erg...kH and coralline

[flaunt]

ok, so i took ESPI's advice and dosed just part 1 of the b-ionic additive to raise my alkalinity... well, at first i thought it wasn't helping, but i just did some tests on my water:

pH: ~8.3

CA: 460ppm

PO4: 0.35mg/l

kH:17dkh!!

 

uhhhhhhhhhhh... so how do i get it down now? change out some water? will adding part 2 of b-ionic instead of part 1 help bring down the alk?? my corals don't seem to be reacting adversely but my whole reason for doing this was to get my coralline really going (which it has been picking up over the past several days). if i remember right, ESPI, you also said that over 14dkh calcium becomes unusable. what about the PO4 also? i've heard it doesn't take much to inhibit coralline growth. i don't run a skimmer but i do have a pouch of Seachem Phosguard which initially seemed to bring the P04 down to near undetectable levels but now it seems not to be working as well... do i need to rinse it or somehow recharge it? the pouch is rated for a 30g tank, mine is 10 and it's only been in there for about a week.

 

help? :*(

[Dave ESPI]

do a W/c. ya Overdosed silly.

the phosguard does have a shelf life and a useability time. Has it changed colors? it will look brown when exhausted. ya can "Bake" it in an oven (or soak it) depending on the brand to recharge the beads once. the absorbtion rates will slow as it munches on the phosphates. What salt are U using ( I believe ya told us before) but im tired.. LOL

The phosphates dont have affect high DKH, only on calcium usage and uptake. Ya have any caluerpa in there?

H T H....

[flaunt]

yeah i was planning on doing a w/c, but i just thought there might be something else i could do that i didn't think of. i looked at the beads in the pouch and they kind of have a slighly yellowish-brown tint whereas they used to be white. i guess this means they're exhausted but i'm not sure why they would be so soon. why would i have so much phosphate in the aquarium? i don't have any fish, just some corals, several hermits, snails... and a cb shrimp. i'm using Marine Environment salt, which is made by the same company as the salt you're using. i have tested freshly made saltwater for phosphate and it tests undetectable, so i know i'm not introducing it through w/c or replacement water. and i do have a bit of macro, much of which began shrivelling up after i put the Phosguard in (my first indication that the phosphate was being absorbed). bleh... maybe i should add a skimmer for the phosphate. thanks for yer help ESPI

 

edit: btw, i also run carbon and i think i'll try soaking it in some fresh RO water and then testing the water to see if it's leeching phosphate. also, i was reading the Phosguard package again when it occurred to me that maybe i had a relative abundance of phosphate starting out which exhausted this first bag quickly, and maybe the 2nd or 3rd bag will keep the phosphate levels down for a longer period of time...