high alk! after water changes

DQM5 · Feb 17, 2018

hey guys,
Quick question so I been having high alk for the past month ranging from 10-14 alk. Yesterday I tested my alk with Hanna Checker it was at 10. After doing 50% water change my alk went up to 13 the next day. i'm not dosing any alk or calcium. I'm using red sea salt mix ( blue bucket ). did some testing after work i mixed so new batch of salt water 5 gallon bucket with half cup of salt, the salinity was around 20ppm with 13 ALK.... I am thinking maybe salt is bad?? also calibrate my refractometer my display is at 11.8 alk. No coral since alk spike.

Also i want wondering since, my dt is low in salinity should i raise it up, if i do my alk will go up also. not sure what to do
Any help would be much appreciated THANK YOU

Ludders · Feb 17, 2018

Sometimes during transport the different elements that make up the mix drift apart, or some settle lower than others. Give your salt a good mix up and try another water mix.

DQM5 · Feb 17, 2018

Ludders said:
Sometimes during transport the different elements that make up the mix drift apart, or some settle lower than others. Give your salt a good mix up and try another water mix.

ill give that a try thanks!

hybridazn · Feb 17, 2018

Red Sea blue bucket alk shouldn't be that high. As already suggested try rolling the bucket to get the salt to mix. If you continue to have these issues I would contact red sea about this. Although I haven't seen or heard anything recently about Bad batches of red sea salt.

DQM5 · Feb 17, 2018

hybridazn said:
Red Sea blue bucket alk shouldn't be that high. As already suggested try rolling the bucket to get the salt to mix. If you continue to have these issues I would contact red sea about this. Although I haven't seen or heard anything recently about Bad batches of red sea salt.

just did some mixing with the salt. I am still getting high alk from 13-16 at 25ppm.

Ludders · Feb 17, 2018

Yeah I would take it back then if it is a bad batch.

Ludders · Feb 17, 2018

Take a tank water sample for testing as well from where you bought the salt, assuming is wasn't online.

mjlash22 · Feb 17, 2018

Just to confirm, you have the normal Red Sea salt and not the coral pro? Those numbers seem closer to coral pro numbers.

DQM5 · Feb 17, 2018

mjlash22 said:
Just to confirm, you have the normal Red Sea salt and not the coral pro? Those numbers seem closer to coral pro numbers.

i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

mjlash22 · Feb 17, 2018

DQM5 said:
i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

Maybe they put the wrong bag in your bucket

DQM5 · Feb 17, 2018

DQM5 said:
i have the blue bucket. i think it's bad batch of salt.

mjlash22 said:
Maybe they put the wrong bag in your bucket

gonna go to my lfs and see if they are gonna exchange it.

Finhead · Feb 17, 2018

Just out of curiousity, are you mixing the salt with RODI or do you use Tap water with conditioner? RODI Water has 0 Alk TAp will have 7-8 or whatever you tap tests out at, they combine to give a higher alk mix.

SashimiTurtle · Feb 17, 2018

Yikes, I use blue bucket and have never had a problem with salt not mixing correctly. Always right around 8dKH. I'd definitely get that refunded from your LFS or thru Red Sea themselves... Get your LFS to mix up a gallon or so and have them test it so they can see how far off it is.

DSC reef · Feb 17, 2018

Could be a mix up from red sea. The blue bucket should mix between 8-9dkh. Just make sure your using RODI and your mixing at 35ppt. If your using a refractometer make sure it's calibrated. I use coral pro it mixes around 12-12.5 dkh at 35ppt.

madweazl · Feb 17, 2018

It looks like you have a very large variation between tests as well; if the same water sample is testing between 13 and 16 dKh, there is likely a problem with the test kit, procedure used to test, or the tester.

SashimiTurtle · Feb 17, 2018

I just saw that part about 20ppt... you need to be at 35ppt. If your display is that low, slowly bring it up. I'd also mix up a fresh bucket of salt and RODI at 35ppt and see what you test at. I normally need 2 cups of salt for a 5g tote, it's more around 6g where I fill tho.

DQM5 · Feb 22, 2018

Thanks I knew, why my alk was high... I'm at 9 alk right now. you think it's ok to buy a coral to test my water or should I just wait till alk hits at 8

madweazl · Feb 22, 2018

The corals dont care if the alkalinity is 8 or 9 dKh, they just want it consistently one or the other so pick a target and stick with it.

Tautog · Feb 22, 2018

Wait and get your water stable, don’t buy a coral, wait a week.
I don’t want to start another salt fight, but I’m using Reef Crystals. It’s much cheaper than most, and a lot of commercial coral growers use it or regular Instant Ocean. I doubt it’s the salt. Double check your Refractometer, better yet, buy a large floating Hydrometer/Temp. They are reliable, but fragile, just to check. It’s the only thing I use, it’s close enough.