KH question

[urodude]

I used seachem marine buffer because I thought my pH was a bit low, around 8.0(I use the Hagen tests and it is a bit difficult to read the colors)
I followed the directions and indeed the pH did come up to around 8.3, but the KH went way up to around 160 mg/l, from a pre-buffering value of 120 mg/l
This is in my fish only tank. Is this level OK, desirable or dangerous? The Hagen book says 125 mg/l is the high/desirable range
Thanks

 

[dogstar]

IMO. KH at 125 ppm is low and should be more around 170 +, best to test for and balance the calcium and Alk to maintain a stable pH.

 

[urodude]

Thanks, I feel better.
The tank is fish only with an artificial(fiberglass) reef so I don't add calcium per se. That's why I thought the sea chem buffer was a good idea to help raise and maintain the pH. I was just nervous about the KH rise way above what the Hagen manual recommended.

 

[zman1]

IMO if you maintain a 8.0 pH in a SWFO tank with artificial rocks, I would just leave it alone. You can do more things wrong trying to adjust for a higher pH. When doing standard water changes and the pH is consistent 8.0 that's fine.

 

[urodude]

One thing I didn't mention which is obviously important- I have a denitrifier on the tank, fed with nitrogone. As a result, my ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate levels are minimal and I don't perform water changes(I know, heresy). I have an automatic top off with R/O water.
Although my water parameters are consistently good, because I don't do water changes, I presume that the acid produced by the fish would slowly build up, resulting in a slowly decreasing pH. This is why I felt that periodically adding buffer made sense to counteract that tendency.
Am I wrong?