Alkalinity 25..need help..

[nanomania]

Did you just said your kH was 3????? I really dont understand how a LPS tank with nothing stony in it can use up so much Kalk. Your salt analysis show it has probably 7-11dkh of alkalinity and without having any stony coral how can it become 3dkh? do you have a lot of coralline growth?

Its SOFTIES ONLY tank with a gorgonian. I have had an outbreak of those tiny feather dusters and yes coralline is growing too. Also recently if had a major pod population explosion. I also had a halfdead brittle star now 80% recovered. Im sure all of this might be eating up. Also as my ato water has very low ph, 5.5. Maybe that can be another reason.

 

[Anirban]

Did you ever check your freshly made saltwater by yourself and although all these thing can eat but not that much. Dont chase pH just concentrate more on basic parameters.

 

[nanomania]

Did you ever check your freshly made saltwater by yourself and although all these thing can eat but not that much. Dont chase pH just concentrate more on basic parameters.

Yes i have... 0po4 0no3 450cal 10kh 1350mag

 

[nanomania]

Wouldnt dosing acidic water in ato lower kh drastically? Viceversa happens when dosing kalk. Can that be the reason?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What would be the best way to get alk down? My kh was 3 and ph was 7.5. So i added some dead corals in ato, but it didnt help. So i started adding reef builder, this took care of my ph and kh. Now my ph is 8 but alk has reached 25 due to my silly mistake. Well since its summer here, i keep the air condition on, i dont know the reason but, if the ac is on, the water evaporates more faster. Generally it takes 3 days for my ato reservoir to empty but when ac is on, within 2 days all the water is empty, on top of that i dosed double the amt of reef builder. I use a big fan for cooling.

I'm still confused. 3 dKH is very low and not likely to be real. 3 meq/L is just perfect.

What do you mean by 3 KH? There is no such unit.

Stop measuring pH. It is just a distraction right now.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Wouldnt dosing acidic water in ato lower kh drastically? Viceversa happens when dosing kalk. Can that be the reason?

What is acidic water? I'm not sure you are using that term correctly, or where you would even get such a thing without intentionally making it. RO/DI water will not lower pH or alkalinity when used to replace evaporation.

 

[Anirban]

What is acidic water? I'm not sure you are using that term correctly, or where you would even get such a thing without intentionally making it. RO/DI water will not lower pH or alkalinity when used to replace evaporation.

Hey Randy, I think his water source is acidic in nature and his water is just RO without DI. So he is asking although he puts just RO water in the ATO but that water is acidic in nature or with low pH like 6, so this will eventually bring down his pH.

 

[nanomania]

I'm still confused. 3 dKH is very low and not likely to be real. 3 meq/L is just perfect.

What do you mean by 3 KH? There is no such unit.

Stop measuring pH. It is just a distraction right now.

 

[Anirban]

Man how you know with this strip thing your kH is 8.......dont you have access to a titration based or other sort of kits? There is too much of assumption with this thing.

 

[nanomania]

Man how you know with this strip thing your kH is 8.......dont you have access to a titration based or other sort of kits? There is too much of assumption with this thing.

Had compared it with salifert..

 

[Drauka99]

Personally I would test your water with a good quality test kit made for testing one parameter at a time. Test strips are unreliable.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, those units are not KH, they are degrees KH, or dKH (the little degree symbol is important). I also do not believe your alkalintiy is 3 dKH. Alkalinity never gets that low in a normal reef tank.

I'd get a titration kit before making ANY changes based on that kit.

 

[themcnertney]

I am so lost.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hey Randy, I think his water source is acidic in nature and his water is just RO without DI. So he is asking although he puts just RO water in the ATO but that water is acidic in nature or with low pH like 6, so this will eventually bring down his pH.

I do not know what he is using, but pure fresh water from a RO/DI that is equilibrated with CO2 from the air will also have pH in the 5's or 6's, but has no impact on tank pH or alkalinity.

 

[Anirban]

I do not know what he is using, but pure fresh water from a RO/DI that is equilibrated with CO2 from the air will also have pH in the 5's or 6's, but has no impact on tank pH or alkalinity.

Yes, I think he is thinking because that RO water is of pH 5 or 6 so it will make the tank pH more acidic or lower down the kH.

 

[nanomania]

Yes, I think he is thinking because that RO water is of pH 5 or 6 so it will make the tank pH more acidic or lower down the kH.

Yes, im thinking this exactly... but if randy says it wont lower ph/kh in a reef tank. Confused a bit.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The start of the thread worried about 25 dKH and too high of alk, and lately you've mentioned 3 dKH and too low of alk.

What changed?

 

[Naiad]

Ok what I follow is his tank was reading 3dKH so he began to use reef builder to correct it. For a while things where reading right but then he added too much and got a reading of 25. I'm am not sure what kind of water he has as a home purification system can be anything from rodi to just run through carbon. It may also have water softeners ect. attached. The fact that water changes lead to algea blooms tells me that it isn't rodi though or likely not even ro.

 

[Anirban]

Ok what I follow is his tank was reading 3dKH so he began to use reef builder to correct it. For a while things where reading right but then he added too much and got a reading of 25. I'm am not sure what kind of water he has as a home purification system can be anything from rodi to just run through carbon. It may also have water softeners ect. attached. The fact that water changes lead to algea blooms tells me that it isn't rodi though or likely not even ro.

He said he doesn't have access to RODI and his unit is only RO. To clean up phosphate he uses Purigen and dont have access to any other GFO.

 

[nanomania]

He said he doesn't have access to RODI and his unit is only RO. To clean up phosphate he uses Purigen and dont have access to any other GFO.

Purigen is used for polishing water, phosguard is used for po4 along with some carbon