Alkalinity too high?

cosmo

cosmo

Member
I tested my alkalinity today with a salifert kit twice. Both times I got a reading of 4.46 meq/L. I think it should be around 2.90. How can I get it down? All inhabitants seem fine. I know low alk is bad but is high alk bad? What would cause it to get that high?
PH 8.4
AMMONIA 0
NITRITE 0
NITRATE 0.5
Thanks
cosmo
 
justinx

justinx

Active Member
your alk is a little high, but not too bad. I shoot for around 4. I know the test kit says natural sea water is 2.9, but i have found more positive results with higher levels. You could try a water change or two, but before that i would test calc, and pH. I am going to guess that your calc is pretty low. pH looks good though.
 
justinx

justinx

Active Member
well, as to that, i am not too sure. My lfs gave me a range of 3.66 to 4.34 on the pagee that came with the test kit, so you are not too far off from that. Do you add any buffer? If so, cut back just a touch and that may help, also as previously stated, try a small water change.
 
cosmo

cosmo

Member
OK, I will do the water change and redo the test. I will post after thewater change.
Thanks JustinX
cosmo
 
cosmo

cosmo

Member
Bang Guy, I add Salifert trace soft, trace hard and calcium once a week at about 10ml. The bottle reads add 5ml per 25 gallons, I'm dosing less than it says I should but I don't have a lot of corals. I have a leather finger and a xenia. I also run carbon and phosphate sponge. let me know if I'm doing something wrong!
cosmo
 
justinx

justinx

Active Member
I am sure that bang may have more detail than what i am about to say, or he may even correct me if i am wrong. But here goes. I have never added trace elements to my tank. I thinkg my water changes handle those. I do add alk buffer and calc. Plus, if you are running your carbon all the time, i think that it may be pulling out some of you desired additives. When i add buffers to my tank, i use seachem products and am very satisifed. I add calc and buffer on alternating days to avoid adverse reactions from the chemicals. It was a lot of guess and check until i got the balances figured out, but now that i know what to add, when, and how much, it is a walk in the park and my levels are what i would consider perfect. (alk 3.89, calc 425, and pH 8.2)
 
bang guy

bang guy

Moderator
I'm in agreement with Justin... to an even more extreme.
I believe you will be MUCH better off halting all additives and increasing your rate of water changes. I believe your money will be better spent on a good salt mix. It will have all the additives you require including Calcium and ALK.
If you begin to ramp up with Corals you will then need to start dosing extra Carbonate and Calcium, but until that time you will do best with water changes.
 
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