Question re: Upping my Alkalinity

tkh

tkh

New member
So, hoping I can get some good advice on this. My dKH is low, and persists in being low - hovering around 6.5 - 7.0. Very rarely 7 actually. Naturally, I would like to increase my alkalinity, and will most likely be using sodium carbonate (baked baking soda), since my pH is also on the lower end: 8.0. (and its cheap, and I have Arm & Hammer already).

So, questions:

1) How much of a dKH increase can I do safely per day?

2) I don't have a fancy pH meter, just a somewhat ambiguous salifert color changing test kit. I am worried about the pH swings, I would like to minimize these. Any idea how much I can add at one time safely?

My current water parameters (2 hours after a 20% WC today):
Salinity: 1.0255 / 34ppt
Mg: 1400
dKH: 6.7
Ca: 475
pH: 8.0
Temp: 80

I know my parameters are off :( Hence, me trying to safely adjust it. My magnesium and calcium has remained high all week. I am guessing this is because the low alkalinity is currently the limiting factor, or should I be considering other possibilities?

Anything else I should be concerned about, or is there a better way of going about this that you would recommend?

Thanks!!
 
i have the same DKH and my alk is around 430. I just started dosing Kalk. Havn't seen much of an increase yet but i'm adding it slowly.
 
Heh, thanks Dre! Same calculator I was using, lol :)

I guess I am asking if there is any danger increasing alkalinity too fast, or is the only concern related to pH?
 
There is a danger in raising anything too fast. I know BRS has some info about what can be safely increased over time.
 
I always use the claculator on BRS because they will tell you how much you can safely dose. As an example, here's their recommendation if you want to go from 6.5 DKHto 7.5 DKH using sodium bicarb....

[h=2]Instructions[/h]Fully dissolve the Sodium Bicarbonate in RO/DI or distilled water. Slowly add the solution to high flow areas of the tank and avoid directly blasting corals with the concentrated solution. Sodium Bicarbonate will have a very slight, temporary lowering effect on pH. Avoid increasing alkalinity levels more than 0.5meq/lt or 1.4 dKH per day, if necessary spread the suggested dose out and test between doses.
 
Thanks Eric, just what I was looking for! I'll have to look at the BRS site more often, lol. I didn't realize they also had calculators. 1.4 dKH, spread throughout the day sounds good - I was thinking of adding it to the first chamber in my sump, just before my skimmer, so hopefully it should dilute sufficiently before getting into the tank. Thanks again!
 
Well, I ended up dosing 2.25 oz of sodium carbonate solution (Randy's Recipe 1), in 2 separate doses over the course of 2 hours - my pH didn't move noticeably, and my dKH went from 6.3 to 7.0 :) A few more days I should be right where I want to be! (and then can join the Vit C club and start dosing that too, lol...)
 
Don't up it. 7 is NSW and perfectly fine. Most full blown SPS reefs reek alk at or around 7. The best, easiest way is to get some 2 part solution. It's quick, effective, and safe.
 
Oh, Thanks for bringing that up! For some reason, I had it in my heads that NSW was 9.0! Glad 7 is fine, and all it took was one simple correction! I've got some spare Ca dosing stuff that I picked up from a fellow reefer, and I've got about a gallon worth of the Alk dosing I'd made, so once I go through that (with careful monitoring to ensure a balance), I'll look into a 2 part solution. Although the Randy's recipes seem like an easy DIY alternative too.. (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php) Any particular brands, or strong reasons not to DIY?

On a side note - I think we have enough of us Eric/Eriks to have our own forum, lol...
 
Ah, good to hear I wasn't blundering into something shrugged off a while back as being ineffective! I was planning on sticking with Randy's DIY - it's just so easy, and I imagine cheaper, lol.. the alk part certainly was!
 
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