Why is my Alkalinity not going up?

[Sinkers]

I want to bring my Alkalinity up to stay between 8-9. My dKH was 7 to start with and Calcium 385. Do they both need to come up for me to achieve 8.5dKH?

I started dosing using Randy's recipe #1 as my pH was only 8. Goal was to bring dKH up about .2 per day allowing for about .1 depletion per day. After my first initial dose I did a test and was on track for .2 per day. A couple more days later I check again to see how I am traveling and my dKH is back to 7, right where I started.

I have noticed some precipitation when adding the solution and have tried to add it slower, putting it in my return chamber of an AIO nano system. Could I be losing it all to precipitation? If so, would it be better to use a syringe and pump it straight into a wavemaker instead?

So it got me thinking whether I need to be bringing my Calcium up a bit with the Alkalinity or what I am doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated.

 

[PharmrJohn]

It's been awhile, but when I added a bicarbonate solution to my old 90g, I had a DIY drip going. If memory serves, I set it to about 3 drops per second. My total volune was about a gallon and I would raise at 0.5 per day. I used to keep my Ca at around 400 and my ALK around 15 to 18 (it was a different time). I didn't get precipitation as long as I controlled the drip.

 

[UMALUM]

If precipitation is the problem just dilute the carbonate in ro and top off. If 8.5 is desired I would raise it .6 a day for 3 days and keep it there. 400+ calcium is usually recommended. You should include your salinity as someone is bound to ask.

 

[Sinkers]

If precipitation is the problem just dilute the carbonate in ro and top off. If 8.5 is desired I would raise it .6 a day for 3 days and keep it there. 400+ calcium is usually recommended. You should include your salinity as someone is bound to ask.

Salinity is 1.026

 

[Cichlid Dad]

I want to bring my Alkalinity up to stay between 8-9. My dKH was 7 to start with and Calcium 385. Do they both need to come up for me to achieve 8.5dKH?

I started dosing using Randy's recipe #1 as my pH was only 8. Goal was to bring dKH up about .2 per day allowing for about .1 depletion per day. After my first initial dose I did a test and was on track for .2 per day. A couple more days later I check again to see how I am traveling and my dKH is back to 7, right where I started.

I have noticed some precipitation when adding the solution and have tried to add it slower, putting it in my return chamber of an AIO nano system. Could I be losing it all to precipitation? If so, would it be better to use a syringe and pump it straight into a wavemaker instead?

So it got me thinking whether I need to be bringing my Calcium up a bit with the Alkalinity or what I am doing wrong? Any help would be much appreciated.

Dose the alk to a power head, or the fastest water you have at the surface

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I’d raise the calcium, but it is not needed before boosting alk.

 

[Nerdist Aquarist]

What's your Magnesium level? Before I start adjusting any Alk or Calcium levels, I always get my magnesium to where it needs to be first. Long time ago, my magnesium was super low and adding lots of alkalinity did almost nothing

 

[I never finish anythi]

It's just a nano tank just do WC with a decent salt .

 

[rishma]

What's your Magnesium level? Before I start adjusting any Alk or Calcium levels, I always get my magnesium to where it needs to be first. Long time ago, my magnesium was super low and adding lots of alkalinity did almost nothing

I wouldn’t bother worrying about magnesium. Testing it is as likely to cause more confusion due to test error. Fine to dose 1-2 ppm for every 20 ppm calcium you add (search RMM)

 

[*GAREEF*]

Dose the alk to a power head, or the fastest water you have at the surface

Ooh I’ve run into problems with this.
If I just pour soda ash into the display on my power head some of the corals will slime up.
I slowly add it to the first chamber of my overflow and I do mean slowly. 10ml over 20 minutes slow…lol
That is my routine one hour before lights on every morning 10 ml part one all and then 10 ml calcium part two.
In fact I just finished an hour ago

 

[UMALUM]

Ooh I’ve run into problems with this.
If I just pour soda ash into the display on my power head some of the corals will slime up.
I slowly add it to the first chamber of my overflow and I do mean slowly. 10ml over 20 minutes slow…lol
That is my routine one hour before lights on every morning 10 ml part one all and then 10 ml calcium part two.
In fact I just finished an hour ago

Why would you waist 20 minutes of your life dosing that tiny amount? If you diluted the ash in a couple ounces of ro you could dump it wherever you wanted and walk away. 20 min for 10 ml seems like torture to me. I could do a 40 gallon change and clean the glass in 20 min. Lol