r2r board. hello from PA!

how new is the tank? how many corals are in there? what are you using to measure ALK? do you dose anything?

Sorry not sure how to use this site yet …tank is up now for 3 yrs have about 15 corals 5 fish a sump skimmer algae scrubber salt is at 1.25/1.026 mag at 1400 calcium 480 and alk is high at around 14+ I dose mag and calcium small amount but alk not budging any thoughts on what I should do ? I’m shootings for either a large water change or small daily changes whatcha think ?

 

[1112-425XL]

A 25% water change wouldn't hurt. Test the new water before adding so you know what's going in.

 

[crazyfishmom]

More likely than not this is testing error. How old is the kit? Your Coral would likely be extremely unhappy if dKh was that high. I would consider testing freshly made saltwater to know where this stands as that should be close to the manufacturer’s values and if indeed it is that high, several water changes over the next few days would be the next step.

 

[twentyleagues]

Hello and thank you my tank is roughly 3 yrs old I was giving up on reefing then decided to jump back in but tank was running since …I have roughly 15 corals 5 fish and a clean up crew I run a skimmer in a 20 long sump with a home maid algae scrubber …I testing with Red Sea kits and also using Red Sea coral pro salt been a favorite for years including test kits and last few weeks my alkalinity is high if I can guess using the test kit I’m around 14.6 of alkalinity magnesium 1400 and calcium 480 I dose or started dosing small amounts of mag and calcium to see if alkalinity will drop some and it’s not budging wondering if a large water change or small changes daily would help

Welcome!
I would first double check the alk test. See if you can get it tested with a different brand just to cross check. What does a fresh batch of new salt water test at?
Reasons-
Dosing or over dose....not dosing alk but I am pretty sure some mag and calc supplements add a little alk

High nitrate that has been converted using bacteria or algae (I think algae too but def bacteria) conversion of nitrate yields alk I am not sure of the amount I think 2.1dkh/25ppm second thought may be bacteria only.

Salinity to high...not listed

Salt higher in alk then use but dont know a salt with 14dkh mixed at reasonable levels.

 

[zheka757]

Welcome to R2R!

 

[Ocean_Queenie]

Hello & Welcome!

 

[robanister]

Well i think it's your test. Are you using hanna? Oops answered...get a hanna red sea crashed my tank when using their kit. It's no good.

 

[tharbin]

Welcome to R2R! I would agree with others, first thing to do is verify test kit, either try a different one, take sample to trusted LFS or test fresh salt mix to verify near publish standard for that salt. If it is okay, I'd do several 10% water changes every other day. I wouldn't do too much at once as you don't want the dkh to drop too quickly.

 

[twentyleagues]

Well i think it's your test. Are you using hanna? Oops answered...get a hanna red sea crashed my tank when using their kit. It's no good.

Definitely Hannah are the easiest to use. My red sea pro kit matches Hannah almost exactly, so I dont know if its not good. I do see a lot of room for error using them though.

 

[Jimbhoy13]

Welcome to R2R. Maybe take samples to lfs for comparison.

 

[kevgib67]

Welcome, glad you are here!

 

[WalkerLoves_TheOcean]

Welcome to reef2reef!