Can dry rock raise Alkalinity?

[Nick Steele]

About a month ago I started my first saltwater tank with dry rock. I forgot to wash the rock so I got tons of little particles that came off the rock with a ton of dust as well. For the first batch of salt I mixed it in the tank and I had high alkalinity at 12-13dkh. Today I went to make my first batch of saltwater in my brute can for a water change and it’s mixing at 9dkh.

Dry rock used was Caribsea south seas base rock. Which is limestone based, can this be the cause of the first round of saltwater being slightly high in alkalinity?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dry aragonite or calcite rock does not raise alkalinity. Artificial rock can when not fully cured.

 

[Nick Steele]

Okay thanks!

Mystery still unsolved lol

 

[rmurken]

Your tank is so new, I’d give it time to settle in. I’d also give yourself time to settle into a habit with how you test stuff like Alk. Could be anything in your tank, could be salt, could be user error, could be a combo. But doesn’t seem like the kind of thing to try to correct until the tank has aged a bit and you’ve had a chance to get a feel for it where it likes to be on Alk, etc.