Is my ALK too high

[pasquale petrovia]

I started my 225 back up a year and 4 months ago after a 4 year break. I decide SPS dominate was for me. I bought a calcium reactor, New ATI bulbs for my 14 - T5 aqua actinic hood, dug out my 300lbs of old tonga, Sulewesi, Vanuatu awesome rock. I went with Reef Crystals because for 25 years Instant ocean always did me right. I set up old faithful Aqua C 240 with a brand new Mag drive 18 and ran 2 Mag 12's for returns. I also set up my precision marine Kalk reactor with new impeller. I set up a nice slow flowing refugium with some Caulerpa and Miracle mud. My tank cycled in about 8 days with Dr. Tims and my mated Pair of Black Clowns. I went through diatoms that cleared up in about a month. Tank was running great. I added a Tang gang and a few other favorites like long nose hawk and even caught my own French angel on a Florida keys Vacation by about the 7 month mark. I decided it was time to dive into the expensive world of Acro and Monti land. I bought a mid end Acro pack for about $500 and added a few Montis from LFS. All was well in wonderland until the tragic power outage at about a year in. Back siphon 150 gallons on basement floor. Panic because I only had 55 gallons of RODI and go with 100 gallons of well water. Let the fun begin. Amazingly no fish loss. Explosion of Hair algae that I have been patiently battling for months. Scrubbing, siphoning, water changing, coral losing, and ready to quit if not for my 34 year devotion to Marine aquarium challenges. My Alk stays at 12.5 pretty consistently and my calcium is now staying at 475-500 and my Mag is always low at 1200. Phos is only .05 on Hanna. I cant get coralline to grow except a dozen tiny spots on Gyres and in refugium. I am not a whiner, but I need some help from my friends. How do I lower my Alk safely and keep it down using reef Crystals. I use NEOMAG in my reactor and it isn't keeping up any dosing advise will be appreciated. Does the Hair algae destroy chemistry stability. I started adding Vinegar to my make-up through my Kalk reactor 2 weeks ago and Hair has died off alot and turned brown. I scrub and change filter socks 3 times a week and my skimmer produces about 24 ounces of Green Gold weekly. I feel like I may be turning a corner with the hair algae, but would love a pink tank before I replace the Acro and montis that are sorry to say resting in peace. Only 3 Acro and 1 montis have survived. Heartbreaking more than wallet busting because this hobby is not for the light of pocket. I love the advice everyone gives here. This site is priceless. Thanks, P

 

[Barks]

Hi,
looks like your alk is near top end and your mg is a bit low.
if your running high alk you need to balance the ca which you nearly have, 450 is balanced, and mg as high as 1600 with high nutrient and flow.
you might find it easier running my parameters which are alk 10, ca 430, and mg 1500
however it’s all down to the choice of salt, as if you makeup saltwater for a water change its a whole lot easier if it’s at your desired alk.
barks

 

[pasquale petrovia]

Which salt do you use. I know Reef Crystals is around 13 for a fresh batch

 

[fishguy242]

hi get the mag up 13 1400 imo ,add some snail to use the alkand cal to build shells,sea hares to knock back algae ,dolabella spiecies dont live but ayear will mow down the tank

 

[Barks]

Hi,
I use redsea salt, which is 8 so I bring it up to 10 but I’m actually thinking of changing To h2 ocean pro plus which is 9.8

 

[fishguy242]

don't think water changes will help bring down alk or cal jmo

 

[Barks]

No, if you wanted to reduce from 13 to 10 and change salt I would not quite dose as much and come down gradually over a month.

 

[fishguy242]

slow and steady

 

[X-37B]

I would turn off the carx and let it come down on its own. It will take awhile and the calcium will go down too. Once you get the alk cal where you want bring up the mag.
My salt mix was 9.6 when I set up my tank.
I just let it drop to where I wanted it, 7 dkh, and then started dosing. After 6 months I turned on the carx and it is very stable now.

 

[pasquale petrovia]

Does anyone dose muratic acid to lower ALK. If so how much per gallon is a safe dose to bring it down

 

[Barks]

Depends on how much sps you have stacked in your tank, if you stopped dosing it could easily swing low quickly, work out what your usage is a day then alter the dose so it doesn’t drop more than 0.2dkh a day.
That is if that’s what you want to do.

 

[RobW]

I've been using brightwell Neo-Marine salt. Mixes up at about 450 cal. 1350-1400 mag. 7.5-8.5 dkh.

 

[fishguy242]

news to me never heard of

 

[Barks]

I've been using brightwell Neo-Marine salt. Mixes up at about 450 cal. 1350-1400 mag. 7.5-8.5 dkh.

Strange as that’s way out of balance.

 

[RobW]

Sorry, said that wrong. that's what I keep reading in the tank. I'm always in that general area. I guess I should do a test when I get home on a batch of saltwater that I made to do a water change with and measure my tank to compare. Where should my dkh be in relation to that?

 

[fermentedhiker]

I don't know how accurate it is but supposedly it's based on the manufacturers claims for mixing to 1.026

Aquarium Salt Mix Guide

Learn how to properly mix saltwater with various brands of aquarium salt from the experts at That Fish Place - That Pet Place & thatpetplace.com.

www.thatpetplace.com

Personally I prefer IO to reef crystals. It's a lot easier to add something that's missing than deal with too much of something IMO.

 

[lapin]

What would lapin do with not much choice in salt mix?
I would start mixing RC with IO and do a few regular water changes.
See where that got me. I find it easier to add whats low rather than chemically alter something thats high.

 

[Barks]

Sorry, said that wrong. that's what I keep reading in the tank. I'm always in that general area. I guess I should do a test when I get home on a batch of saltwater that I made to do a water change with and measure my tank to compare. Where should my dkh be in relation to that?

As above, ca of 450 is balanced to alk of 12.5

 

[pasquale petrovia]

Looked at Brightwell on amazon $54 for 150 gallon box, but $152 for 300 gallon box. You don't need to be a mathematician to see something is wrong with that deal.

 

[RobW]

What would cause that to be so out of wack? providing I'm running g the test correctly. I use red sea test kits.