Water chemistry question

neilsarah · Dec 19, 2023

So I am still getting the hang of all this and have a few questions. Over the past few months my DKH has been good bouncing between 8.0 and 8.5. Calcium has been around the 430-460 range. All tested with Hannah testers. Over the past 3 weeks I had to dose for flukes (prazi) as well as dosing for Cyanobacteria (chemiclean). I had a phosphate issue 1.0-1.5 so I added a bag of gfo into my sump. I just tested my water and my alk jumped to 9.9 my calcium is in the 480 range and my PH is testing on the low end of my tester. So somewhere in the 7.0 range. I did a 20% water change over the weekend due to the chemiclean (180 gal tank). What if anything should I do? Will raising the PH drop the dkh? Or will it have the opposite effects? I am at a loss.

Randy Holmes-Farley · Dec 19, 2023

How would you be raising pH?

neilsarah · Dec 19, 2023

Randy Holmes-Farley said:
How would you be raising pH?

I guess that’s what I am asking. Is there a way to do so without affecting the dkh?

neilsarah · Dec 19, 2023

neilsarah said:
I guess that’s what I am asking. Is there a way to do so without affecting the dkh?

Is the fact I dosed the chemiclean to
Kill the algae causing a co2 spike and thus dropping my ph? So therefore it’s a temporary dip

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Dec 19, 2023

neilsarah said:
I guess that’s what I am asking. Is there a way to do so without affecting the dkh?

I'm sorry for the laugh emoji... There's another thread about this subject and your comment, in light of the other thread, was funny.

Uncle99 · Dec 19, 2023

neilsarah said:
So I am still getting the hang of all this and have a few questions. Over the past few months my DKH has been good bouncing between 8.0 and 8.5. Calcium has been around the 430-460 range. All tested with Hannah testers. Over the past 3 weeks I had to dose for flukes (prazi) as well as dosing for Cyanobacteria (chemiclean). I had a phosphate issue 1.0-1.5 so I added a bag of gfo into my sump. I just tested my water and my alk jumped to 9.9 my calcium is in the 480 range and my PH is testing on the low end of my tester. So somewhere in the 7.0 range. I did a 20% water change over the weekend due to the chemiclean (180 gal tank). What if anything should I do? Will raising the PH drop the dkh? Or will it have the opposite effects? I am at a loss.

So, if phosphate “was” 1.0-1.5ppm that would be very high, and if you GFO, what is it now?

What’s nitrate running?

Whats MG running at, real low MG can cause varying Alk readings.

neilsarah · Dec 19, 2023

Uncle99 said:
So, if phosphate “was” 1.0-1.5ppm that would be very high, and if you GFO, what is it now?

What’s nitrate running?

Whats MG running at, real low MG can cause varying Alk readings.

I only have the ULR tester. It’s saying it’s over the high range (.9). I use the chemical test (API) and it’s still showing in the 1-1.5. I have only had GFO in there for 2 days. It’s very difficult to distinguish the colors on those. I do not currently test MG so I have no idea where it’s at. Also nitrate using the API test seems to be near zero.