Alk question

[wla1610]

out of curiosity is 11.5 dkh too high for alkalinity?

 

[dogstar]

Its close to being too high. If pH is good and stable then let it be. If its a reef then check calcium levels, might be lower than it should be. Raising calcium should bring the alk. down. IMO best for alk to be closer to 10 dKH.....

 

[wla1610]

my calcium level was around 420ppm when i tested the alk.

 

[lion_crazz]

A dkH of 11.5 and calcium of 420 is fine.
You are not having an issues with pH, right?

 

[wla1610]

in all honesty, i'm not certain, i ran out of ph testing a long time ago. just never found a kit that was resonably priced that i like. i have salifert kits for alk/cal/mag, and i have aquarium pharm for amm/nitrite/nitrate.

 

[wla1610]

i'm gonna get more PH testing stuff... any recommendations on a fairly accurate kit?

 

[lion_crazz]

I love the Salifert kit. It is very accurate and easy to read.

 

[wla1610]

i tested my ph today, i'm at 8.0 at 4 pm cst. lights come on at 9 am and go off at 9pm. i'll test it about 3 times a day for the next week. maybe i'm using the salifert alk test kit wrong when i'm reading the results.
lets say i have .3 left in the 1ml dropper. do you compare the .3 to the chart to find your alk value? if anyone can answer that it would be great.
thanks,

 

[wla1610]

*shameless bump*

 

[hardcrab67]

Did you do the low resolution or standard test? If you used 4ml of water and 2 drops of KH-Ind, than your a little high, if you use the low resolution, 2ml of water, 1 drop of agent, then your Alk is low. .3x2=.6 This is how I understand it anyway. I like mine at .5 because that is natural sea water KH- 8 Alk- 2.9 according to the test instructions. My Ca is 420-440ppm and my pH is 8.3-8.4 Salinity is 1.024-1.025

 

[wla1610]

i did the high res test. 2 drops. grrr... i need to figure out what to do right now... 11.5 dkh is too high for my liking.... i've tested my ph multiple times and i'm at around 8.0 ph. no nitrates, nitrites, or ammonia, 420~ cal.

 

[hardcrab67]

If you bring your pH up to 8.3-8.4 your Alk should come down to 8KH-9KH. This has been my experience anyway. I've tried buffers w/ no luck. I found that pre-mixing my WC for 48 hrs and getting a little more wave action on the DT's surface did in fact help raise and stablize my pH and thus lowering my Alk. These were suggestions I have gathered from this forum.

 

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by hardcrab67
If you bring your pH up
How do you do that ?? Are you saying with better airiation ?? I agree could help.