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low kh

post #1 of 8
1/16/12 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
ive had the reef going great for over 2 yrs with no parameter changes at all, but just recently i noticed the kh is low at 107.4ppm. all other parameters are good and have not changed ammonia/0 nitrites/0 nitrates/0 ph 8.4 ca460( ca usualy 480+) ive just added some sps and was wondering if they are mabe the problem? how do u bring up kh? also i add about a shot glass of kent marine liquid calcium every week along with1tsp kent marine essential elements (and live phyto every morning) is there any thing else sps may need?
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post #2 of 8
1/16/12 at 12:03pm

I add Seachem Reef Builder to my Top off water, about I teaspoon per 5 gallons.  But you have to play around with that this is based on my evaporation rate.  They sell this stuff here.

Seachem Reef Builder

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post #3 of 8
1/16/12 at 1:12pm

if calculated correct I think that would be about 6 dkh so that would be really low for coral do not raise to fast might ck your test kit again also look into bi ionic 2 part 

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post #4 of 8
1/16/12 at 3:00pm

You need an alkalinity supplement to raise alkalinity and that will also slightly lower your pH. Baking soda will do just that, and it's cheaper. 

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post #5 of 8
1/16/12 at 3:29pm
Thread Starter 
i have kent marine superbuffer-dkh ( i think i used it when i fist started to bring up ph) it sais it stabilizes and raises ph but my ph is already 8.4 i dont want it to go up any more. also how does kh effect coral, do they use it up?
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post #6 of 8
1/16/12 at 4:23pm

Yes, corals use carbonates and bicarbonates to build their skeletons. 

 

Superbuffers raise pH because they take baking soda and oven bake it to get the carbon dioxide out of it first. 

 

Regular baking soda lowers pH slightly because the co2 is still contained in it. Co2 lowers pH. But not by much - at least not enough to drastically effect your pH. Least it won't drive it up. 

 

 

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post #7 of 8
1/16/12 at 5:06pm
Thread Starter 
so for my 46g how much bakin soda should i put in? should i always be adding baking soda to keep the dkh level up? is any thing other than ph lowering gonna happen when i do this (save me the panic)?
and thanks for the input
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post #8 of 8
1/16/12 at 7:26pm

If you add calcium you have to also add a balanced portion of alkalinity. One can not exist it out the other. You can find some very helpful calculators on the Internet with a simple search. Be careful though and experiment and test often. Go slow. Use common sense. 

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