Alkalinity at 14.4 dKH in new tank

[miloreif]

Hi everyone. New reef tank here. All cycled and ready to go except the alkalinity is a little high at 14.4 dKH. Should I correct this? I’m planning on starting with soft corals and then to LPS eventually.

 

[CasperOe]

Hi everyone. New reef tank here. All cycled and ready to go except the alkalinity is a little high at 14.4 dKH. Should I correct this? I’m planning on starting with soft corals and then to LPS eventually.

14.4 dKh in a new tank, empty tank? What salt mix are you using and what is your pH?

 

[miloreif]

14.4 dKh in a new tank, empty tank? What salt mix are you using and what is your pH?

I had accidentally added too much buffer when trying to raise my pH. All my other parameters are fine though. Is a dKH of 14.4 harmful to fish or corals? I’m using Biocube salt and my pH is now 8.1

 

[OscarHaglund]

Don’t use buffer to raise your ph. It should only be used to raise alk and the ph boost is a bonus.

 

[CasperOe]

I had accidentally added too much buffer when trying to raise my pH. All my other parameters are fine though. Is a dKH of 14.4 harmful to fish or corals?

Do a couple of 20% water changes over the next week or so and slowly bring your dKH down to desired level.

Q: What buffer are you dosing- and for which purpose?
Q: Anything in your tank that makes you think your pH is an issue?
Q: How "low" is your pH?

 

[Reef Devils]

Hi everyone. New reef tank here. All cycled and ready to go except the alkalinity is a little high at 14.4 dKH. Should I correct this? I’m planning on starting with soft corals and then to LPS eventually.

I would do a few water changes this week. And keep testing!

 

[14 foot reef]

What living animals are in your new reef tank just cycled ?

 

[miloreif]

Do a couple of 20% water changes over the next week or so and slowly bring your dKH down to desired level.

Q: What buffer are you dosing- and for which purpose?
Q: Anything in your tank that makes you think your pH is an issue?
Q: How "low" is your pH?

I was using Brightwell Aquatics Alkalin8.3 buffer to raise my pH. I have nothing in the tank yet. My pH was 7.6 and now it is 8.2. I just raised bc I read online that 8.2-8.4 is optimal.

 

[miloreif]

What living animals are in your new reef tank just cycled ?

Nothing in the tank yet. It just finishing cycling.

 

[CasperOe]

I was using Brightwell Aquatics Alkalin8.3 buffer to raise my pH. I have nothing in the tank yet. My pH was 7.6 and now it is 8.2. I just raised bc I read online that 8.2-8.4 is optimal.

Don't chase your pH! Raise your alkalinity as you see fit- pH will follow as a bonus. You get what you get. 7.6 is a little bit low- but not the end of the world!

Your pH will be lower as well when you have nothing growing in the tank! Uptake of Co2 (among other thigs!) through photosynthesis will raise pH.

Don't try to fix a problem you don't have! Just bring it back down slowly through water changes.

 

[miloreif]

Don't chase your pH! Raise your alkalinity as you see fit- pH will follow as a bonus. You get what you get. 7.6 is a little bit low- but not the end of the world!

Your pH will be lower as well when you have nothing growing in the tank! Uptake of Co2 (among other thigs!) through photosynthesis will raise pH.

Don't try to fix a problem you don't have! Just bring it back down slowly through water changes.

Thank you for the advice! I’ll take it

 

[CasperOe]

Thank you for the advice! I’ll take it

Anytime mate! That's what this community is for! And hey? Chin up- nothing happened, okay? Take care bud..

 

[14 foot reef]

Here is great snippet from @Randy Holmes-Farley with directions to lower your new saltwater that your doing your water changes with.

From Randy......

Here's a cut and paste for standard muriatic acid. Yours is more dilute (to get less fumes and cost less):

You can use muriatic acid or certain freshwater buffers to lower alk.
Both will lower pH similarly and a lot. There's no way around the pH lowering when reducing alkalinity. You do not want to add CO2. You want to remove CO2 from the tank via aeration.

For that reason, it is best to do it in water change water that is aerated to raise pH before using, or to do it very slowly in the tank (over many days).

The "acidity" (that being essentially negative alkalinity) of muriatic acid straight from the bottle is about 11,000 meq/L.

So adding 1/11,000 of the water volume as this acid will drop alkalinity by 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH).

I would not drop more than 1 dKH per day due to the big pH drop in a reef tank, but in new salt water it is fine.

You'll need to aerate well after adding the acid to blow off the excess CO2 and bring up the pH.

You can also use Seachem Acid Buffer:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AcidBuffer.html