High alkalinity

[Pipposanta]

Hi,

the tank is 3 months old.

The values are:

Ca 410

Mg 1230

Kh 12.5 dkh/4.46 meq

 

How can I lower alkalinity?

 

Thank in advance!

[21093r53]

You dosing? What's your pH?

[Pipposanta]

I dose everyday 0,5ml Reef Snow. In past I dosed magnesium since it was low. I also used a pair of times Nanocode a+b.

 

My ph is 8.0 (measured now)

[21093r53]

Well you could start by not dosing anything with all and test to make sure other params are remaining constant. I woul just get the three part from brs and call it a day.

[MGDMIRAGE]

Bump your calcium up more and let your alk fall naturally. Magnesium is a tad low too 1280-1350 would be better. Do you use reef crystals and do very large water changes? My fresh mixed Reef Crystals runs about 12.5-13 dKH.

 

Do you have any SPS or LPS in the tank to use up the calcium and alk?

[Pipposanta]

Can I increment the calcium using the nanocode A?

On the bottle is written the following:

Each ml of Brightwell Aquatics NanoCode A will increase the concentration of calcium (“[Ca2+]”) in 1 US-gallon (3.785 L) of water by approximately 11.9 ppm. If the initial [Ca2+] in the aquarium is below 412 ppm, add this product at the maximum rate of 5 ml per 10 US-gallons daily until the desired calcium concentration is attained, then dose daily or weekly as needed (see below).

[MGDMIRAGE]

Yes.

[Pipposanta]

Yesterday I wrongly overdosed the nanocode A (I confused between gallons and liters) and the calcium went down to 380.

What to do now? Restore the calcium with water changes or dose again (correctly) the nanocode A?

[joeyhatch11]

Could a higher than normal Kh be the reason why my corals aren't opening? I just started a small frag tank at work. Parameters are all looking good except my Kh.

 

Kh- 13/14

Calcium- 420

Mag.- 1280

pH- 8.2

Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates- 0

SG- 1.024

 

Is there anything that can be done to bring the Kh down faster?

[bdare]

Nothing can be done to bring it down faster other than switching to a salt with Alk levels closer to where you want them and doing some water changes.

[Deckoz2302]

Keep your alk where it is and bring your calc up to 470 and watch your growth explode

[bdare]

Keep your alk where it is and bring your calc up to 470 and watch your growth explode

If you do that... (which I don't agree with since a lot of corals get ALK burn at levels above 12DKH) also make sure you bring you Mg up FIRST to around 1400 to help prevent precipitation.

[Deckoz2302]

Yea....you need a mag of 1400 and a ph of 8.2+ to hold 12.6dkh and 470 calc otherwise your waters supersaturation capability will have to low of a threshold and it will precipitate out.....its what I keep my tank at

[JDK]

I woul just get the three part from brs and call it a day.

 

+1

 

BRS starter kit for the win. 50$ and it will last you a very very long time in a nano.

[joeyhatch11]

I added some Mag and calcium to the tank today to bring them up a bit. My pH is looking good at 8.2 and my Ricordia's are starting to look better and open up more and more each day. I'm going to bring my mag and calcium test kits to work tomorrow and see where they stand since last tested and adding the 2ml of both parts today. I'll try and post up tomorrow late afternoon with the results and you guys can tell me where I should go from there. Thanks, Joe

[joeyhatch11]

Well it's been almost a week since I posted and started adding Mag and calcium to the tank. With bringing my levels up my alk went down from 15 to 12 and now my Ricordia and Favia are looking 10 times better than before. The new Xenia I added isn't looking the best but a little better than when I added it. So I guess at this point only time will tell.