Water change alkalinity

[Rmckoy]

Do not adjust alkalinity more than 1 dkh in and 24 hour period

 

[FRANK48]

Frequent water changes are the easiest and safest as you shouldn’t have much consumption yet .

to calculate consumption test alk daily at the same time of day for 5 days with a reliable and accurate test kit
If you feel dosing would be easier there are calculators online based on the additive of your choice .
For example I’ll post a link for the one I prefer . Choose the brand , enter the volume , current and desired level and it will calculate the amount required daily to maintain that level

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Dosing is quite complicated to me.
Should I do 5 gallons every week, and will that raise my alk. I’m trying to aim for around 10 or should I dose baking soda

 

[Rmckoy]

Dosing is quite complicated to me.
Should I do 5 gallons every week, and will that raise my alk. I’m trying to aim for around 10 or should I dose baking soda

Why 10?
Imo There is no benefit of maintaining alk at that level .

 

[Danroo]

Dosing is quite complicated to me.
Should I do 5 gallons every week, and will that raise my alk. I’m trying to aim for around 10 or should I dose baking soda

I did water changes every other day to avoid adding baking soda in my tank as well saw no change in alkalinity. Even got high alkalinity salt didn’t make a difference.

 

[Rmckoy]

I maintain mine at 7.5 dkh

 

[Rmckoy]

What are you measuring alkalinity and salinity with ?

 

[FRANK48]

Why 10?
Imo There is no benefit of maintaining alk at that level

What are you measuring alkalinity and salinity with ?

I use a refractometer to measure salinity and the Red Sea foundations pro test kit for alkalinity

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I did water changes every other day to avoid adding baking soda in my tank as well saw no change in alkalinity. Even got high alkalinity salt didn’t make a difference.

Baking soda is a perfectly fine additive with no concerns, and there's no possibility that you cannot raise alkalinity with it when dosed in an appropriate amount.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Dosing is quite complicated to me.
Should I do 5 gallons every week, and will that raise my alk. I’m trying to aim for around 10 or should I dose baking soda

It's much more expensive to try to maintain alkalinity by water change, and it generally fails to maintain alkalinity in the long run.

Dosing is easy. easier than a water change. It's one of the fundamental things reefers need to learn.

Determine how much you want to raise alk (say, 0.5 dKH).

use this calculator with you tank size to determine how much baking soda is needed (or other product if you prefer).

Dissolve it in some fresh water, and dose.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Almost everyone on this site can walk you through the process if you want more guidance.

 

[Doctorgori]

i meant with seachem reef complete

I’d use that bottle up and dont see any good reason to buy more, not even for a small tank

Ah. I misunderstood. I thought you were using the Red Sea blue bucket.

I think 11.5dkh is too high to maintain a tank at. You can use that salt mix though. Small water changes won’t have a large effect on tank’s alkalinity.

What salinity are you keeping? I’m pretty surprised a 12% water change if 11.5dkh didn’t raise the 7.8dkh more. @Randy Holmes-Farley

yeah, they got me re-thinking dkh above 10, and/or even buying elevated salt

Seeing as you’re already maintaining nsw levels and the corals you have don’t consume much in terms of alkalinity . I would maintain levels with water changes
Jumping into the dosing schedule is a whole new ball game that I personally don’t see the need for at this time .

Two part isn’t complicated, maybe dosing just kalkwasser might be simpler and safer in the beginning, eitherway it’s one less doser but a larger dosing container.
.just one opinion, but I’d choose kalkwasser for now if anything …
also, dkh swings are bad regardless of your parameter goals…Opinions vary, but I’ve lost quite a few corals. A safe change might be no more than .3 - .5 dkh/week… I won’t argue other opinions, all depends on your risk tolerance

 

[Danroo]

Baking soda is a perfectly fine additive with no concerns, and there's no possibility that you cannot raise alkalinity with it when dosed in an appropriate amount.

It really is I’m not sure why op is avoiding adding baking soda to their tank.

 

[Miami Reef]

It really is I’m not sure why op is avoiding adding baking soda to their tank.

It’s normal for new reefers to get overwhelmed by it.

 

[Rmckoy]

I’d use that bottle up and dont see any good reason to buy more, not even for a small tank

yeah, they got me re-thinking dkh above 10, and/or even buying elevated salt



Two part isn’t complicated, maybe dosing just kalkwasser might be simpler and safer in the beginning, eitherway it’s one less doser but a larger dosing container.
.just one opinion, but I’d choose kalkwasser for now if anything …
also, dkh swings are bad regardless of your parameter goals…Opinions vary, but I’ve lost quite a few corals. A safe change might be no more than .3 - .5 dkh/week… I won’t argue other opinions, all depends on your risk tolerance

I originally wrote .5 dkh per day as a max swing but I know some will argue otherwise to a max 1 dkh

 

[Doctorgori]

I originally wrote .5 dkh per day as a max swing but I know some will argue otherwise to a max 1 dkh

yeah and related to that: I’m
no longer sure if a 3dkh dip from 11 to 8dkh is any worse than from 7 to 4 … I get that 4 dkh is out of range but is it as fatal?
Also asking, not arguing …pardon us OP, the point here is how fast can you safely raise dkh?

 

[FRANK48]

It's much more expensive to try to maintain alkalinity by water change, and it generally fails to maintain alkalinity in the long run.

Dosing is easy. easier than a water change. It's one of the fundamental things reefers need to learn.

Determine how much you want to raise alk (say, 0.5 dKH).

use this calculator with you tank size to determine how much baking soda is needed (or other product if you prefer).

Dissolve it in some fresh water, and dose.

Reef Chemistry Calculator

Almost everyone on this site can walk you through the process if you want more guidance.

How much baking soda would I need to add in a day, and would I need to dose everyday?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

How much baking soda would I need to add in a day, and would I need to dose everyday?

You can only determine that by trial and error, but certainly no more often than a water change that accomplishes the same thing.

 

[FRANK48]

You can only determine that by trial and error, but certainly no more often than a water change that accomplishes the same thing.

So I would be dosing once a week or once every other week for example?

 

[Rmckoy]

yeah and related to that: I’m
no longer sure if a 3dkh dip from 11 to 8dkh is any worse than from 7 to 4 … I get that 4 dkh is out of range but is it as fatal?
Also asking, not arguing …pardon us OP, the point here is how fast can you safely raise dkh?

I believe raising is safer than decreasing .
At least 11-8 is still within the acceptable range
I believe 4 is impossible within reef salinity .

for some reason im crossing ph and alk .
<6 will dissolve rocks

to maintain between 7-12 dkh is only a guide . If you maintain 7dkh it doesn’t give you much of a room for error . Where I believe the same for if maintaining higher levels at 11
At what point does calcification stall ?
I’ve read posts on here stating their alk level was 15 , 20’s etc

@Doctorgori may I ask what you’re goal for cal and alk is ?

 

[Doctorgori]

So I would be dosing once a week or once every other week for example?

yes I want to know also, how fast can you safely raise dkh?

 

[Doctorgori]

I believe raising is safer than decreasing .
At least 11-8 is still within the acceptable range
I believe 4 is impossible within reef salinity .

for some reason im crossing ph and alk .
<6 will dissolve rocks

to maintain between 7-12 dkh is only a guide . If you maintain 7dkh it doesn’t give you much of a room for error . Where I believe the same for if maintaining higher levels at 11
At what point does calcification stall ?
I’ve read posts on here stating their alk level was 15 , 20’s etc

@Doctorgori may I ask what you’re goal for cal and alk is ?

there is a back story to this in another thread, but suffice to say a LOT of people have me re-thinking high dkh ( even above 8.2ish) isn’t as hot as it sounds and me spending a dime more for elevated salts is starting to bother me…short answer, I’m not sure what my “new goals” are …pardon me OP