LOWER ALK

[Caribbean Jake]

Looking into my tank this weekend and testing for several parameters I found ALK to be a little high. Regardless of how high it is. How have you deal with this issue before? How will you lower ALK in your tank besides making huge water changes ? Your opinion is appreciated and respected. Thanks.

[scott711]

Jake,

 

The way I have done it is not to add any supplements for 48 hours.

 

Scott

[Guest seantadez]

hey i have the same problem with my CA... and JM, recomend me the same thing

[jwildman]

I third that .. no additive, water change and time. Especially if it is just a little.

 

John

 

 

hey i have the same problem with my CA... and JM, recomend me the same thing

[jason the filter freak]

I second the water change

[Guest seantadez]

well in my case... CALCIUM water change add CA... what do you think???

[Rascal]

Jake, with the amount of healthy sps in your tank, I would think that your Alk would drop in no time if you just stop supplementing. I wouldn't be suprised if you dropped a full point of dKh per day, or more.

 

I had Alk off the charts not too long ago (my piece of junk test kit said 11 dKh, then I switched to Salifert and realized I was over 17!!!). I just shut off my Ca reactor and bypassed my Kalk reactor, and then tested every day. I added just the Calcium part of B-Ionic 2-part solution to maintain calcium until the Alk came down.

[Caribbean Jake]

Jake,

 

The way I have done it is not to add any supplements for 48 hours.

 

Scott

 

 

Jake, with the amount of healthy sps in your tank, I would think that your Alk would drop in no time if you just stop supplementing. I wouldn't be suprised if you dropped a full point of dKh per day, or more.

 

I had Alk off the charts not too long ago (my piece of junk test kit said 11 dKh, then I switched to Salifert and realized I was over 17!!!). I just shut off my Ca reactor and bypassed my Kalk reactor, and then tested every day. I added just the Calcium part of B-Ionic 2-part solution to maintain calcium until the Alk came down.

 

Thanks guys. My ALK is off the charts.. I noticed 'cause one shrimp went belly up, and he was complete healthy. Try ALK = 27 dKh. Well, I started making water changes, cut off the CA reactor as well as the Kalk reactor, and changed 15G daily with SPG = 1.025, when I usually keep my system at 1.0265. Still today (this morning) ALK = 16 dKh. And I'm using Salifert test kit for testing.

 

All I can do is wait? besides water changes?

[Jager]

jake if you can lower your ph by shutting off a refugium light at night or adding a bit of co2 to the tank water (test to make sure the ph isnt too low doing that) the DKH will lower as it buffers the PH drop. 16 isnt terrible though im more concerned at how fast it dropped from 27 to 16. and if that can be detrimental to your inhabitants over time.

 

14 is the "accepted by most" for being the high end so id just wait and test tomorrow. sorry you lost the shrimp but glad everything else is ok.

[Caribbean Jake]

jake if you can lower your ph by shutting off a refugium light at night or adding a bit of co2 to the tank water (test to make sure the ph isnt too low doing that) the DKH will lower as it buffers the PH drop. 16 isnt terrible though im more concerned at how fast it dropped from 27 to 16. and if that can be detrimental to your inhabitants over time.

 

14 is the "accepted by most" for being the high end so id just wait and test tomorrow. sorry you lost the shrimp but glad everything else is ok.

I tested on Friday mid-afternoon and got 27 dKh. Friday evening I shut down all reactors and made a 21 G water change. Saturday morning made a 15G water change, Saturday eveninig made a 18G water change, Sunday morning made a 15G water change, and Sunday evening made a 20G water change. That is how I came to 16 in so short time.

 

Jagger

I tested the PH and it is at 8.4..

[Jager]

well the ph being 8.4 id say you could try lowering the ph with some co2 or a bit of vinegar even, but go very slow. dont want to crash anything, and being lower alk you can just wait it out if you want. no real harm either way id think at this point.

[Caribbean Jake]

thanks for the advice. really appreciated

[Jager]

np, gald you were quick on those water changes and did not lose anything major

[flowerseller]

Lowering ALK at a rapid rate can have negative effects.

You've changed water and shut off both reactors so let it happen naturally.

Too fast and it acts like too low.

They can tolerate a higher ALK better than they can take a lower one.

Once you get to 12 or so I''d put the kalk reactor back on line followed soon there after with the CA reactor.

 

Since you were able to get your tank ALK so high, watch the media as you likely had pretty low PH effluent which will result in mushy media given enough time at that value.

[Caribbean Jake]

Chip

what media?

 

Tank had hi ALK and PH was always at 8.4... stable witout fuctuations.

[flowerseller]

Chip

what media?

 

Tank had hi ALK and PH was always at 8.4... stable witout fuctuations.

 

A.R.M.

[Caribbean Jake]

OK, Got it, thanks.

The media looks good, and I replenished it last week. Also tested for ALK few minutes ago and got a read of 14.8 dKh. Looks like what I been doing is working. Hope is goes under 12dKh so I can reconnect the Kalk and CA reactor eventually.

Thanks again

[Caribbean Jake]

Tesed water today and found ALK=10.8 dKH. I think I can go back and start the KALK and CA reactor. Checked the CA reactor output and found ALK = 20dKH. I will adjust bubble count and retest tomorrow.

[Grav]

Now that the problem is solved..... I'll chime in.

 

I read in Randy's form on RC he suggested for either high Alk or CA to take the Kalc or CA reactor offline and dose for the OTHER one with one part of a 2-part. For example if CA is 500 and Alk is normal if you just take the reactors off line Alk will be exausted soon and become a limiting factor preventing coral and corriline from using up the CA. So you need to keep adding Alk so that the CA can be consumed. Same thing applies if MG is low.

 

Makes perfect sence when you think about it.

[rrubberbandman]

Now that the problem is solved..... I'll chime in.

 

I read in Randy's form on RC he suggested for either high Alk or CA to take the Kalc or CA reactor offline and dose for the OTHER one with one part of a 2-part. For example if CA is 500 and Alk is normal if you just take the reactors off line Alk will be exausted soon and become a limiting factor preventing coral and corriline from using up the CA. So you need to keep adding Alk so that the CA can be consumed. Same thing applies if MG is low.

 

Makes perfect sence when you think about it.

So.........

your saying high alk(12-14 dkh) is ok as long as CA is not precipitated or lowered due to the high alk???

[Jager]

yes, you can have slightly elevated alk s long as your CA is good. they tend to balance each other out as well as alk buffering ph dropping. ( another trick to lowering alk drop the ph a bit)

[Grav]

Actually I like high Alk. I measure in Meq/l and like to be around 4.0 to 4.4 which I THINK converts to about 10 to 12 DKH . Much higher than that isn't helpful and can cause problems, but I've never experianced them 1st hand.

 

My point was that Alk will not drop nearly as quickly on it's own if CA (and/or MG) is low.

[Caribbean Jake]

great, thanks for the heads-up info.

[rrubberbandman]

Actually I like high Alk. I measure in Meq/l and like to be around 4.0 to 4.4 which I THINK converts to about 10 to 12 DKH . Much higher than that isn't helpful and can cause problems, but I've never experianced them 1st hand.

 

My point was that Alk will not drop nearly as quickly on it's own if CA (and/or MG) is low.

COOL.........mine is also @ 4.5 meq/l

[Lee Stearns]

Jake,

Grav and Chip had the advice pegged- ALk will normally drop over time- but if you have an emergency alk spike "off the Charts" I would water change and add calcium to bring the alk down. An ALK spike can kill things, trust me on this one.