Confused

[James7733]

After having goofed while trying to use (baked in oven) pure baking soda to raise ph from 8.0 to 8.4 and winding up with 8.8 and my Alkalinity which was already high at 12 now shooting to 17. I fail to comprehend why? one can not simply raise the one element one wants to raise or for that matter lower. When I ran the calcium test I found it had dropped to a low 240 ppm Needless to say since I ran out of calcium supplement I ran to the nearest petco and grabbed the last bottle of calcium. I added the recommended amount and then I realize the directions state raises Magnesium and Strontium. My Magnesium was already slightly high end at 1470. Is there not a brand out there that will just raise the PH or just raise the calcium?


Fortunately my two sebae and Haitian anemones are still eating and seem well. However because of this water mess I now get to begin performing every other day five gallon water changes to bring the water parameters to more proper ranges. Still I can not help but believe that there are in fact products I don’t know about that would not create such a mess as buffers seem to do when one element drops below the normal parameter. Does anyone know of such products and if so where can they be purchased as the local pet shops including petco don’t seem to have them or are they being snagged up as soon as they hit the shelves.


Thanks

 

[beaslbob]

always measure ph just before lights out.

I would just follow the diy two part. If your alk is dkh you're shooting too high IMHO.

my .02

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Well, you have come to the right place to solve these issues.

To start, calcium chloride is the product to use to boost calcium only. There are many brands, or you can just buy the chemical, such as from Dr Foster and Smith or BRS.

This calculator shows how much to use:
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

You should NEVER dose an alkalinity supplement while only monitoring pH, for the exact reason you discovered. In fact, there is NO additive product which can raise pH and not alkalinity. It is chemically impossible.

You can, however, but products to boost only calcium, only alkalinity, only magnesium, only iron, only silicate...Most anything you want to raise if you know exactly what parameter you want to boost.

 

[DannyB]

Running the air intake for my skimmer outside raised only my pH. As RHF says, no additive though. IMO, pH is no parameter to chase though.

 

[James7733]

Well, you have come to the right place to solve these issues.

To start, calcium chloride is the product to use to boost calcium only. There are many brands, or you can just buy the chemical, such as from Dr Foster and Smith or BRS.

This calculator shows how much to use:
http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

You should NEVER dose an alkalinity supplement while only monitoring pH, for the exact reason you discovered. In fact, there is NO additive product which can raise pH and not alkalinity. It is chemically impossible.

You can, however, but products to boost only calcium, only alkalinity, only magnesium, only iron, only silicate...Most anything you want to raise if you know exactly what parameter you want to boost.

Thanks for the information. The calculator and the products list are awesome. I will begin water changes tonight after work and also order the specific products needed to insure a stable tank. Thanks again !!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the information. The calculator and the products list are awesome. I will begin water changes tonight after work and also order the specific products needed to insure a stable tank. Thanks again !!!

You're welcome.

You may find this useful:

The Many Methods For Supplementing Calcium And Alkalinity