Have You Checked Your Alkalinity Today?

[ritter6788]

My alk is a little low at 6.7. fresh sw tested 9 when during a water change. I orderd the full shabang from brs 2 part. What should I bring my alk to? I see 9 as a comfortable # but also read that people have it high 7's..

Pick a number you like and stick with it. Mine stays 7-8 and works good for my tank. Many run their tanks higher. 8-10 is a good safe average range.

 

[MSD60178]

Great thread. Very true

I just did and do every night and dose every morning

 

[TommyP]

Pick a number you like and stick with it. Mine stays 7-8 and works good for my tank. Many run their tanks higher. 8-10 is a good safe average range.

Thanks will do. I appreciate the response.

 

[saltyhog]

Pick a number you like and stick with it. Mine stays 7-8 and works good for my tank. Many run their tanks higher. 8-10 is a good safe average range.

I think that's great advice. My SPS always does it's best when my alkalinity is rock steady and it's worse with something upsets the apple cart and alkalinity swings one way or the other.

PS I drool every time I look at your avatar!

 

[swissgaurd]

ill be making my first batch today.
my system is sucking up alk like crazy
kalkwasser isn't cutting it any more.

how long after its mixed can I add the mixture?

vic

 

[TommyP]

The soda ash from BRS says let sit for a couple hours before use.

 

[ritter6788]

Everyone go check your alk today!

I got a dosing pump for my frag tank finally. I've been manually dosing and it was getting to be a pain.

 

[rovster]

146 on my 30, 134 on my large tank just as expected, LOL!

 

[ritter6788]

Both my tanks were 135. I checked twice just to make sure I did it right. They are usually close but never exactly the same. I added a little baking soda to the frag tank. I'm experimenting with a little higher alk.

 

[NanaReefer]

Checking & dosing Alk every day. Seems to drop quickly these days. 8.1 this a.m. from 8.4 last night.

 

[Eienna]

Marking this for later reference.

 

[xtlosx]

I myself maintain alk\calc by dosing one at the bottom of the hour, and the other half way through each hour to maintain stability. I find myself testing alk twice a week and if anything ever looks off. I tend to test more when there's more pieces added to make sure things don't drop.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I myself maintain alk\calc by dosing one at the bottom of the hour, and the other half way through each hour to maintain stability.

Don't those two expressions imply the same time?

 

[xtlosx]

Don't those two expressions imply the same time?

Sorry, posted before my first cup of coffee... lol.

Calc does at the bottom of every hour, and alk does half way through each hour... Previously I was just dosing once daily via the BRS pumps and didn't see any negatives, but I'm happier maintaining the same levels through the method I have now.

 

[NanaReefer]

Dosed 25ml of BRS Alk last night. Alk at 8.4 this morning 9am. Nice! Will test again tonight and tomorrow morning. If still at 8.4 seems 25ml daily is the key.

 

[Velodog2]

When using two-part I've been lead to believe that you should wait some period of time between the dosing of each component. What is the generally recommended time?

 

[Velodog2]

Durned old double post.

 

[Ericsch333]

Dosed 25ml of BRS Alk last night. Alk at 8.4 this morning 9am. Nice! Will test again tonight and tomorrow morning. If still at 8.4 seems 25ml daily is the key.

What size tank do you have ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

When using two-part I've been lead to believe that you should wait some period of time between the dosing of each component. What is the generally recommended time?

As long as one is mixed in, you can add the second. What you don't want is two concentrated clouds of the chemical to interact. That can lead to precipitation of calcium carbonate.

So a half hour is almost always enough. In some tanks, just one minute may be plenty if there is lots of flow.

 

[Diesel]

7.8 across the board everyday............. using a 618 GEO with 8lbs Reborn and 1lbs Mag.
Using a CarbonDoser Electronic Co2 Regulator setup on APEX with the PH probe in the GEO.
PH between 7.96 and 8.22 on the tank.