Low alkalinity salt mix

[Acroporaaddict]

Are there any salt mixes that have a 7dkh or lower at 1.026? My current system is running at 6.5dkh. The Red Sea blue bucket I normally use mixes at 8dkh. I'm moving my tank in 2 days and would like to prepare the new tank with water that is as close as possible to my current parameters, rather than increasing alkalinity to 8dkh in my current system.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I'm confused? Your tank runs below normal parameters and you would like something similar to that? Tropic marin pro reef is 7dkh at 1.025. Depending on po4 and no3, you should run between 7dkh and 11dkh. I would opt for 7-8dkh with low to minimal po4 and no3.

 

[Acroporaaddict]

I've tried 10dkh with high n&p, 8dkh with 1ppm no3 & .03 po4. Now I'm at 6.5dkh with .2ppm no3 and .02ppm po4. Honestly, my system has never looked better. Acros are growing and coloring up better than ever.

 

[reeferfoxx]

I would opt for TMPR and just let the alk drop pre dosing regimens?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you do not find a mix suitably low, you can add muriatic acid to any salt mix and get alk as low as you want.

 

[Acroporaaddict]

If you do not find a mix suitably low, you can add muriatic acid to any salt mix and get alk as low as you want.

I'm interested in this. Does muriatic acid affect anything besides alkalinity?

 

[Rickyrooz]

Following for an answer

 

[stevo01]

I'm interested in this. Does muriatic acid affect anything besides alkalinity?

Yeah dude, muriatic acid is a serious chemical! Mostly used in cleaning applications, where standard cleaning agents don't work.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Muriatic acid drops pH temporarily until you fully aerate. Many people do it with salt mixes and there are threads around. It also eliminates the CaCO3 precipitate from IO. Otherwise, it doesn't alter the chemistry.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You can use muriatic acid or certain freshwater buffers to lower alk.
Both will lower pH similarly and a lot. There's no way around the pH lowering when reducing alkalinity. You do not want to add CO2. You want to remove CO2 from the tank via aeration.

For that reason, it is best to do it in water change water that is aerated to raise pH before using, or to do it very slowly in the tank (over many days).

The "acidity" (that being essentially negative alkalinity) of muriatic acid straight from the bottle is about 11,000 meq/L.

So adding 1/11,000 of the water volume as this acid will drop alkalinity by 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH).

I would not drop more than 1 dKH per day due to the big pH drop in a reef tank, but in new salt water it is fine.

You'll need to aerate well after adding the acid to blow off the excess CO2 and bring up the pH.

You can also use Seachem Acid Buffer:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AcidBuffer.html

 

[tcoyle]

I have been considering doing something like this as well. Regular Red Sea mixes up around 8.5, although it claims it does not mix that high. I was trying to keep my Alk around 7.5 and every time I did a water change I would tick of my sps because of the bump in Alk. I am trying to keep my ALK closer to 8.4 now to see if I can keep the swing closer when doing a water change.

But the seachem acid buffer might be a good option. So basically add that to your water change water and aerate the water good to get PH back up?

 

[Ted_C]

ESV salt mix mixes to 7 dkh @1.024

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have been considering doing something like this as well. Regular Red Sea mixes up around 8.5, although it claims it does not mix that high. I was trying to keep my Alk around 7.5 and every time I did a water change I would tick of my sps because of the bump in Alk. I am trying to keep my ALK closer to 8.4 now to see if I can keep the swing closer when doing a water change.

But the seachem acid buffer might be a good option. So basically add that to your water change water and aerate the water good to get PH back up?

Yes.

 

[drawman]

You can use muriatic acid or certain freshwater buffers to lower alk.
Both will lower pH similarly and a lot. There's no way around the pH lowering when reducing alkalinity. You do not want to add CO2. You want to remove CO2 from the tank via aeration.

For that reason, it is best to do it in water change water that is aerated to raise pH before using, or to do it very slowly in the tank (over many days).

The "acidity" (that being essentially negative alkalinity) of muriatic acid straight from the bottle is about 11,000 meq/L.

So adding 1/11,000 of the water volume as this acid will drop alkalinity by 1 meq/l (2.8 dKH).

I would not drop more than 1 dKH per day due to the big pH drop in a reef tank, but in new salt water it is fine.

You'll need to aerate well after adding the acid to blow off the excess CO2 and bring up the pH.

You can also use Seachem Acid Buffer:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/AcidBuffer.html

Randy I'm curious any idea what would be in the acid buffer? I'm thinking about either using this or muriatic acid.

 

[JimWelsh]

"Proprietary powdered bisulfate salts". Essentially, it turns into sulfuric acid when mixed with water.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I expect it is sodium bisulfate (maybe some others too: potassium, magnesium, etc., but those are not needed).

I give a recipe for DIY here:

Thread
Sodium Bisulfate to Reduce Alkalinity in New Salt Water or in Display Tanks
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/s...in-new-salt-water-or-in-display-tanks.362825/