Questions on alk/calk also p04

[EuphylliaAddict]

So waterbox 7226 180 display 40 sump

Current parameters are:
Alk:7 (changes to yellow 7 drops)
Calc:500+ (off the chart)
N03:less than 10ppm on api
P04:0 (hanna says 0.00) Api says .02
Salinity:1.024
Ph: 8.3-8.2 drops slightly at night (on a monitor)

Tanks been up for about a month and a half or so, I checked alk last week and it changed to yellow at 8 drops... typical when I test, but then I tested this week and it was 6 drops... so I tested about 327 more times and still was at 6... so in a state of emergency I mixed up a cup of kalkwassser and added a teaspoon of kalk to a cup of r/o, I slowly through a period of a good 20 minutes just slowly added it in with a dripper, ph only went up to 8.4 so I added a little bit of vinegar until it went back down to 8.3... I checked the next day and everything is still alive, but alk is still only at 7dkh, I'm aiming for 8-12 dkh range... also calcium was over 500 on red sea test. But everything in tank looks fine 3 days later... is all of this swinging in parameters due to mess things up in future? And how do I get alk up the right way? Should I use baking soda?

I dose amino acids and part 1&2 fusion, also have kalkwasser in ato...

I did forget to dose all last week not thinking it would fall so fast... is that my whole issue?

Also I had my phosphates drop out completely from an OD of phosrx, and I been feeding everyday to try to build phos up to a measurable amount on hanna checker.

Tank is stocked full of corals and animals does crabs and shrimp molting mean the water isn't that bad? Been working hard to keep water good for everything in there. No deaths so far from tampering... no signs of any real stress either...

 

[laverda]

I would not worry to much about your ph. Adding baking will increase your ALK without increasing you Ca like kalk does. Baked baking soda will help keep your PH up. Make your changes slowly. I would aim for ALK of about 9, as it will not be a big deal if your a little higher or lower, at 8 or 10 you would be in an acceptable range.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

I would not worry to much about your ph. Adding baking will increase your ALK without increasing you Ca like kalk does. Baked baking soda will help keep your PH up. Make your changes slowly. I would aim for ALK of about 9, as it will not be a big deal if your a little higher or lower, at 8 or 10 you would be in an acceptable range.

So I didn't do anything bad by adding in kalwasser manually? Idk why but I'm super hesitant to mess with the chemistry of my system, it's like the last thing I wanna do is mess up the stability. Should I worry about the p04 at all?

 

[mib86]

@EuphylliaAddict yes you should. PO4 should be detectable. If Po4 is 0 it is bad because even SPS corals need it for living. I think if you will have .02 or .04 will be fine. In this case, you should have a no3 at 2.5.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

Just gonna do 50 gallon water change tonight... Thinking fresh salt will rebalance the whole mix up with alk dropping, I have a million questions about dosing kalwasser in the ato as far as how much to dose...

 

[mib86]

Just gonna do 50 gallon water change tonight... Thinking fresh salt will rebalance the whole mix up with alk dropping, I have a million questions about dosing kalwasser in the ato as far as how much to dose...

A water change will help, it will also refill all microelements in your water. I don't use kalkwasser, in my tank I'm using sodium bicarbonate. Nobody will tell you how much you need to add because it depends on your tank consumption, but which I can advise you, on my 500 liters tank if alkalinity drops by .5 I add 5g of sodium bicarbonate. So in your case, I would try to add 2 grams. It would be nice to have a calculator that will compute how much salt you need to add, but it is not applicable to kalwasser.

 

[mcbdz]

Ok, Just checking. So your tank is only a month old? Was it a transfer from another tank or brand new? Was rock, sand livestock new or transferred from older tank?

 

[motortrendz]

Hey dude, it's a new tank, best advice o can give you is stop adding all this stuff up and down to your tank.. kalk up vinigar down. Dont chase numbers so intently. Dkh in the 7s are perfectly fine. Theres not gonna really.be much uptake in calcium and alk in a new system so water changes should be all you need for the first few months. and be careful with dosing aminos so soon, your likely to be headed towards an a algae explosion.
As for the phosphates, if your at zero stop dosing (and overdosing) the phosrx too many chemicals way too fast. If you got kalk in your ato water you dont need more dosed into the tank separately.

I've been doing this for a long time, never used kalkwasser, never needed to...I'm surprised that a tank a month old would need it..

And ph, its normal.for *** to drop at night, and it's in the right range. Dont chase the probe reading. I test pm ph literally once every few months. And it's always about the same. And if its above 8.0 im happy. (I range from 8.1-8.4 depending on the season)

As for the calcium...
What salt are you using?
Where is your salinity at and what do you use to test it with?
And what test kit for calcium? Have you tested mag?

Just sloooooooowwww down bud. If everything looks good take a step back and enjoy the tank.

 

[madweazl]

A water change will have a negative effect on your nutrient levels (meaning those will be reduced). Depending on the salt, your alkalinity may or may not increase (same for your calcium levels). Since your calcium is higher than you desire, I'd stop with the kalkwasser and just dose baking soda (or soda ash which is baked, baking soda) at this point (or the alkalinity part of a typical 2-part). Once your calcium levels come back down to your desired levels, you can continue on with the kalkwasser (or just switch to a 2-part).

Avoid trying to control things too much. Stop with the vinegar. Stop worrying about your pH, it is largely irrelevant and something you have very little control over. There is nothing wrong with alkalinity levels of 7 dKh (it's closer to natural sea water than your target levels). There is also nothing wrong with targeting 8 or 9, just target something and keep it consistent.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

It's a transfer from a 120g.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

Well I transferred everything from my 120 to this 180 about a month and a half ago, brand new sand and I use reef crystals for salt. And sounds good I'll stop adding things, I only got worried when alk dropped to 6dkh and calcium is through the roof, I use red Sea tests and API... Everything was stable and the tank was mature from prior tank... I also run cheato and skimmer idk if maybe I cut my refugium off for a day or so maybe phosphate will rise slowly.

 

[steallife904]

raise your salinity up to 1.025 or 1.026. that will bring the alk up a bit. But ya no need to chase anything right now.

 

[laverda]

So I didn't do anything bad by adding in kalwasser manually? Idk why but I'm super hesitant to mess with the chemistry of my system, it's like the last thing I wanna do is mess up the stability. Should I worry about the p04 at all?

Yes and no. Adding kalk is why your Ca Kevlar is so high. You want balanced ALK and Ca. kalk adds both in the correct ratio, so it will never get your out of balance ALK up with out raising your Ca to high. It is great when your levels are in balance. Your magnesium level also affects your ability to increase Alkalinity.
Another thing is if your using phosrx it will reduce your Alkalinity. I would not thing you would need it on a new tank. If probably a fair bit less if you phosphate is very low.
What salt mix you use can make a huge difference on your ALK, Calcium Andy magnesium levels. Try testing your fresh salt mix to see where it I should at. Doing a water change could make your imbalance worse if it I still high in Ca and low in ALK as Oceanic salt always was in the past.

 

[laverda]

Hey dude, it's a new tank, best advice o can give you is stop adding all this stuff up and down to your tank.. kalk up vinigar down. Dont chase numbers so intently. Dkh in the 7s are perfectly fine. Theres not gonna really.be much uptake in calcium and alk in a new system so water changes should be all you need for the first few months. and be careful with dosing aminos so soon, your likely to be headed towards an a algae explosion.
As for the phosphates, if your at zero stop dosing (and overdosing) the phosrx too many chemicals way too fast. If you got kalk in your ato water you dont need more dosed into the tank separately.

I've been doing this for a long time, never used kalkwasser, never needed to...I'm surprised that a tank a month old would need it..

And ph, its normal.for *** to drop at night, and it's in the right range. Dont chase the probe reading. I test pm ph literally once every few months. And it's always about the same. And if its above 8.0 im happy. (I range from 8.1-8.4 depending on the season)

As for the calcium...
What salt are you using?
Where is your salinity at and what do you use to test it with?
And what test kit for calcium? Have you tested mag?

Just sloooooooowwww down bud. If everything looks good take a step back and enjoy the tank.

I agree, slow down you should not be needing to dose much on a new tank.

 

[EuphylliaAddict]

Just checking back I did a water change and everything is back to normal. I'll probably do another one this week, 230 gallon system I'll just do 60 gallons and check again.