Kalkwasser dosing questions

[bobnicaragua]

My alk demand is pretty much non existent because I have no coral except a GSP. Can I do water changes to take the calcium back out?

Yeah, a series of water changes should bring your calcium back in line. If it doesn’t, the issue probably lies with the salt you’re using.

 

[Mattc123]

Yeah, a series of water changes should bring your calcium back in line. If it doesn’t, the issue probably lies with the salt you’re using.

I'll have to do that if it comes down to it

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

My alk demand is pretty much non existent because I have no coral except a GSP. Can I do water changes to take the calcium back out?

I’m confused. What calcium are you trying to get out? What is the level now and how did it get high?

 

[Mattc123]

I’m confused. What calcium are you trying to get out? What is the level now and how did it get high?

I was referring to if I put in kalk to raise the pH since there would be nothing to uptake the calcium and alk. The calcium is fine as is right now with my regular water changes though. Since I got back here with my tank I put in 10ml of aquavitro 8.4 because my alk had dropped to 6.7, along with putting a different canister in my CO2 reactor and cleaning my pH probe and that seems to have improved things for now. My Hanna checker is reading at 8.0 and my apex is reading 8.15 with the windows open. Now comes the real test of night time with me sleeping in the room because that's where the problem starts, and seeing if the boost from the 8.4 was only temporary.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I was referring to if I put in kalk to raise the pH since there would be nothing to uptake the calcium and alk. The calcium is fine as is right now with my regular water changes though. Since I got back here with my tank I put in 10ml of aquavitro 8.4 because my alk had dropped to 6.7, along with putting a different canister in my CO2 reactor and cleaning my pH probe and that seems to have improved things for now. My Hanna checker is reading at 8.0 and my apex is reading 8.15 with the windows open. Now comes the real test of night time with me sleeping in the room because that's where the problem starts, and seeing if the boost from the 8.4 was only temporary.

The alk is the overdose concern far before the calcium gets too high.

 

[Mattc123]

The alk is the overdose concern far before the calcium gets too high.

Good to know! We'll see what happens tonight and I'll update here. My CO2 scrubber canister wasn't working right but I can already tell with this new one it's doing a much better job because the purple is slowly creeping up the canister already. Hoping that makes a difference with buffering tonight.

 

[Mattc123]

Ok so! pH is definitely doing somewhat better along with everything else but still not quite where I want it. pH probe is reading a peak at 8.25 now so I imagine it's probably actually around 8.0 based off what my Hanna checker was saying. Hanna was saying I was swinging between 7.8 and 8.0. Only swinging about .1-.2 and I'm just using the Apex probe for trends till I calibrate it, and that's with me in the room overnight otherwise if I'm not in here it's almost non existent. CO2 scrubber media is changing color much more than it was and I think it's making quite the difference along with the fact I finally fixed my skimmer. What's strange still though is my alkalinity. I tested the Alk Thursday and it was reading 7.5 after a few doses of 8.4. today it was back to 6.8. how is that possible with only one small gsp? My other params are 2.0 nitrate, .02 phosphate, 1285 magnesium, and calcium seems quite high at 561 but that's with the Hanna checker which seems to be a little finicky but I believe it because I've been dumping concentrated salt water in little by little trying to raise my salinity. Could the high calcium be decreasing the alk I take it? I know I can get it back down with water changes which I'll do and instead of concentrated salt water I'll just do top up with salt water instead for a while.

 

[Mattc123]

I simply cannot believe the difference the scrubber makes. I left the house and figured hey I won't be home so what CO2 needs to be scrubbed so I pulled the airline on my way out of the house. My pH has dropped .11 in a little over an hour and it's still dropping! Think I'm going to cry