marinetanker Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 hi, my tank has been set up around a year and a bit now and lately for some rteason the kh has dropped to 6, my other new tank is at 8, how can i raise this safely thanks for your help in advance Link to comment
MikeTR Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 if your calcium is already in the 380-460 range.. then you can use some buffer.. how often are you doing water changes? if your calcium is lower than that range.. you would benefit from a 2 part dosing regimen. Link to comment
marinetanker Posted August 28, 2009 Author Share Posted August 28, 2009 hi, i do 30% every week on a sunday, my calcium is at 440ppm what do i use to raise the kh and how ?? Link to comment
Chyendra Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I'm surprised your ca is so high with your alk being so low, do you dose Ca? A simple method is baking soda: I use the reef calculator found here http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html What I've found is that I can dissolve about 1tsp of baking soda in 100ml of RO water. This way if it says I need to dose .7 tsp or somthing ridiculous like that, I can just dose 70ml. don't dose this all at once... you want to bring it up slowly over several days so that you don't raise your pH too much. Link to comment
FiRsT-aNd-LaSt Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I've been having great results dosing Searchem Reef Builder to raise my KH, just don't dose to much or your calcium will drop to much. Link to comment
Mr. Fosi Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 The short answer is: baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) if you want your pH to dip down a little just after addition or baked baking soda (sodium carbonate) if you want your pH to go up just after addition. Generally, it takes a smaller volume of sodium carbonate solution to achieve the same result as a larger volume of sodium bicarbonate http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php Link to comment
Phixion Posted August 28, 2009 Share Posted August 28, 2009 I had a low alk and high Ca issue with my tank before I had moved it. The low alk was causing my tank to have low pH as well, around 7.5 I solved this issue easily (over a long period of time mind you) by dosing in about 7.5mL of B-Ionic ALK suppliment only, once a day.over the course of a couple months, my alk rose and my pH was peaking during the day once again at 8.2 My Ca throughout that whole duration held steady at between 450 - 500. Link to comment
marinetanker Posted August 29, 2009 Author Share Posted August 29, 2009 sounds like great help, i will try this after the bank holday and the shops are open again let you guys know how i get on, thanks Link to comment
marinetanker Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 one thing i didnt think to ask is, once my kh is raised to adequate levels, ie 10 - 12 what do i do, just stop adding and testing every week ?? or how long will it take to drop ?? Link to comment
Chyendra Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 This will vary for every tank. The key is stability, so pick a kh level and stick with it. To figure out what your maintenance dose needs to be, just test your levels and wait a week and test again. Knowing how much is drops in 7 days will allow you to figure out what you need to dose every day (or every other day) to maintain adequate levels. Link to comment
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