Alk assistance needed

[Vrod2169]

So quick summary I have a 300 that has been a fowlr tank for 22 years now. No issue keeping fish at all. In the past 3 weeks I have been trying to add softies. 4 small pieces actually ( leather, brown button polyps, green star polyps I think they are called for the third piece, and the fourth I think is called a colt). The problem is that LFS tells me my ALK is at 6.7 and should be a bit higher. They gave me the Red Sea Foundation kh/alkalinity part b solution. I have been adding every day for 2 weeks now per directions and absolutely no change based on the kits. I am double checking LFS results with my new Hanna Alk tester. I also did a 70 percent water change ( from the ocean not made) 3 days ago and still nothing. Temp is at 78, ph is 8.1, salinity is at 1.025 and nitrates under 12.5 consistently. Led lights are on approximately 7-10 hours depending on weekday or weekend. Suggestions? I has one LFS say the Red Sea part B product will not raise the Alk and suggested I switch to a reef builder product to raise the ALK. Thanks for any guidance and have a great weekend!

[hkgar]

Use this calculator to determine how much of the supplement to add to raise your dKH to a desired level. Do not raise dKH more than .5 per day is a general guideline.

Red sea foundation B does raise alk. To raise dKH by .5 in a 300 you need to add 56 ml

[bertoni]

Any of the alkalinity supplement will raise alkalinity, but tanks can consume it very rapidly. My soft coral tanks consumed 2-3 dKH per day for years. I would try dosing 0.5 dKH, according to the calculator that was linked, and measure the tank the next day. If it's back down to 6.7, I would guess that the alkalinity was consumed. You could then increase the dose to 1.0 dKH, and work from there. Generally, dosing both parts of a two-part makes keeping calcium and alkalinity in line easier, so you might want to consider that eventually.

With some luck, your alkalinity kit will be able to detect a 1 dKH rise properly. You could test that by dosing a 5g container of fresh saltwater. If the kit is working, once you get to a 1 dKH dose, you could try testing 5 minutes after dosing the tank. That'll help give you some idea of how good your water volume estimate is.

You might find that baking soda is cheaper for dosing a tank that size. You can buy bulk calcium chloride for calcium, and make a DIY 2-part, if that become necessary.

[Vrod2169]

I will try this because I was told to add 22ml which is way short of the 56. Now probably actual water volume would be less due to rocks and sand. If this keeps up will definitely look into the baking soda. Has anyone tried the BRS stuff as a lower cost alternative?

[hkgar]

You also might want to consider a calcium reactor. For two part dosing here are the recipes. High up front cost but very low media cost with a reactor.

Here is a guide to determining actual water volume.

[Vrod2169]

Does the calcium reactor use a co2 tank? There was a reactor sitting next to it but I forgot to ask what it held at the LFS. The LFS showed me the system they use to run their store and he mentioned something about high end upfront cost but then basically nothing from that point forward. If I recall I think it was around 800.00 for my size tank that he mentioned.

[bertoni]

Usually, anything called a "calcium reactor" uses carbon dioxide from a tank to dissolve calcium carbonate. The term is sometimes used a bit freely, though. A calcium reactor is cheap to run, and doesn't require all that much work, although the flow from the carbon dioxide tank does need to be watched and adjusted. The long-term cost is low, once you've covered the cost of the reactor.

[hkgar]

I have had three different calcium reactors and now use an Aqumaxx I have the T3, but the T1 is rated up to 300 G and is $329.99 form several sources. You will also need a CO2 regulator. This one come highly recommended.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWuwCxInrgs

[Vrod2169]

So been adding the 56ml each day and dkh and went to 6.9 yesterday and today now reading at 7.1
Looks like going in the right direction. For now since the plan is to just keep the leathers and softies at what level do I want to consider right level to maintain? Thanks everyone for the assistance, truly appreciated!

[bertoni]

Anything in the 7-11 dKH range is fine, generally, although some tanks have trouble at the higher end (9-11 dKH), particularly if running with carbon dosing. I'd target 8 dKH to give some room for measurement errors, etc. Letting the dKH drop much below 6.5 can cause problems for some corals.