Alkalinity and Calcium are Not Balanced...Help

[KLR]

I have recently been having alkalinity issues and after doing what I thought would bring up the alkalinity, nothing has happened.

According to this article, Calcium and Alkalinity by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com , if my Calcium is 400, which it is, my Alkalinity should be 2.0 meq/L. However my alkalinity is 1.82 meq/L. I am not sure how I am suppose to get my CA and Alk back balanced.

My current parameters are:

Nitrate- 0
Nitrite- 0
Phosphate- 0
Ammonia- 0
Magnesium- 1450
Salinity- 1.027
pH- 8.4
Calcium- 400ppm
Alkalinity- 5.1 dKH or 1.82 meq/L

I do not want to go any further with dosing until I know exactly what will happen to the other parameters if I add more alkalinity to the tank. I am not sure if I grasped it correctly from the article linked above, so I was wondering if someone who understands this could break it down for me?

 

[Poseidon]

I am not going to pretend to be a chemist the caliber of Randy, however, I can share what I would do in your situation.

1) Larger Water Change with a quality salt.
2) Test again.
3) Increase my Alk additive if necessary.

 

[KLR]

I am not going to pretend to be a chemist the caliber of Randy, however, I can share what I would do in your situation.

1) Larger Water Change with a quality salt.
2) Test again.
3) Increase my Alk additive if necessary.

Will increasing my Alk additive change any of the other parameters? Once I get everything figured out and balanced again, it might be time to set up my 3-part doser.

 

[robert]

If it were me, I'd add a little baking soda (bicarbonate) into my filter sock ever day until I got it back into balance. Slowly - (for reference I have ~170 gallons and will add 2 teaspoon max per day.)

What the Randy Holmes-Farley article is good at is explaining the balance required between ca and alk. Whats wrong with the article is that he seems to insist that 2 part dosing is sufficient to maintain the balance, which is in my experience simply false. My alk consumption outpaces my calcium demand. His article glosses over sulphide-induced nitrate reduction which can result in an alkalinity sink and release ca back into the system.
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[REEFKEEPER10]

I would becareful and add alkalinity slowly because your ph being 8.4 can be pushed to high easily. I would go a head and set up your doser to keep the other parameters in order but that is me.

 

[robert]

No - when you bring ca and alk back into balance - you shouldn't see any big swings in other parameters. 2 part and water changes should keep things in line - just non't be too surprised if over time your alk drifts lower.

 

[KLR]

If it were me, I'd add a little baking soda (bicarbonate) into my filter sock ever day until I got it back into balance. Slowly - (for reference I have ~170 gallons and will add 2 teaspoon max per day.)

What the Randy Holmes-Farley article is good at is explaining the balance required between ca and alk. Whats wrong with the article is that he seems to insist that 2 part dosing is sufficient to maintain the balance, which is in my experience simply false. My alk consumption outpaces my calcium demand. His article glosses over sulphide-induced nitrate reduction which can result in an alkalinity sink and release ca back into the system.

I have no filter sock on this tank and my alk consumption also seems to be greater than ca.

I would becareful and add alkalinity slowly because your ph being 8.4 can be pushed to high easily. I would go a head and set up your doser to keep the other parameters in order but that is me.

This is my main worry, which is why I am unsure of what I should do because if I don't dose alk it is to low but if I do dose, pH is to high.

 

[KLR]

No - when you bring ca and alk back into balance - you shouldn't see any big swings in other parameters. 2 part and water changes should keep things in line - just non't be too surprised if over time your alk drifts lower.

Ok, so I should go ahead and dose alk then?

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

What are you using to bring up your alk.

 

[robert]

"I would becareful and add alkalinity slowly because your ph being 8.4 can be pushed to high easily. I would go a head and set up your doser to keep the other parameters in order but that is me."

bicarbonate won't swing your ph - soda ash (anhydrous sodium bicarbonate - baked bicarbonate) might- a little. minor Ph swings are not too dangerous - alk swings are.

 

[robert]

If you have no place to add the bicarbonate directly - dissolve up what you need in a glass of tank water and add it bit by bit to a high flow area of the tank. Take your time - no rush. You can use either the alk portion of your two part (I have no idea how much to add) or you can use baking soda (the arm and hammer stuff) in which case use my 2 teaspoons/170 gallon - and figure the amount you need from there.

 

[Poseidon]

I don't think you will have any issues adding more of the ALk part. I used to use Arm and Hammer myself, dissolved in RO water. I actually would buy it at Sam's and bake it in the oven for an hour at 350 first. My tank also went through Alk faster then Ca when it was fully stocked, heck my Ca Reactor effluent was 32 to keep up with demand!!!

 

[KLR]

What are you using to bring up your alk.

I was using Reef Buffer made by Seachem. However, I have this as well and according to previous suggestions in this thread, I might need to switch to using it.
1 Gallon Bulk Sodium Bicarbonate for Aquariums - English

"I would becareful and add alkalinity slowly because your ph being 8.4 can be pushed to high easily. I would go a head and set up your doser to keep the other parameters in order but that is me."

bicarbonate won't swing your ph - soda ash (anhydrous sodium bicarbonate - baked bicarbonate) might- a little. minor Ph swings are not too dangerous - alk swings are.

If you have no place to add the bicarbonate directly - dissolve up what you need in a glass of tank water and add it bit by bit to a high flow area of the tank. Take your time - no rush. You can use either the alk portion of your two part (I have no idea how much to add) or you can use baking soda (the arm and hammer stuff) in which case use my 2 teaspoons/170 gallon - and figure the amount you need from there.

Ok, I have this product 1 Gallon Bulk Sodium Bicarbonate for Aquariums - English which will do the same as baking soda if I understand correctly?

 

[KLR]

I don't think you will have any issues adding more of the ALk part. I used to use Arm and Hammer myself, dissolved in RO water. I actually would buy it at Sam's and bake it in the oven for an hour at 350 first. My tank also went through Alk faster then Ca when it was fully stocked, heck my Ca Reactor effluent was 32 to keep up with demand!!!

Ok, and wow! My tank is packed full of corals and I am trying to keep up by manual dosing. Obviously it is not working..

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

Your bicarbonate is what is used to low ph in there two so it will do what you need it to by raising alk and not pushing ph up. I would use there reef calculator to get the dosage you need to get it back up.

 

[huuta]

going through the same thing.i use seachem alk and mix it according to the direction.I only raise it by .5 every day.i just test mine this morning and finally got it to 8.3.Go slow with alk cause you don't want a big swing and yours being so low.Also check your cal cause when you dose alk,it lower your cal.I was dosing about 250 ml per day.My total water volume is 85g

 

[nova65ss]

I have always had the same problem as well. At one point my calcium was through the roof from just using two part. I now dose the sea chem buffer twice a week along with the two part twice a week and it stays where I want it. After a week or two of tracking you should be able to figure out how much buffer to use and go from there. Definitely only do it once a day til you get it where you want it is supposed to raise the alk up .5 a point per dose. I just mix it in a glass of top off water and pour it in.

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[feh]

This may help you solve your problem with balance.

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

 

[Blake11rebel]

Thanks feh for that link. I was tagging along trying to understand calcium and alkalinity better.

 

[dankreef]

good read.