Alkalinity Swing

[Jayreef23]

Hey everybody so I have a Jebao auto dosing pump but something is not right with it it’s dosing wrong so I disconnected it and now I’m manually dosing Calcium and Alkalinity my Alkalinity was 9 about 2 weeks ago and now it’s at 11.8. How do I get my alkalinity back to an acceptable range?

 

[SlugSnorter]

gradually with waterchanges.

 

[Jayreef23]

gradually with waterchanges.

Thanks…how often do I do water changes? Once a week or more

 

[SlugSnorter]

Thanks…how often do I do water changes? Once a week or more

whats your current schedule and tank size?

 

[Jayreef23]

whats your current schedule and tank size?

Doing 15 gallon water change on Red Sea Reefer 250 (54 gallon display )

 

[Jayreef23]

Doing 15 gallon water change on Red Sea Reefer 250 (54 gallon display )

Try doing it every week but lately it’s been every 2 weeks

 

[SlugSnorter]

Try doing it every week but lately it’s been every 2 weeks

that 15 gallons weekly would be good.

 

[Jayreef23]

that 15 gallons weekly would be good.

Alright…I’ll do that…Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What is the alk of your new salt water? Water changes may not lower it.

 

[Jayreef23]

What is the alk of your new salt water? Water changes may not lower it.

It’s ocean water I get at my LFS…didn’t test it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s ocean water I get at my LFS…didn’t test it

I would test it before using water changes to drop alk.

 

[Jayreef23]

I would test it before using water changes to drop alk.

Had some leftover from the water change it’s about 7.5-7.7

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Had some leftover from the water change it’s about 7.5-7.7

OK, so think of it this way.

A 20% change will drop alk from 11.8 to 11 dKH.

Thus, it will be a slow process.

You could also drop the alk in the new salt water with sodium bisulfate to, say, 3 or 4 dKH, and use many fewer water changes to get there.

 

[homer1475]

Could just stop dosing, do your normal WC, and let it drop on it's own.