Alkalinity at 5.5 meq/L + ?

smork81

smork81

Member
nitrite 0 , nitrate less than 2 meq/L , ammonia 0 , ph 8.05(with pinpoint) , ALK 5.5 meq/L , phosphate 0 , silicate 0 , calcium 350(i know i need this up)
I just started dripping kalk but my ALK was high even before i started doing this. What could be the cause of this. I use salifert for all my test except the phosphate. How can I lower my ALK without throwing all the other parameters out of whack?
-nika
 
frankthetank

frankthetank

Active Member
I'm kind of like you... I have good calcium (400-450), good phosphate (0.1-0.2) but my alk is always high. I don't know what the deal is, but all my corals and everything do great. I quit worrying about it.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Well I have had a couple mythrax crabs die in the past week and I am concerned it is due to the high alk..Not for sure though..It has never been this high. I use kalk, a bit of Kent tech-I, Tech-M and essential elements. I don't know why it is raising like it has been.
 
aztec reef

aztec reef

Active Member
stop using buffers and kalk and do water changes (and it will come to average)or else is going to keep going up or stay the same..
 
aztec reef

aztec reef

Active Member
Originally Posted by Smork81
Well I have had a couple mythrax crabs die in the past week and I am concerned it is due to the high alk..Not for sure though..It has never been this high. I use kalk, a bit of Kent tech-I, Tech-M and essential elements. I don't know why it is raising like it has been.

imo this is alot of unnessesary additives. if you're doing kalk-drip then you don't need the rest of the stuff. you might need the tech m for some corals if you have a heavy stocked reef.(other than that save it for later ) as far as tech I and essential elements you can take those two bottles and throw them away out of the window in to the neighbords yard.. water change rituals will take care of iodine and replenish your elements.
 
reefnut

reefnut

Active Member
IMO your alkalinity is running high because your calcium is running low. You can lower the alkalinity simply by increasing the calcium.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Originally Posted by Aztec Reef
stop using buffers and kalk and do water changes (and it will come to average)or else is going to keep going up or stay the same..
Why do you say to stop doing kalk? Like I said the kalk has nothing to do with it. I JUST started dripping kalk within the past week and ALK has been running high for weeks but not this high. I will try and start doing more frequent smaller water changes instead of larger ones every 2 weeks and see how that works out. But it is a heavily stocked reef. I only have four fish. The total gallons of the system with the sump and fuge are about 100g but only a 55 gallon DT. Thanks for your input Aztec reef.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Originally Posted by ReefNut
IMO your alkalinity is running high because your calcium is running low. You can lower the alkalinity simply by increasing the calcium.
I have noticed tht when my calcium was too high like 500+ on saliferts test that my ALK was on the low side. I will also give this a shot cause my calcium has never been this low heh. Thanks for your input Reefnut.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Yeh I have just now got my PH back up to above 8.0...It took me over a month to do that with buffer. Thanks for the reference I will def. read on.
Thanks Earlybird!
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
You should never use buffer to raise pH. It throws alk out of whack. I'm positive this was your problem. Read that article and you'll understand why.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Yes i just read the article and it was like a light bulb went off in my head!
The "buffer" I used said it would not do that. Guess I learned a good leason. Thanks earlybird for the article it answered so many questions but now I have about 10 more. :thinking:
 
earlybird

earlybird

Active Member
Originally Posted by Smork81
Yes i just read the article and it was like a light bulb went off in my head!
The "buffer" I used said it would not do that. Guess I learned a good leason. Thanks earlybird for the article it answered so many questions but now I have about 10 more. :thinking:
For every answer learned a new question is raised. Welcome to my research philosophy. That article is great. Glad to help.
 
aztec reef

aztec reef

Active Member
Originally Posted by Smork81
Why do you say to stop doing kalk?
cuz kalk raises alk & calcium. what you can do is add JUST calcium (turbo calcium) like already mentioned before.
 
smork81

smork81

Member
Like i said kalk was not the culprit because it was just started 3 days ago. ALK has been high for WAY longer. But thatnks for your input I will take it into consideration.
 
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