High alkalinity without dosing

[mbmax]

Hi everyone , I have a 150gls display with a 50gls sump running for 6 months with the following equitment .
-Royal exclusive 160 skimmer.
- 2 mp40qd
- ATI hybrid led/ t5 8 bulb unit
- run carbon on a bag
-use filter socks ( change every 4- 6 days)
-1/2 inch sand bed for looks.

I perform 30gls water change weekly.
I am having a problem controlling alkalinity, for the first few months I kept it at 7.5 to 7.7 dkh and all my SPS frags were growing OK with good colors., but for the last 2 1/2 months alk got to 10.9dkh with no dosing.
I thought it was the salt bucket that I just finished at the time . Since then I started 2 new buckets and tested after mixing and both tested at 7.2dkh. But alkalinity stays at @ 10dkh.
I am not dosing anything at all.
The acro frags are looking terrible, some brown and some pale.????
The montis are OK.
Where is the increase Alk coming From?

Thank you in advance.

 

[Ashish Patel]

Why so many aggressive water changes on a new tank? Test the new saltwater mix and it should be closest mix you can get to your tank water parameters...if your tank is at 8DKH and your mix is 10DKH you'll inrease is substantially with this 30G waterchanges. You best bet is to minimize the water changes to bi-weekly and at 10-20% - Every tank is different so if you need the water changes to replenish trace elements then its worth it but I cant imagine any positives with that much on a weekly basis..

 

[mbmax]

Thanks for the reply , but the salt mix is at 7.2. - 7.7 dkh and the tank is at 10dkh.
Just don't know how it keep increasing.
The purpose of the water changes was to try to lower it .
30gls is about 15%

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Thanks for the reply , but the salt mix is at 7.2. - 7.7 dkh and the tank is at 10dkh.
Just don't know how it keep increasing.
The purpose of the water changes was to try to lower it .

Did you confirm your tests? I.e. retest or lfs?

 

[Ashish Patel]

Thanks for the reply , but the salt mix is at 7.2. - 7.7 dkh and the tank is at 10dkh.
Just don't know how it keep increasing.
The purpose of the water changes was to try to lower it .
30gls is about 15%

(Ok good)

If your Salt mix is 7.2-7.7DKH - you Alk should be dropping not increasing. I would definitely stop making water changes because this is not working and could be making it worst. The Alk should drop or level off on its own..

What test kits are you using?

 

[Ashish Patel]

Off topic but I noticed your location! This weekend I found a LFS (ocean gallery) very close to me. I was pleasantly surprised with this store! Is this your LFS?

 

[mbmax]

I am using salifert test kit. I know ocean gallery since started in the hobby 4 years ago.
Yes. Test confirmed

 

[XNavyDiver]

I am using salifert test kit. I know ocean gallery since started in the hobby 4 years ago.
Yes. Test confirmed

Has your alk level come down any yet? I'm curious as I am wanting to decrease my alk levels the same way as you are. I find it so strange that your alk levels remain high when doing water changes with lower alk salt.

 

[iamsamuel93]

same situation. I'm using red sea coral pro. dkh at 11.6 and calcium at more than 500. using salifert test kits. I thought it might have been due to high salinity levels but i just checked minutes ago. It's 35ppt. Any solutions to this anyone?

 

[reeftilldie]

i used acid buffer and was able to reduce alk from 8.7 to 7.5 within 1.5 days safely.

 

[brandon429]

an interesting irony follows all parameter chasing threads

for some reason, we could take the sps out of this system that are brown, put them in a fishbowl with a bubbler using the exact same salt mix at X alk levels, and plate the sps onto the glass/bring it back within 8 mos. No param measuring, literally any saltmix w all its variance w work in a pico reef to grow sps.

To me, this thread implies that a given salt mix mixes up to lethal sps levels but we don't show that loss in nanos and picos who just do lots of water changes

we feed strongly, furthering the irony of the small container. I think that's why sps and lps do so well in test setups, target feeding then full water changes to export pre-waste. we target nutrients around what corals want (what any salt mix mixes up to/variations ok) and we do not target nutrients around starving out algae, that's dealt with differently.

am aware its hard to change all the water in large tanks or spot feed endlessly, but its nonetheless a statement of fact that we could use that salt or any other salt and not even change weekly routine to grow sps in smaller systems, so it cannot be the water or the params at play here, at least the initial mix params.

I don't see that tying into sps stress here, though people do like to tune their specifics that's half the fun for many.

post tank pics if you can

id revert to lighting control, increasing blues dec whites, and feeding as CPR starters. harmless effort combo to try and wont hurt anything until the precise cause for stress is found. If some other factor is spiking the alk on top of a high end mix that seems worth detailing

 

[SashimiTurtle]

same situation. I'm using red sea coral pro. dkh at 11.6 and calcium at more than 500. using salifert test kits. I thought it might have been due to high salinity levels but i just checked minutes ago. It's 35ppt. Any solutions to this anyone?

Red Sea is great salt, black bucket is just way high in foundation elements and IMO, an expert only salt for reducing dosing amounts... switch to the blue bucket and you'll have almost NSW parameters with every bucket. Red Sea uses water from the, you guessed it, the red sea. They dry the water out under the sun and collect the salt and minerals left behind. It's as close to pure saltwater add you can get without a trip to the beach. The Pro salt is made the same way, but has boosted elements in it that make it very dangerous.

 

[mbmax]

Has your alk level come down any yet? I'm curious as I am wanting to decrease my alk levels the same way as you are. I find it so strange that your alk levels remain high when doing water changes with lower alk salt.[/QUOTE)


I am so confused, the alk level still the same( 10.6dkh) after 1 1/2 buckets of Tropic Marine salt with alk of 7.7dkh.
I think I will stop water changes to see if Alk goes down that way.

 

[mbmax]

Sorry my reply above come as part of the quote.

 

[mbmax]

what do you guys think?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you are topping off with Ro/DI and do not use artificial rock, and are not dosing, the alk is just from the salt mix.

 

[iamsamuel93]

Just got a logical answer from a fellow reefer. Might be because the tank has too little corals for alkalinity absorption. You mentioned that you've changed a 1 1/2 buckets via TM. I think it might need more water changes than just that.

I do 1 small bucket water changes twice a week and I don't have alot of corals. So it kind of make sense now. And Red Sea coral pro salt has high dkh to begin with. Can anyone correct me if I'm wrong?

 

[chivermcdar]

Recently I was having issues with my Red Sea KH and Calcium test kits.
I just purchased Hannah digital testers and found out I have a much different problem than I initially thought.
I was getting low KH readings. I used several brands of testers and concluded that my tank demand had increased the KH usage. So I increased the timer on the Alk.
Still no increase. Did a large water change with a slightly higher KH than usual and overnight the level was back to where it was before.
Turns out my CAL test was incorrect and it was at 550.
This dissipating the KH.
The problem isn't always where you look.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

FWIW, calcium at 550 ppm is fine and should no cause any special issues.

 

[GoVols]

same situation. I'm using red sea coral pro. dkh at 11.6 and calcium at more than 500. using salifert test kits. I thought it might have been due to high salinity levels but i just checked minutes ago. It's 35ppt. Any solutions to this anyone?

Switch to the "Blue Bucket".

The Red Sea coral pro mixes alk to about 12.5 dkh.