Dropping PH in Instant Ocean Salt

[Reefahholic]

Is Acid the best way to do this. I’d like to drop the PH about 1-2 DKH.

Is this safe for a reef or will the acid produce unwanted elements over time?

I’d simply change salts, but the price point of IO is nice.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

You mean alk not ph o belive.
Muriatic acid. Easy google there

Also.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...in-new-salt-water-or-in-display-tanks.362825/

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

What Salty said. Sodium bisulfate might be a little easier to work with because it's not as corrosive as HCl, but either will work. (EDIT: The statement that sodium bisulfate is not as corrosive is not accurate. It might be or it might not be. What I should have said was that it might be easier to work with because it's generally a powder and it doesn't have fumes like HCl)

Out of curiosity, what is the alkalinity in your display tank? I use IO so I can appreciate that the alkalinity is a bit high for some, but depending on your water change amount, the increase might not be enough to warrant the hassle. If your DT is at 8 dKh and the new IO is at 10 dKh, a 10% change will only increase your alkalinity by 0.2 dKh. A 25% change will only increase your alkalinity by 0.5 dKh.

Lowering alkalinity is not that difficult, so if you'd prefer to do that, then there's nothing wrong with that. Just giving some food for thought

 

[Bpb]

I’m not convinced lowering the alkalinity is even that necessary unless your tank is brand new and for some reason you want lower alkalinity without corals.

I’ve been using IO and RC for years and never mess with the alkalinity on new make water. My display tank runs 7.0 and I change 15% water a week. Sps dominant. The elevated alkalinity in the new water is diluted in the sump substantially and further more in the display. If I test alk the minute before a water change, then 24 hours later, I register little to no increase.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I discuss how to lower alkalinity in these threads:

Sodium Bisulfate to Reduce Alkalinity in New Salt Water or in Display Tanks
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...in-new-salt-water-or-in-display-tanks.362825/

Reducing alkalinity ?
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/reducing-alkalinity.339109/#post-4214464

 

[chipmunkofdoom2]

I’m not convinced lowering the alkalinity is even that necessary unless your tank is brand new and for some reason you want lower alkalinity without corals.

I’ve been using IO and RC for years and never mess with the alkalinity on new make water. My display tank runs 7.0 and I change 15% water a week. Sps dominant. The elevated alkalinity in the new water is diluted in the sump substantially and further more in the display. If I test alk the minute before a water change, then 24 hours later, I register little to no increase.

In general, I think this is true. The increase (or decrease) of an element or compound can be calculated by multiplying the difference between the new water and the tank by the % change. So if new IO RC is 11 dKh and your tank is 7 dKh, the increase to alkalinity will only be about 0.6 dKh (11 dKh - 7 dKh = 4 dKh, 4 dKh * 0.15 = 0.6 dKh change). This will likely not be a problem in most tanks.

There are instances where this can be useful though. The larger the water change, the bigger the alkalinity change. If you're doing a 50% change for whatever reason, your alkalinity could spike as much as 2 dKh in the scenario above.