help lower alk safely

[hotnickz07]

Hey guys, just tested my alk , and its at 12.5 on salifert, and about the same in api. Im adjusting my doser to lower this. Question is what is a safe drop daily. My goal is about 7.5 or 7. My tank looks great btw all sps are looking pretty good. Anyways thank for help in advance

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

The easiest is to just let it drop on its own.

You can drop it with acids such as muriatic acid, but generally, I wouldn't when it is only 12.5 dKH.

 

[hotnickz07]

Ohh i will. By no means do i plan to use any chemicals. My thought was to drop it by dosing less alk untill it drops to my acceptable leve. I now dose 20ml a day thought my doser. At 5ml every 6 hours. I though of doing 4 ml every 6hrs or 4 5 4 5 so about 18. Would that be better or 4 across should be fine ?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'd just shut it off until the alk drops, rather than tweaking the dose.

But there's nothing wrong with going slower, as long as it is not a ULNS tank (in which case, faster may be better). Adjusting downward will require several adjustments to get it to come down then stabilize.

 

[hotnickz07]

Shoot im week 2 of prodibio. So i might want to expedite things up .. ok ill cut dosing to about 10 ml see how it goes
Thank you

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You're welcome.

Good luck and let us know how it works out.

 

[swk]

Dropping alk is generally safer than raised it ime

 

[hotnickz07]

Well i checked this morning after i did a wc and it was still at 12dkh. Really dont know what caused it to go that high . My dosing amount hasn't changed, nor the 2part i use. Hoping tomorrow to see better numbers

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It may take a while. If the tank is using less for some reason, that would explain why it went up and is only slowly coming down.

 

[hotnickz07]

Just tested today. Alk is at 10.8 dkh. A bit better, but still have a bit to go. Im praying i dont loose any sps with this

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Unless it is a ULNS tank, I doubt you will. Many SPS grow faster at higher alkalinity.

 

[hotnickz07]

Woo.. good to hear. Its not a ULNS yet since its only been 4 weeks since i started Prodibio , buts it getting there. No3 is 2ppm and Po4 were 0.21 on Hanna. When i started i had no3 at 5 and phos were over 1.++. I also started using Matrix in my sump as well..

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I expect it will be fine.

 

[hotnickz07]

Testes water today and its looking better. Mags is a little high i think so i will have to adjust dose as well. I suspect i was way higher before, specially since i stopped all dosing now for about 2 days. All test were done on salifert.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Looks good.

 

[wishnewfish]

if Alk is really high like 14dkh, the safest way to lower it is to take a mug of tank water - add few drops/5 ml of distilled vinegar into it and add it into your sump or close to powerhead.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

if Alk is really high like 14dkh, the safest way to lower it is to take a mug of tank water - add few drops/5 ml of distilled vinegar into it and add it into your sump or close to powerhead.

Well, that will only reduce the alkalinity temporarily.

As soon as the acetate is metabolized by bacteria the alkalinity all returns. In many tanks that may be only hours or less.

That is why folks like myself use vinegar for organic carbon dosing, and do not have any issues with alkalinity being depleted by it. I add more than 100 mL every day to my 300 total gallon system, and in the past have dosed as much as 410 mL daily, which was too much for other reasons, such as excessive bacteria in the water).

 

[hotnickz07]

Thanks for the help guys. I measured this morning and got 9.8 . I did it 3 times and with two different salifert kits . So iwent up .2dkh without dosing huh?? Weird

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks for the help guys. I measured this morning and got 9.8 . I did it 3 times and with two different salifert kits . So iwent up .2dkh without dosing huh?? Weird

Just random testing variation, not likely a real increase.

 

[hotnickz07]

Wosh got scared. Well i will start dosing tonight, however i have reduced the dosing by half and see were it takes me. Also im seing way better P.E now from my sticks