Alk help

[Bamzam]

Need some help with my water parameters. For starters, my tank is a 12 gallon that probably holds closer to 9 gallons. I do 2 gallon water changes every Sunday and Wednesday in order to keep cal/alk replenished since I'm not currently dosing. I've noticed my torch corals are really extended and happy the day after a water change, but start to contract a bit by the 3rd or 4th day. My temp is pretty stable at 78 so I started thinking that I might need to start dosing and lower it to 1 water change per week to keep my parameters a little more stable. After a water change on Jan 1st I tested once a day for the past few days to get an idea of how much cal/alk was being used on a daily basis. Charts are below:

 

Calcium: https://imgur.com/ZCYDfWS

 

Alk: https://imgur.com/uZ07XK8

 

Calcium stayed pretty steady for the 3 days at 405-410. Alk did see a drop from 6.56 to 6.24. Now I understand my alk was low to begin with, so I tested a fresh batch of saltwater after about 30 min of mixing (I use Aquaforest reef salt) and it was 6.7. Now a few questions below:

 

1. Should I supplement alk to increase it to the 7.5-8 range and then try to keep it steady from there, even though my fresh saltwater mix only has an alk of 6.7? If so, will I have an issue during water changes?

 

2. Could the fact that I only make 3-4 gallons of saltwater or that I let my RODI sit for a day or 2 before mixing the salt be contributing to the low alk reading (I tested twice with a salifert kit)? The paper that came with my aquaforest reef salt says my bucket tested at 7.2 alk.

 

3. If I should not try to increase my alk and instead just keep it steady close to my fresh batch of salt water parameters, do my readings show a need to dose 2 part or just kalk water?

 

If a longer period than 3 days is needed to answer the 3rd question, I can start testing with that today. I just noticed my torch looked a little unhappy so I did a 2 gallon water change again today. All coral other than my torches seem to be doing fine and growing well...but this new gold torch is probably my favorite piece lol. Also, I want to get into more sps but am hoping to have this figured out first. List of livestock below to help get a better feel of my tank's current demand:

 

2 torch coral (both 2 heads)

2 plugs with zoas (~20 heads total)

2 montipora digis (1 is getting pretty huge.. multiple branches probably ~6" in length, the other a 2" frag)

1 birdsnest

1 favia frag

2 rhodactis mushrooms

1 lepto frag

1 duncan (5 heads)

1 pectina

1 acan (4 heads)

1 kandy Kane (6 heads)

 

Thanks in advance!

[dandelion]

Dosing alk would probably be easiest. Alk and calcium tends to precipitate out if you leave your newly mixed salt water out for too long. Heating and stirring the water actually promote them to fall out of solution.

 

I have been targeting alk of 10 dKH but I'm having trouble keeping it there. It fluctuates all over the place although my corals don't mind it at all. I'm thinking it's precipitating out on my rock surface, even though my mag is high. Shooting for a lower alk sounds like it'll be an easier job. Keep it at the level where your torch is happy, around 7?

 

As for water change, best would be to dose alk to match what you have in the tank. If you're lazy like me, just make sure your new water's alk isn't too far from your tank's and test after your WC then dose back to your target level.

 

Kalk works fine but it can mess with your pH so trick is frequent and small dosing. Corals are supposed to use calcium and alkalinity on a 1:1 ratio but I'm not positive if precipitation works in the same ratio. I was testing my tank daily for a month and they never drop hand in hand.

[Bamzam]

Is it OK to dose alk by itself? Or will that cause something to be out of balance?

[Bamzam]

I guess I would just need something like this: http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/kh-plus-aquaforest.html

[Bamzam]

Just to add a note, I tested my mag and it is 1350

[Clown79]

Start dosing. Thats a very low alk.

 

I like my alk between 8-9 and my corals were happier when my alk was in those ranges.

 

You will want to use a 2 part doser, as alk raises, ca drops.

Some salt like coral pro is not to be heated or aerated until after 2hrs of mixing and no longer than 4hrs mixing total or it effects the parameters.

 

Maybe aquaforest has specific mixing instructions as well?

[Bamzam]

I used aquaforest kh plus to slowly bump my alk up to 7.5. I've also been dosing 2 part and have maintained stable calcium/alk levels.

 

Found mixing instructions as suggested above. Made a new batch today, and the new batch tested low again at 6.4, consistent with previous mixes. So it looks like that's just what my bucket makes. So now my question is, if I don't want to waste this bucket of salt, can I add kh plus to my new salt water mixes to match alk before I do a water change? Or do my water change first and add kh plus to the tank after if needed?

 

Also, I currently do 2 water changes a week. Given the above situation, would it be better to do a 2 gallon water change once a week? Or 1 gallon water changes twice a week?

[burtbollinger]

have you mixed your bucket? shouldn't that salt be coming in closer to 8?

 

dKH – 7.4-8.2

[Bamzam]

Yes, it is mixed. I'm not sure if I just got a bad batch or if I'm making it wrong but this is the third mix that has tested that low. I tested to 1.025 the first two mixes, and this one I did 33 ppt

[Clown79]

I'd contact the company first because that well below normal levels.

[Bamzam]

Thanks, I'll try to contact them. In the meantime, do you guys suggest dosing the KH plus to my new water to match my tank params before I do a water change? Or directly in my tank as needed after a water change?

[bob115]

Unless I missed it, what's the calcium of the new water? Though I suppose it doesn't really matter much as long as its in the 400-430 range.

 

You're perfectly fine dosing just one of the two parts to you're fresh salt water. As long as you're not going crazy with it you're not going to imbalance anything. As I recall there's a good article on advanced aquarist that discusses balanced alkalinity and calcium and how to fix a given imbalance, which it does not sound like you have by the way.

 

I would consider finding a salt that mixes up to your desired parameters and go with that once this bucket is used. In addition make sure you mix the bucket really well the first time, and pretty well every other time you use some. It helps to make sure that its homogeneous and more importantly consistent for when you make your salt water.

[Bamzam]

Calcium tested 410. Thanks! I wasn't sure of the water chemistry of adding KH plus before it's in a stable PH system (in the tank). I don't want to waste the bucket, so I see a lot of testing in my future. I'll match KH before doing my water changes and figure out what to do for my next bucket of salt when this one runs out. I also plan to borrow someone else's alk test kit to see if gets the same results as mine. If it does I'll try to contact Aquaforest and see what's going on. Thanks again!

[Bamzam]

I've been dosing ESV 2 part in even doses. My alk has remained stable but my Calcium is rising slightly. Is it OK to dose these in uneven amounts? Or will that throw something off?