General sps care

[cdy121]

just need some help guys. alk is still really high and im doing water changes just did one today. also tested the water after i did the water change unless i should wait till tomorrow for a more accurate test.
alk test today was 11.2dkh after water change
also switched from red sea purple salt to instant ocean reef crystals.

 

[desagon]

Reef Crystals is known to have very high alkalinity. If you're trying to lower it, either research how to lower the alkalinity of that salt or purchase a salt like fritz blue box, which mixes around 8.5 dkh.

 

[cdy121]

okay thank you. i was told that reef crystals was a lower alk salt by my local saltwater fish store they use it in all of there frag tanks

 

[desagon]

You're welcome. Check out this thread:

Sodium Bisulfate to Reduce Alkalinity in New Salt Water or in Display Tanks

I just want to record these calculations in their own thread to refer back to in other threads. When alkalinity is too high in new salt water or in a display tank, acid can be used to lower the alkalinity. You can easily use muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), or sodium bifulfate (e.g...

www.reef2reef.com

This will go into detail about how to lower your alkalinity in freshly mixed salt. That way you can keep using reef crystals, if you wish to do so.

 

[cdy121]

could i possibly add a small dose of white vinegar since it is an acid i know it will lower the alk almost immediately

 

[Nburg's Reef]

okay thank you. i was told that reef crystals was a lower alk salt by my local saltwater fish store they use it in all of there frag tanks

Reef crystals is very high. Instant ocean a little less high. You won’t lower by doing water changes. What’s your alk at now?
FWIW, Red Sea Blue bucket is lower, like 8.5ish. That’s what I have been using for the past year and like it.
Also, take LFS advice with a grain of salt until you’re in the hobby enough to know if they can be trusted.

 

[cdy121]

my alk is at 11.2 after i did the water change
i was using the red sea coral pro salt then i switched because the coral pro salt was testing around 14dkh
but is it a possibility to use a small amount of white vinegar since it is an acid

 

[jsvand5]

Just buy Red Sea blue bucket and you won’t have to worry about it anymore. Mixes at a perfect Alk then you can just maintain it with dosing.

 

[cdy121]

okay thanks
(is that a no go on a small amount of vinegar)

 

[Nburg's Reef]

Vinegar would lower pH, but I’m not sure it will have a major effect on alk. Alk will come down slowly on its own. If you caused an all spike, the last thing you want to do is shock the corals again by lowering it quickly or using unorthodox methods. Letting it drop slowly over a few days might be best.

I had an alk spike from 8ish to 16 from leaving sowers in(maxed out my test kit) and I let it drop naturally and only had 1 acro colony have some underside tissue recession but Lived. Everything else was more or less fine.

 

[flyfisherman]

Stop doing water changes for a month. Do you have any consumers of alk in your tank? If not, it will not come down easily.

 

[nereefpat]

(is that a no go on a small amount of vinegar)

It will lower alk and pH. But it also will dose carbon.

An inorganic acid, like muriatic acid, is better for lowering alk in instant ocean or reef crystals.

 

[cdy121]

Stop doing water changes for a month. Do you have any consumers of alk in your tank? If not, it will not come down easily.

I do not have much alk consumers in my tank I had a few acros but they rtnd

 

[blasterman]

If it's a young tank and healthy it will consume alk.

Hard corals are not the main consumers of alk in most tanks. Bacteria and algae consume most of your alk. I've seen smaller. 2 month old tanks consume 2 points of dKH per day. That's the consumer Reef Crystal's is intended for and why it has higher alk.

Switch to instant ocean if you want lower default alk , but salt mix isnt your problem here.

 

[cdy121]

If it's a young tank and healthy it will consume alk.

Hard corals are not the main consumers of alk in most tanks. Bacteria and algae consume most of your alk. I've seen smaller. 2 month old tanks consume 2 points of dKH per day. That's the consumer Reef Crystal's is intended for and why it has higher alk.

Switch to instant ocean if you want lower default alk , but salt mix isnt your problem here.

It is a pretty young tank..my tank is very clean tho I don’t have much algae considering how much I feed..what else should I add..
I do have a fluval m90 but recently converted it to a plumbed tank and do have a fuge

 

[xabo]

What's the salinity of the freshly made water? I've found that mixing at a lower salinity will reduce the alk.