High Alkalinity

[Coralguy8894]

hey guys

Currently own a 30g shallow reef tank, with 2 fish (maroon goldbar and watchman goby) and a lot of soft coral, with a couple lps and sps.

About a week ago I had readings of 14.1 dkh, I did a 6 gallon water change and now I've lowered it down to 12.1-12.5 dkh (using a Salifert test kit so I can't pinpoint it exactly.

Is there anything else besides a water change i can do to help lower my alkalinity?
And should I avoid using reef Fusion 1 or 2 until I reach my desired alkalinity level?

Most of my corals are hearty, I just am concerned about my acro

 

[AZ_Reef]

That’s a huge swing going from 14-12. I would do small WC daily instead of 20% at once.

 

[C. Eymann]

Sounds like you have been adding a bit too much of reef fusion, how did you determine your dosing?

 

[WIReefer]

What salt are you using? And probably don’t need to add anything just water changes weekly to keep desired alk levels

 

[Copingwithpods]

What salt mix are you using?

 

[Coralguy8894]

What salt are you using? And probably don’t need to add anything just water changes weekly to keep desired alk levels

I was using natural pacific ocean water
Now I'm using Red Sea Salt mixed with R/O water

 

[Coralguy8894]

Sounds like you have been adding a bit too much of reef fusion, how did you determine your dosing?

I don't have a drip system in place yet, so I've been doing 4ml every other day up until I got a test kit and saw how high my alkalinity was

 

[Coralguy8894]

What salt mix are you using?

I just started using Red Sea salt mixed with R/o water, previously was using pacific ocean water

 

[Copingwithpods]

Blue or black bucket?

 

[C. Eymann]

I don't have a drip system in place yet, so I've been doing 4ml every other day up until I got a test kit and saw how high my alkalinity was

Redsea coral pro? or redsea blue bucket?

How did you determine 2mls every 24 hrs /4 every 48 was matching your tanks demand rate and not overshooting, because it sounds like that maybe what was going on.

Also what test kit are you using?

 

[Coralguy8894]

Blue or black bucket?

Its actually in a bag like this one

 

[C. Eymann]

Yeah,

Its actually in a bag like this one

This ^^^ plus dosing two part on a lower demand tank explains your high alk.

 

[Coralguy8894]

Redsea coral pro? or redsea blue bucket?

How did you determine 2mls every 24 hrs /4 every 48 was matching your tanks demand rate and not overshooting, because it sounds like that maybe what was going on.

Also what test kit are you using?

I didn't have any test kits until recently (I have a Salifert) so I was just making my best guess based on how I dosed my 40g I used to have a few years ago.

 

[Coralguy8894]

Yeah,



This ^^^ plus dosing two part on a lower demand tank explains your high alk.

Cool thanks
Now what if I was using pacific ocean water? Dosing needed?

 

[Copingwithpods]

Lesson learned here, never dose anything you're not testing for.

Also if your alk goal is far under 12 that's the wrong salt, in the picture you posted you can see the values it mixes to. If you don't have a high demand tank just water changes will keep you in range.

 

[WIReefer]

I was using natural pacific ocean water
Now I'm using Red Sea Salt mixed with R/O water

I used Red Sea salt for years and switched recently to tropic marine since I’ve been getting into sps Alk for that salt is 7

 

[WIReefer]

Yeah,



This ^^^ plus dosing two part on a lower demand tank explains your high alk.

Definitely honestly you might not even have to dose if you keep up with weekly water changes

 

[ecexotics]

red sea coral pro has a very high alk. very dangerous with sps if you ask me. i use aquaforest because it mixes to a 7.5dkh which matches my tanks

 

[Saltyreef]

Coral pro already mixes to the high 11's.

You should be using blue bucket or else you may not be able to lower alk in the tank without letting it fall naturally.
(If you want to continue to dose)

Otherwise you probably will be fine with just small water changes with the coral pro salt (as stated above) once your parameters stabilize where you like them.

 

[OrionN]

If your animals and corals looks fine, I just leave it alone. Check your Ca, no dosing Alkalinity and just do water change and let it come back naturally. A alk of 14, by itself, won't cause any problem. Your Ca may be low becasue CaCO3 may be precipitating out of solution. If you a have and sand bed, make sure it did not solidify. Check your pumps, make sure it did not freeze/will freeze up due to precipitation.