*Alk will not stay put

Alysiak00 · 10/09/2011, 07:26 PM

I noticed that every time i check my alk its at 7. My goal is to be atleast above 9. I dosed for 4 consecutive days and still no change.

today i dosed in the morning and then immediately tested the water again. It came back at 9 (this was at 3:00pm). Its now 9:30pm, same day, just tested water and its right back at 7. What is up!!!

There is no kalk in my top off water and i did a water change yesterday. No matter what i do it will not stay above 7. any ideas? also, i have brs reef rox in my filter. would this be sucking it up?

calc- 550-600 (little high but i believe my test kits are old)
mag- 1450
alk- you guessed it 7
temp- 78.6

also, im using the BRS starter kit with soda ash

b0bab0ey · 10/09/2011, 08:41 PM

There's no way your Alk can drop 2 dKH in 6 1/2 hours. Either something is wrong with your test kit or with the way you're testing. That being said, I sometimes struggle to keep my Alk up. I'll have to dose baking soda for days or even weeks. Then suddenly everything stabilizes and I'm good for months.

Palting · 10/09/2011, 09:10 PM

Don't test immediately. You have to give time for the dose to circulate.

Anyway, the best way I've found to get the alk up relatively quickly is to use baking soda, dissolved in RODI water, dosed slowly. I use my ATO to slowly give the dose.

Here's a link to a calculator to get you going: http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html . One caveat to this calculator is that it tells you how much to to get the number up, but it forgets that this dose has to be given over time and also assumes that the alk is NOT getting consumed over that period of time. I've had to nearly double the dose to compensate for ongoing comsumption.

Watch your calcium. It has a tendency to drop when you get the alk up. Good thing too, since it looks like your calcium is on the high side to start with. BTW, might not be a bad idea to get new test kits if they are old. Nothing like bad test kits to get your parameters out of whack and ruin all the hard work by damaging coral.

ginger7286 · 10/10/2011, 02:58 PM

What salt are you using? I know it sounds crazy but the different brands do have different degrees of trace minerals. Alk will rise and fall with various factors just like pH. I agree get new test kits.

10/09/2011, 07:26 PM	#1
Alysiak00 Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: N. Ridgeville, Ohio Posts: 1,835	*Alk will not stay put I noticed that every time i check my alk its at 7. My goal is to be atleast above 9. I dosed for 4 consecutive days and still no change. today i dosed in the morning and then immediately tested the water again. It came back at 9 (this was at 3:00pm). Its now 9:30pm, same day, just tested water and its right back at 7. What is up!!! There is no kalk in my top off water and i did a water change yesterday. No matter what i do it will not stay above 7. any ideas? also, i have brs reef rox in my filter. would this be sucking it up? calc- 550-600 (little high but i believe my test kits are old) mag- 1450 alk- you guessed it 7 temp- 78.6 also, im using the BRS starter kit with soda ash __________________ 40Br/40Br Sump-2xMp40's, mag 9.5, 250w Maristar w/ Bluewave Ballast, DIY stand, SRO1000, 2xBrs Deluxe Reactors -“Ocean: A body of water occupying about two-thirds of a world made for man - who has no gills.” - Ambrose Bierce

10/09/2011, 09:10 PM	#3
Palting Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Ohio Posts: 6,912	Don't test immediately. You have to give time for the dose to circulate. Anyway, the best way I've found to get the alk up relatively quickly is to use baking soda, dissolved in RODI water, dosed slowly. I use my ATO to slowly give the dose. Here's a link to a calculator to get you going: http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html . One caveat to this calculator is that it tells you how much to to get the number up, but it forgets that this dose has to be given over time and also assumes that the alk is NOT getting consumed over that period of time. I've had to nearly double the dose to compensate for ongoing comsumption. Watch your calcium. It has a tendency to drop when you get the alk up. Good thing too, since it looks like your calcium is on the high side to start with. BTW, might not be a bad idea to get new test kits if they are old. Nothing like bad test kits to get your parameters out of whack and ruin all the hard work by damaging coral. __________________ Anything I post is just an opinion. One of many in this hobby. Believe and follow at your own risk of rapid and complete annihilation of all life in your tank :) Current Tank Info: Incept 3/2010, 150 RR, 50g sump, 20g fuge, 150w 15K MH x3, T5 actinics x8, moonlight LED x6, 1400gph return, Koralia 1400 x4, 300 g skimmer, 4 tangs, 2 mandarins, 2 perc, 6 line, 3 cardinals, 2 firefish, SPS, LPS, zoas, palys, shrooms, clam Last edited by Palting; 10/09/2011 at 09:27 PM.

10/10/2011, 02:58 PM	#4
ginger7286 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Lake Worth, Florida Posts: 728	What salt are you using? I know it sounds crazy but the different brands do have different degrees of trace minerals. Alk will rise and fall with various factors just like pH. I agree get new test kits. __________________ Life's journey is not to arrive at the grave safely in a well preserved body, but rather to skid in sideways totally worn out shouting "Holy crap...what a ride!" Current Tank Info: 125 Reef Tank, Precision Marine equipment with a live rock/sand filtration. 30G. Nano with 2 percs and a beautiful little Flaming Prawn Goby.

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10/09/2011, 08:41 PM	#2
b0bab0ey Moved On Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 2,564	There's no way your Alk can drop 2 dKH in 6 1/2 hours. Either something is wrong with your test kit or with the way you're testing. That being said, I sometimes struggle to keep my Alk up. I'll have to dose baking soda for days or even weeks. Then suddenly everything stabilizes and I'm good for months.