Alkalinity

[NanoNic]

what are some affects that come with having alk levels too high? i use B-Ionic calcium and alk buffer and i dose the recommended amount, and the tank looks great...

[filefish949]

alk burn on the tips of your SPS

 

i do notknow what the reccomended dossage is but here is a good rule to live by:

 

never dose anything unless you test for it

 

time to buy alk, ca and MG test kits

[GrandeGixxer]

alk burn on the tips of your SPS

 

i do notknow what the reccomended dossage is but here is a good rule to live by:

 

never dose anything unless you test for it

 

time to buy alk, ca and MG test kits

 

+1, don't be a DA.

 

I test ca and alk every other day and dose accordingly. Here is a link to a good calculator for your dosing. http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

[Michelo]

cousin drinked alkalin 1 time bad sick

[filefish949]

+1, don't be a DA.

 

I test ca and alk every other day and dose accordingly. Here is a link to a good calculator for your dosing. http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html

 

once things settle down and especialy with a larger tank you can test once a week, i am down to every few weeks unless there are surprises

 

you know things are settled down when you know what your readings are going to be before you test

[GrandeGixxer]

In my tank things are never settled down. I am always adding something either livestock or hardware wise.

[filefish949]

some day it may be, the biger the tank the more likely,

 

a vary wise man once told me that S.P.S.= stability promotes sucsess

[SPS20]

a vary wise man once told me that S.P.S.= stability promotes sucsess

 

Truer words have never been spoken. (or typed, for that matter)

 

SPS really aren't that hard to keep, but they do NOT like fluctuating water conditions. They can adapt to less than ideal conditions fairly easily, IME, but they cannot adapt to constant change.

[MrAnderson]

what are some affects that come with having alk levels too high? i use B-Ionic calcium and alk buffer and i dose the recommended amount, and the tank looks great...

 

hm nobody answered the question...

 

it increases the likelihood of abiotic precipitation of CaCO3. most people imagine this as a snowstorm in the tank, or cloudy water, but this is rarely the manifestation. the snowstorm only occurs if there's a drastic fast change in a localized environment, like when one pours in some alk solution. in contrast, usually what happens is a buildup of white crust on the heater, or the aragonite in your substrate fuses and forms a hard coat on the surface of the sandbed. this is because precipitation is caused by a number of factors: high heat, elevated localized pH, or a crystallization upon areas of high local CaCO3 concenttration, like aragonite substrate.

 

why care? because this abiotic precipitation can occur at a slow rate and leech off of your dosing if you have hard corals. it can cause a tank to have an abnormally high carbonate consumption rate, and while people may take the measurement and think "wow my tank is consuming 3 dKH per day" it is more likely (particularly if the dKH is over 12) that one is simply driving localized abiotic precipitation in cryptic areas of the tank. one can end up dropping in tons of carbonate to dose, thinking one is supplementing ravenous corals, when all you are doing is supplementing your sandbed or heater.

 

basically, combined with other aggravating factors like pH or heat, it can screw up your Ca/carbonate balance and cause one to have to dose like a madman to keep up with the consumption. in a worst case scenario it might cause a fast drop if somehow a global precipitation event is triggered and shock your corals.

[skydive]

basically, combined with other aggravating factors like pH or heat, it can screw up your Ca/carbonate balance and cause one to have to dose like a madman to keep up with the consumption. in a worst case scenario it might cause a fast drop if somehow a global precipitation event is triggered and shock your corals.

 

29g 3 small SPS frags, 3 headed hammer and 6 headed candy cane. Alk 9-11 Ca 400. How can I avoid dosing like crazy? Weekly wc's and dosing 25mL of each part per day. Is this normal?

 

Oh and pH 8.4

[MrAnderson]

wow sorry about the post repeat, not sure wth happened!

 

29g 3 small SPS frags, 3 headed hammer and 6 headed candy cane. Alk 9-11 Ca 400. How can I avoid dosing like crazy? Weekly wc's and dosing 25mL of each part per day. Is this normal?

 

Oh and pH 8.4

 

if it's not a problem then it's not a problem. if your heater doesn't have any white crust on/behind it then i wouldn't worry, but it takes time to build up so if the tank is new-ish, it might not be evident immediately. however, i used to fight this myself. i never had a snowstorm, but i certainly had problems with consumption related to this low-level abiotic precipitation. however it doesn't really impact the health of your tank much, except to make dosing become a frantic daily endeavor, and make the alk drop a ton if you miss a day.

[Mr. Fosi]

Do you topoff with straight FW or do you use kalk?

[skydive]

Just FW. I hear of horrible things happening with kalk so I haven't even thought about using it. I probably need to because this dosing everyday or twice a day is getting to be a pain.

[Mr. Fosi]

I use kalk and have only had problems when the ATO (or I) malfunctioned. These rare problems have been constrained to two mass precipitation events.

 

Since I started using kalk my calc and alk have remained rock steady and I have seen a marked decrease in GHA and other PO4-magnet algaes.

 

EDIT: Of course, since I don't have a mush in the way of SPS or LPS, I don't use a saturated solution.

[skydive]

I just tested again.

KH 12

Ca 400

pH 8.3

 

Today so far 15mL @ 2am 15mL @ 12pm. So far that's 30mL and the KH went from 10 to 12 since last night and the calcium is always 380-400 I've never tested it above 400.

 

Fosi can you direct me to good kalk directions? I'm getting a replacement ATO delivered today so I'll already have the stuff to top off slowly. The pump is an aqualifter and it's not high power so I think I can start this kalk dosing. I'm starting a new job that requires me to be gone 2 or 3 days at a time so I won't be able to dose this 2 part twice a day.

 

Edit: That's 30mL of each part.

[Mr. Fosi]

I suppose this is as good as any and better than some.

[skydive]

I read the dosing part and is there a mix diagram? RO/DI to limewater or straight limewater? Maybe I have to figure that out with the demands of my tank?

 

What type of limewater do you use?

[Mr. Fosi]

You have to make the limewater. That means adding the lime powder to water.

 

It is generally stated that 1-2 tsp pickling lime per gallon RO/DI will give you a saturated solution. If you want a less than saturated solution, make some saturated limewater and cut it with straight RO/DI.

 

I have never done the vinegar + limewater thing but some people swear by it.

[skydive]

I see, and what kind of power do you use? I will go ahead and order some since I'm starting a new job that requires me to be gone up to 3 days at a time and can't dose the 2 part twice a day and read up some more till it gets here. After reading some on that site it doesn't seem to difficult to top off with it. Thought I needed a reactor for kalk

[Mr. Fosi]

No need for a reactor. I mix my saturated solution up in a 3L bottle, let it settle, then pour it into 6g of DI in my topoff reservoir.

 

Right now, I am using Mrs. Wages Pickling Lime but I have also used the Seachem (I think?) brand of kalk powder. No difference that I noticed and Mrs. Wages is cheaper.

[BKtomodachi]

http://www.marinedepot.com/ps_searchItem.a...er&parsed=1

Any kalkwasser powder. Its all the same thing, really.

 

Or, you can use pickling lime. It is usually available at grocery stores. I usually just purchase kalk from a marine dealer because I trust their quality control if it is a brand I trust. Although I'm sure anything for the food service industry would have high quality control standards as well.

[skydive]

Thanks for the help Mr. Fosi & BK. I will be going with Seachem Reef Kalkwasser 2 kg from marinedepot.

[MrAnderson]

You have to make the limewater. That means adding the lime powder to water.

 

It is generally stated that 1-2 tsp pickling lime per gallon RO/DI will give you a saturated solution. If you want a less than saturated solution, make some saturated limewater and cut it with straight RO/DI.

 

I have never done the vinegar + limewater thing but some people swear by it.

 

i got a bacterial bloom when i tried vinegar with my kalk. snot strings everywhere. results may not be the same for everyone.

[bdare]

Mr. A,

 

Your bacterial bloom is not uncommon when adding vinegar. The acid is food for bacteria and typically causes a bloom. This is why you can't add vinegar to RO/DI and let it sit.... The bacteria will consume it in a day or two and render it useless.

 

Ben

[Mr. Fosi]

I think he actually knew that Ben but it isn't the acid that is the food. It is the acetate it forms during reactions. Acetate is an organic carbon compound that is commonly used (alone or in conjunction with other carbon sources) as a carbon source for growing bacteria in a lab environment.

 

To some, this is a selling point of the vinegar+kalk mix. The extra dissolved organic carbon can act as a "food source" for denitrifying bacteria. Of course, more than just the denitrifyers use it, which is why some people get snotty bacterial blooms.