Lowest Alk Salt Mix / How to Lower Alk

[saltyhog]

As @nereefpat asked you, the marine stabilizer which you dosed with water changes is a buffer which increases alkalinity and pH. The coral accelerator increases calcium. Water changes were all you needed on a new tank, not those other additives which were further increasing the parameters. So your test kits might very well be accurate.

This summarizes my thoughts exactly.

I have a feeling if you stopped the additives your alkalinity would come down slowly on it's own (somewhat because of abiotic precipitation). Your sand may clump and your pumps may need to be cleaned frequently to prevent problems until your numbers come down. If you don't want your alkalinity at 11 then change to another salt as mentioned. I loved Reef Crystals but changed to regular IO and then to Red Sea blue bucket because I did not want alkalinity that high.

 

[92Miata]

I’m kind of scared to try this. Would dropping the Alk down that fast hurt anything?

I’ve also seen a huge rise in my calcium. Nothing else added or changed. Just weekly water changes.

I’ve got to get new salt. There’s no saltwater store within 2 hours. Gonna have to buy online.

If Muriatic acid worries you - you can use Sodium Bisulfate - I do 2.2 grams of it per 5 gallons when I'm mixing up reef crystals. Drops Alk down into the 8s.


Same caveats as muriatic where you need to let it offgas a bit - but its much easier to handle.

Sodium Bisulfate to Reduce Alkalinity in New Salt Water or in Display Tanks

I just want to record these calculations in their own thread to refer back to in other threads. When alkalinity is too high in new salt water or in a display tank, acid can be used to lower the alkalinity. You can easily use muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), or sodium bifulfate (e.g...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[BAUCE]

Theres nothing wrong with using muriatic acid to drop your KH when doing it right.

I prefer to use Seachem Acid Buffer (its an aquarium product) to lower KH though. It does exactly the same thing as Muriatic acid but it comes in a powder form. You still have to wait a while the Ph rises over a few days after mixing .