Alkinity question

[terminus est]

I broke down finally at the advice of a freind of mine and bought an alkinity test kit. What should it be in a reef tank? Here is what I came up with. 12dKH in my 55 reef and 17dKH in my aggressive reef(well FOWLR and a couple corals) The kit says 12dKH is good but I prefer to hear it from more experienced reefers as to what is preferable. Is 17 too high? How do I go about lowering it if it is too high? Thanks

 

[timsedwards]

Yup I agree with Kip,
I aim for Ca 450, pH 8.4 and Alk 10ish. Mind you what we aim for and what we achieve are sometimes entirely different
All the best,
Tim.

 

[terminus est]

I dont have a Ca test kit, but PH in both is 8.2 and stays steady. Last week I had Ca checked in the 55(12dKH) and it was 390. I havent had the other checked in awhile.

 

[casey]

If you find your alkalinity is too high, how can you safely lower it? I haven't had this problem yet, but often wondered what I should do if this ever happened.
Thanks