How do you reduce alkalinity in a tank

r-balljunkie · 03/11/2009, 08:03 PM

i did a 40 gallon WC, and hooked up my new calcium reactor. i let it run a day or 2, with ph @ 6.5 effluent. went to check my alk, and cannot measure it with a salifert kit (new). i have waited a week, let the reactor run with no co2 injection. i still have not seen a decrease in alk, but all seems fine in the tank. should i do a WC, or let it ride?

c

TheH · 03/11/2009, 08:29 PM

Ride it out, I would say. Try the reef chemistry sub-forum as well.

suasponte2/75 · 03/11/2009, 09:14 PM

+1 I'd wait it out as well. If you're impatient, you could also do another large water change. Another option would be adding reagent and go beyond the salifert range just so you know where you're at and then measure again in a day or two to see if there's any change. Just calculate the range higher per .02ml increments. Does that make sense? The kit goes only as high as 16 dKH so go ahead and pull another 1ml of reagent and calculate that for every .02ml you add then it's 16.3dKH, 16.6dKH, 16.9dKH, 17.2dKH, etc. This will at least give you an indicator if it's going down or not. If you're suspicious of the results, you can also get another (brand) test kit to compare as well. HTHs.

crvz · 03/12/2009, 08:14 AM

Have you kept adding the reactant of the salifert kit until the color changed? It may be off the charts, but it's a linear relationship so you should be able to determine the actual alk content.

I'd try to get more data before making any decisions, but it's no surprise that the calcium reactor ODed the alk (I did the same thing when I first kicked on my reactor). Consider a few water changes normally, and leave the CO2 offline for a while until you see it trending down. These days I run my effluent pH in the first chamber at 6.85, which better controls my supplementation.

r-balljunkie · 03/12/2009, 09:59 AM

OK,

thanks for responses, and yes..i did get the reagent to change colors, approx 4 more drops than the initial 2 ml syringe. i will ride it out, run PH higher when it settles in.

funny thing is, nothing really seems affected by this.
c

surge19us · 03/12/2009, 10:13 AM

For what its worth I bought a salifert Kh kit in January that was bad. It read 17 dkh on a tank that was 8.5dkh. Bought another kit and it was fine.

crvz · 03/12/2009, 11:01 AM

A very fast change in the alk can affect some things, but it's not always typical. I've seen coralline die-off when the alk plunges, and have heard reports of "alk-burn" on corals before. I'm not terribly surprised that you've not seen a lot of trouble, and here's hoping it stays that way!

suasponte2/75 · 03/12/2009, 09:47 PM

Yeah that happened to me too when I first started my reactor. I guess I dialed it in too fast and I got a reading of 17.4 dKH (off the charts) but nothing was really affected long term. After waiting it out a few weeks and dialing in the reactor, I haven't touched it in over a year.

03/11/2009, 08:03 PM	#1
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	How do you reduce alkalinity in a tank i did a 40 gallon WC, and hooked up my new calcium reactor. i let it run a day or 2, with ph @ 6.5 effluent. went to check my alk, and cannot measure it with a salifert kit (new). i have waited a week, let the reactor run with no co2 injection. i still have not seen a decrease in alk, but all seems fine in the tank. should i do a WC, or let it ride? c

03/12/2009, 08:14 AM	#4
crvz Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: houstonia Posts: 7,989	Have you kept adding the reactant of the salifert kit until the color changed? It may be off the charts, but it's a linear relationship so you should be able to determine the actual alk content. I'd try to get more data before making any decisions, but it's no surprise that the calcium reactor ODed the alk (I did the same thing when I first kicked on my reactor). Consider a few water changes normally, and leave the CO2 offline for a while until you see it trending down. These days I run my effluent pH in the first chamber at 6.85, which better controls my supplementation. __________________ -Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet?

03/12/2009, 09:59 AM	#5
r-balljunkie Registered Reefer Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Doha, Qatar Posts: 2,059	OK, thanks for responses, and yes..i did get the reagent to change colors, approx 4 more drops than the initial 2 ml syringe. i will ride it out, run PH higher when it settles in. funny thing is, nothing really seems affected by this. c __________________ ▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀▄▀ 58G Oceanic Illuminata rimless with GH overflow , Mazarra LED x 3, Tunze 6095 x 2, Eheim 1260, BM-180 skimmer, TLF reactors, Apex LT .

03/12/2009, 10:13 AM	#6
surge19us Registered Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Willard, Oh Posts: 656	For what its worth I bought a salifert Kh kit in January that was bad. It read 17 dkh on a tank that was 8.5dkh. Bought another kit and it was fine. __________________ Sean Current Tank Info: 120 gal 30 gal sump/fuge, ATB Econo 840 skimmer, 2 Vortech MP40w, AC Jr., 2-250watt MH 20K Radiums, Lumen Max 2 reflectors, 2 tek T5 retro actinic, Prime chiller, ATO/kalk reactor, drews dosers on two part.

03/12/2009, 11:01 AM	#7
crvz Team RC Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: houstonia Posts: 7,989	A very fast change in the alk can affect some things, but it's not always typical. I've seen coralline die-off when the alk plunges, and have heard reports of "alk-burn" on corals before. I'm not terribly surprised that you've not seen a lot of trouble, and here's hoping it stays that way! __________________ -Chris- You don't win friends with salad. "Look! They're trying to learn for free!" ... "Use your phony guns as clubs!" Current Tank Info: rectangluar? wet?

03/11/2009, 08:29 PM	#2
TheH Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Bellevue, WA Posts: 1,278	Ride it out, I would say. Try the reef chemistry sub-forum as well.

03/11/2009, 09:14 PM	#3
suasponte2/75 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Bay Area (Fremont, CA) Posts: 514	+1 I'd wait it out as well. If you're impatient, you could also do another large water change. Another option would be adding reagent and go beyond the salifert range just so you know where you're at and then measure again in a day or two to see if there's any change. Just calculate the range higher per .02ml increments. Does that make sense? The kit goes only as high as 16 dKH so go ahead and pull another 1ml of reagent and calculate that for every .02ml you add then it's 16.3dKH, 16.6dKH, 16.9dKH, 17.2dKH, etc. This will at least give you an indicator if it's going down or not. If you're suspicious of the results, you can also get another (brand) test kit to compare as well. HTHs.

03/12/2009, 09:47 PM	#8
suasponte2/75 Premium Member Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: The Bay Area (Fremont, CA) Posts: 514	Yeah that happened to me too when I first started my reactor. I guess I dialed it in too fast and I got a reading of 17.4 dKH (off the charts) but nothing was really affected long term. After waiting it out a few weeks and dialing in the reactor, I haven't touched it in over a year.