ALK is low.....need help....

[Krixic]

Ok....so idiot me forgot how to read and so when doing my Alk test, theres two option a more exact 10ml and a less exact 5 ml. I misread stuff and long story short I bought a bunch of coral and placed it in the tank think my Alk was good. Now I have 4 SPS in there along with various softies with my dKH being 4.5-5...first off how did it even get that low??? The Red Sea salt mix I use is suppose to mix it to 8 dKH. I noticed one of my birds nests are bleaching around the base (yay). How can I fix this?? Should I add a bunch of Sodium Bicarbonate as a easy fix? If so how much??

 

[fishguy242]

hi ,many others will come w answers,for now retest,do nothing fast!!! best to post all params for rest to see to help

 

[flampton]

I believe the general rule is 1 point increase in alk per day max. But as said above make sure you test again and are confident in your results

 

[Krixic]

hi ,many others will come w answers,for now retest,do nothing fast!!! best to post all params for rest to see to help

Sounds good.

Top two tested via Red sea testers and the bottom two by hanna
pH: 8.2
Alk (tested again): 5
Cant test Mg
Calcium: 450
Phosphate: 0.14

 

[Vette67]

Get some baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. There are calculators online that will tell you how much to add to increase a certain point amount. But as was mentioned before, don’t raise it too quickly. I had to use 25 teaspoons of baking soda to get my alk corrected earlier this year. But I only did like 5 or 6 teaspoons per day.

You can use the BRS calculator to figure out how much you need.

Aquarium and Reef Calculators - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Krixic]

Get some baking soda, sodium bicarbonate. There are calculators online that will tell you how much to add to increase a certain point amount. But as was mentioned before, don’t raise it too quickly. I had to use 25 teaspoons of baking soda to get my alk corrected earlier this year. But I only did like 5 or 6 teaspoons per day.

You can use the BRS calculator to figure out how much you need.

Aquarium and Reef Calculators - Bulk Reef Supply

Bulk Reef Supply - Saltwater Aquarium Supplies for Reef Tanks

www.bulkreefsupply.com

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Ok, its telling my to do about 5 TSP, could I just dump that into my RODI resevoir and let it do its thing?

 

[flampton]

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Ok, its telling my to do about 5 TSP, could I just dump that into my RODI resevoir and let it do its thing?

Depends on how long will it take the ATO to empty its contents. What's your ATO rate?

 

[Krixic]

Depends on how long will it take the ATO to empty its contents. What's your ATO rate?

about 5 gal a week.

 

[Vette67]

i mixed the powder with about half a quart of RO water and slowly dumped it a high flow area of my sump. Give it a chance to mix in your water slowly. I wouldn’t use your top-off because then you can’t control the timing, and you’ll have to wait longer to do your tests. Figure out how much to raise 1 point of DKH and add it slowly, but but all at once.

 

[flampton]

So is 5 gallons the the size of your ATO?

 

[Krixic]

i mixed the powder with about half a quart of RO water and slowly dumped it a high flow area of my sump. Give it a chance to mix in your water slowly. I wouldn’t use your tip-off because then you can’t control the timing, and you’ll have to wait longer to do your tests. Figure out how much to raise 1 point of DKH and add it slowly, but but all at once.

Gotcha, Ill do that. I add a little tonight (less than 1 dKH) and progress tomarrow

 

[Krixic]

So is 5 gallons the the size of your ATO?

Yes

 

[flampton]

i mixed the powder with about half a quart of RO water and slowly dumped it a high flow area of my sump. Give it a chance to mix in your water slowly. I wouldn’t use your top-off because then you can’t control the timing, and you’ll have to wait longer to do your tests. Figure out how much to raise 1 point of DKH and add it slowly, but but all at once.

I completely agree, unless you're going out of town then dosing yourself will work out better

 

[Krixic]

Sounds great. Thanks for the help

Although just out of curousity, why was it so low in the first place? I had 0 coral in there to begin with...only thing was the algae from my cycle. I also was running chemi pure elite.

 

[Vette67]

Sounds great. Thanks for the help

Although just out of curousity, why was it so low in the first place? I had 0 coral in there to begin with...only thing was the algae from my cycle. I also was running chemi pure elite.

That does seem like a low number. If you can, check your pH too. Your pH should be low if your alk is that low. Double check your testing procedure before making any big corrections with sodium bicarbonate. You don’t want to spike it through the roof either. When mine was low, I tested at 6.0 and brought mine up to 8.0. But moving yours one point shouldn’t hurt anything. Maybe your SPS are growing more than you think, or you have a lot of coralline, that could possibly account for the consumption.

 

[Krixic]

That does seem like a low number. If you can, check your pH too. Your pH should be low if your alk is that low. Double check your testing procedure before making any big corrections with sodium bicarbonate. You don’t want to spike it through the roof either. When mine was low, I tested at 6.0 and brought mine up to 8.0. But moving yours one point shouldn’t hurt anything. Maybe your SPS are growing more than you think, or you have a lot of coralline, that could possibly account for the consumption.

I dont have any coraline. Its a new tank. Who knows....as long as nothing dies im happy

 

[Keen4]

what do you guys think about instant ocean sea buffer? Im having a drop of 5 points in the last month and a half. Only two sps and all softies and anemones. Im losing my sps now suddenly. They were doing so well. I calculated .12 dkh daily consumption. Did a water cage but no difference. I think this happened by over topping off with rodi water and releasing too much of my ato in a week. 3 gallons every few days.