My Alk is dangerously low. What should I do?

[stanleo]

120 gallon with a 55 gallon sump. Instant Ocean reef crystals. WC is 20 gallons every two weeks. Tank is 20 months old.

I just did a water change on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were crazy so I didn't get a chance to do tests until today. Today my Alk is at 5.6. It went down from 9.8 to 7.8 in two weeks I think because I stopped dosing 2 part. My calcium and magnesium have always been really high and I wanted to lower them. They have not gone down. Calcium is still 480 and Magnesium is still 1520. Those numbers never budge. I started dosing just the Alk of the 2 part and it held at 7.8 for a week but then I got really busy and forgot to do it for a few days. All of these tests are done with Red Sea test kit.

Everything in the tank looks fine. Corals are open and growing and fish seem happy and healthy. I do have a diatom issue on the sand but I don't have a goby so I thought it would just look like that. I do lightly vacuum it with the water changes but it comes back the next day.

My ph is 8. It was 7.8 until I vented the tank and sump by opening windows and putting a fan in the basement window. That helped raise it. PO4 is .03 and NO3 is 2ppm. Done with Salifert test kits. Salinity is 35 ppt.

I have an ATO.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[T-J]

Raise it slowly by dosing Alk (no more than 1 dkh a day). I dose the soda ash from BRS bulk.
Once it's back to where you want it. Test it 24 hrs later and see how much it goes down. That's what you need to be dosing daily to keep it at the right level. If alk stays up (like 8.5-9), you'll see you calcium start to drop, as the corals will be building more skeleton, and faster.

 

[Sdot]

120 gallon with a 55 gallon sump. Instant Ocean reef crystals. WC is 20 gallons every two weeks. Tank is 20 months old.

I just did a water change on Thursday. Friday and Saturday were crazy so I didn't get a chance to do tests until today. Today my Alk is at 5.6. It went down from 9.8 to 7.8 in two weeks I think because I stopped dosing 2 part. My calcium and magnesium have always been really high and I wanted to lower them. They have not gone down. Calcium is still 480 and Magnesium is still 1520. Those numbers never budge. I started dosing just the Alk of the 2 part and it held at 7.8 for a week but then I got really busy and forgot to do it for a few days. All of these tests are done with Red Sea test kit.

Everything in the tank looks fine. Corals are open and growing and fish seem happy and healthy. I do have a diatom issue on the sand but I don't have a goby so I thought it would just look like that. I do lightly vacuum it with the water changes but it comes back the next day.

My ph is 8. It was 7.8 until I vented the tank and sump by opening windows and putting a fan in the basement window. That helped raise it. PO4 is .03 and NO3 is 2ppm. Done with Salifert test kits. Salinity is 35 ppt.

I have an ATO.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

@T-J gave good advice.... its prolly time you look at dosing pumps.

 

[stanleo]

Raise it slowly by dosing Alk (no more than 1 dkh a day). I dose the soda ash from BRS bulk.
Once it's back to where you want it. Test it 24 hrs later and see how much it goes down. That's what you need to be dosing daily to keep it at the right level. If alk stays up (like 8.5-9), you'll see you calcium start to drop, as the corals will be building more skeleton, and faster.

Thank you. Is this the product you are referring to? https://www.bulkreefsupply.com/1-gallon-mix-soda-ash-5-pack-bulk-reef-supply-bundle.html

 

[Ike]

Slowly boost it back up to around 7-8 and then get on a dosing plan and maintain it. Get to anywhere 6 or above and you won't have much to worry about other than it going lower

 

[stanleo]

Raise it slowly by dosing Alk (no more than 1 dkh a day). I dose the soda ash from BRS bulk.
Once it's back to where you want it. Test it 24 hrs later and see how much it goes down. That's what you need to be dosing daily to keep it at the right level. If alk stays up (like 8.5-9), you'll see you calcium start to drop, as the corals will be building more skeleton, and faster.

So by the BRS calculator, the dose I would need to raise the ALK by 1.4dkh is 140 mL. Simple enough but how long do I wait to test to see if the alkalinity actually raised that much? How long does it take for the solution to reach the desired result?

 

[Biglew11]

Let the water circulate about 10 15 minutes after dosing should be fine to test.
That's the same soda ash I use. Only I get the 7 pound bags.

 

[stanleo]

Thank you guys. The soda ash came and I was able to raise my Alk from 5.3 to 6.7. Gonna take a couple more days but it will get there.

 

[stanleo]

So yesterday after I dosed the first time with soda ash, my alk was 6.7. Today, 24 hours later, my alk was at 6.2. That means it used up .5 alk in one day. According to the calculator site on BRS, I can raise alk by no more than 1.4 dkh in a day. It said to achieve this I need to dose 140 mL. I did this and waited 20 minutes and my alk went up to 7.6 dkh. My pH went from 8.1 to 8.4. Does all this sound right?

 

[92Miata]

So yesterday after I dosed the first time with soda ash, my alk was 6.7. Today, 24 hours later, my alk was at 6.2. That means it used up .5 alk in one day. According to the calculator site on BRS, I can raise alk by no more than 1.4 dkh in a day. It said to achieve this I need to dose 140 mL. I did this and waited 20 minutes and my alk went up to 7.6 dkh. My pH went from 8.1 to 8.4. Does all this sound right?

.5dkh a day is relatively normal/low on a mature reef tank.

1.4dkh at once is really significant. If you're trying to raise it that much, you're better off doing like 3 or 4 doses over the course of the day.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

So yesterday after I dosed the first time with soda ash, my alk was 6.7. Today, 24 hours later, my alk was at 6.2. That means it used up .5 alk in one day. According to the calculator site on BRS, I can raise alk by no more than 1.4 dkh in a day. It said to achieve this I need to dose 140 mL. I did this and waited 20 minutes and my alk went up to 7.6 dkh. My pH went from 8.1 to 8.4. Does all this sound right?

Yes sounds about right. And 1.4 dkh is way to much to raise tank in 1 dose yes spread it out thru the day at least

 

[stanleo]

Raise it slowly by dosing Alk (no more than 1 dkh a day). I dose the soda ash from BRS bulk.
Once it's back to where you want it. Test it 24 hrs later and see how much it goes down. That's what you need to be dosing daily to keep it at the right level. If alk stays up (like 8.5-9), you'll see you calcium start to drop, as the corals will be building more skeleton, and faster.

@T-J gave good advice.... its prolly time you look at dosing pumps.

Slowly boost it back up to around 7-8 and then get on a dosing plan and maintain it. Get to anywhere 6 or above and you won't have much to worry about other than it going lower

Let the water circulate about 10 15 minutes after dosing should be fine to test.
That's the same soda ash I use. Only I get the 7 pound bags.

Wanted to thank all of you. I took all of your advice. Slowed raising it only 1 dkh per day. I also got an auto doser. Hygger with four heads in case I need to dose other things in the future. For 2 days now I have tested at noon and my alk is 9 dkh every time. I really appreciate the advice.