Alkalinity drop

[Ben Butler]

Help Please!

I have a new tank (2 1/2 weeks old) that is 63 gallon in display and 20 in sump. It has live sand and 60 pounds of live rock flown from Florida submerged that had a very small cycle. I tested calcium and alkalinity on Sunday and was shocked that calciu was 378 and alkalinity was 5.6. I did a partial water change last night and got alkalinity to 6.0. What is the best thing to do to raise my alkalinity?

 

[BestMomEver]

What salt are you using and what salinity are you measuring? Different salts mix differently and the Salinity level makes a huge difference.

 

[madweazl]

What is your salinity and what are you measuring it with? With both of them low, there is a chance your salinity is low.

 

[Ben Butler]

My salinity is 1.024 I believe

 

[Ben Butler]

Also using aqua forest reef salt

 

[Ben Butler]

Measuring with refractometer

 

[ArizonaAquatics]

Check your magnesium as well. Low magnesium will throw off your alkalinity. They all need to be within a "range" to stay stable. If your magnesium is too low (I say anything below 1300ppm), then that might be the problem as well. In that case, it is pretty simple to dose supplements to raise the levels.

Also, check the levels of the water you use to do a water change. The salt you are using may not have a high enough concentration for your needs, and you may need to switch salt brands or simply supplement with dosing.

 

[madweazl]

Measuring with refractometer

Can you mix up a small batch of salt real quick and test the alkalinity and calcium levels of the freshly mixed water? If the results are low again, your refractometer isn't calibrated properly.

 

[BeejReef]

Tank is awfully new to have used up that much alkalinity and calcium. Much more likely your salt or how you're mixing it.

Calcium, you have to buy from fish store or online. Alkalinity, you can use baking soda. Probably not a long term solution, but if it's just to correct up once while you wait for the tank to start consuming it more regularly

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html