Kh eternally stuck at 7

Surfandturf · Mar 19, 2017

So I did a water change yesterday, checked my ph (8.3) and kh (7) just now. I do have a good amount of corals, lps and 4 sps, so I started dosing 2 part about two weeks ago. I would hate to dose just the alk portion of the 2 part. Has anyone else had this issue. It has been a recurring them for about 6 months now for me. My beautiful frogspawn has stayed closed for about 4 days now, no effects on lps or any other lps that I can see. Thanks in advance.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 20, 2017

What is your calcium level? How high do you want the alkalinity?

Surfandturf · Mar 20, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
What is your calcium level? How high do you want the alkalinity?

Hey Randy! Let me test my params real quick and I will post.

Surfandturf · Mar 20, 2017

Calcium at 410, ph 8.2, kh 6...

tjnorthdakota · Mar 21, 2017

What test kit are you using for your alk? And it is suggested you use sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride seperately to adjust your calcium and alkalinty values to the desired level before you start normal daily dosing. Then by testing each day you can adjust the daily dosing regimen to match consumption.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2017

I'd dose the two part equally in sufficient amounts to boost the alkalinity to your desired level and keep it there (say, 7-11 dKH).

Calcium will follow along perfectly.

Surfandturf · Mar 21, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
I'd dose the two part equally in sufficient amounts to boost the alkalinity to your desired level and keep it there (say, 7-11 dKH).

Calcium will follow along perfectly.

Thanks for the info Randy! I have been dosing 2 part, but have only been using
.5 mils for my 10gal. The dosage on the bottles says 1 mil for every 6 gallons, but I figured that I should be cautious. Would there be any negative effects of dosing the full 1 mil? The one thing that worries me a bit is that the bottle states that the solution contains trace elements that I have no way of testing for.

Surfandturf · Mar 21, 2017

tjnorthdakota said:
What test kit are you using for your alk? And it is suggested you use sodium bicarbonate and calcium chloride seperately to adjust your calcium and alkalinty values to the desired level before you start normal daily dosing. Then by testing each day you can adjust the daily dosing regimen to match consumption.

So I use the API kits, the ones that are sold separately (kh, ph). I does the two part liquid solution. I dose .5 mils of part 1 and the about 20-30 mins later, .5 mils of part 2. I would like for my kh to be 9ish. I don't chase PH, i just check before dosing and a few hours after. Just to make sure that there is not a huge swing.

npaul65 · Mar 21, 2017

Hi Randy

So you recommend dosing two parts in equal amount say if you want to keep alk around 8 will the calcium adjust accordingly even if you does equal two parts in equal amount

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2017

Surfandturf said:
Thanks for the info Randy! I have been dosing 2 part, but have only been using
.5 mils for my 10gal. The dosage on the bottles says 1 mil for every 6 gallons, but I figured that I should be cautious. Would there be any negative effects of dosing the full 1 mil? The one thing that worries me a bit is that the bottle states that the solution contains trace elements that I have no way of testing for.

What two part?

A good two part does not actually boost trace elements, even though they need to be present so they do not decline. Tricky, but true.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2017

npaul65 said:
Hi Randy

So you recommend dosing two parts in equal amount say if you want to keep alk around 8 will the calcium adjust accordingly even if you does equal two parts in equal amount

Yes. The changes to calcium are small.

Always base the dose on alkalinity needs unless calcium is already too high (550 ppm plus) or too low (needing a one time manual correction)

If you use both parts of a two part equally to boost the OP values from

410 Calcium
6 dKH

to alk of 8 dKH, they become

423 calcium
8 dKH

npaul65 · Mar 21, 2017

Thanks Randy for the clarification

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Yes. The changes to calcium are small.

Always base the dose on alkalinity needs unless calcium is already too high (550 ppm plus) or too low (needing a one time manual correction)

If you use both parts of a two part equally to boost the OP values from

410 Calcium
6 dKH

to alk of 8 dKH, they become

423 calcium
8 dKH

npaul65 · Mar 21, 2017

npaul65 said:
Thanks Randy for the clarification

Randy one more question how would you suggest to bring numbers initially where you want those number to be. Do you recommend start with two part to bring number to that level and then adjust dosing accordingly.

Thanks

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 21, 2017

Depends on what is off and by how much. Using one of the two parts of a two part is usually a fine plan, if needed.

npaul65 · Mar 21, 2017

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
Depends on what is off and by how much. Using one of the two parts of a two part is usually a fine plan, if needed.

Thanks

Surfandturf · Mar 21, 2017

This is the product that I am using. Just bought a new Red Sea test kit today. Will post calcium and kh after testing.

Surfandturf · Mar 21, 2017

1300 Mg, 400 Ca, 8.4 DKH

Surfandturf · Mar 21, 2017

To caveat the test results, I used the Red sea Ca, Kh, Mg test kit. My salinity is .026 and temp is at 78.

I dosed about 2 hours before testing. I bumped up my dosage from .5 mil to 1 mil.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Mar 22, 2017

I'd stick with that dose for both parts for a while and closely monitor the alkalinity to see where it stabilizes.

Surfandturf · Mar 22, 2017

Just tested

Calcium 400
Dkh 5.4

Dkh a 3 pt drop in 24hrs? I tested it twice because I did not believe it. What could cause such a swing in kh but leave calcium levels?