OK I is ALK...

[Holyreefer]

Really that important?

I cant seem to keep a true sps coral i have flow, lighting ( I think needs to be lowered closer to water)
water parameters
nitrate-10 high
ca-525 (oceanic salt)
alk is like 5 and have been taking it up slowly with kalk
Phosphate -Undectable

Lights
250w-3x XM 20K Blubs with VHO x2 10k & 1 Super Actinic both 160 Watters as supplement lighting

I also only run my MH 7 hrs a day and the VHO/Super Actinic stay on for 9 hrs a day...
Any sugguestions would be helpful its starting to get VERY irritating...

Flow
Hydor Koralia Magnum Circulation Pump/Powerhead 8-(3200 gph) x 2
Return pump Barcuda (4600gph) on an wavysea Plus 3600

[plyle02]

Alk, or should I say stable Alk is probably the most important paramater to maintain to keep a promising SPS tank. The answer to your question is simply YES... Depending on your approach, alk should be maintained at least...and I say at least NSW values... Those not running carbon/bac approach report running as high as 10dkh for alk. Make sure you are reporting dkh not meg. That of course would make a HUGE difference. With calcium values at 520, leads me to believe that you are testing meg not dkh, in which case you are very high in alk... Just a thought

[shaggy14]

when my tank crashed, it was because the alk dropped to 5.6 while i was out of town for easter. came back and it looked like something had eaten most of my corals. so yes, alk is that important. shortly after that i bought a calcium reactor and i keep it high(like 10.5-12) just in case i have a drop again. luckily i only lost one coral in the crash, but i still have a few corals that have not fully colored back up since then.

[Holyreefer]

when my tank crashed, it was because the alk dropped to 5.6 while i was out of town for easter. came back and it looked like something had eaten most of my corals. so yes, alk is that important. shortly after that i bought a calcium reactor and i keep it high(like 10.5-12) just in case i have a drop again. luckily i only lost one coral in the crash, but i still have a few corals that have not fully colored back up since then.

Crazy that you say that. Because my Corals expectially my acans and 1 form of my shrooms are starting to look like something is wrong.
And i do apologize my Ca is only at 495 not 525 Sorry about that
OK i will continue to try to keep it up higher as i also do have Carbon in a GEO reactor with phosphate remover (GFO)

[Holyreefer]

Ok i tested my ALK last night and it has dropped from 7-6 in one day.
I bought more Kalk to help keep it up but i don't think ill be able to have it high enough quick enough. What else can i use to get the Alk up so that i can use Kalk to keep it stable. This will take me forever to get my Alk up using just kalk.
Any help please

^BUMP^

[sedor]

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Look into their 2 part total package. Kalk can be a nice addition, but with SPS really can't be used solely to maintain Ca or Alk in the tank. Another thing worth noting is Magnesium. In order to maintain a balance of the fore mentioned its important to add Mg on a regular basis as well. Its levels should be 1300 - 1500.

You will need some good test kits for Ca, Alk, and Mg which you can also get a BRS if you choose to go with that option.

[jimsplace]

Plain old baking soda (Arm & Hammer) will work, just take it SLOW and raise your levels to where you want them. The kalk is not real good for raising your levels of cal and alk but it will help maintain them.

[Holyreefer]

Plain old baking soda (Arm & Hammer) will work, just take it SLOW and raise your levels to where you want them. The kalk is not real good for raising your levels of cal and alk but it will help maintain them.

my Ca & Mg is fine.
Ca-500
mg-1450
So i only need to have my Alk higher. So Kalk is no good your saying?

[Holyreefer]

www.bulkreefsupply.com

Look into their 2 part total package. Kalk can be a nice addition, but with SPS really can't be used solely to maintain Ca or Alk in the tank. Another thing worth noting is Magnesium. In order to maintain a balance of the fore mentioned its important to add Mg on a regular basis as well. Its levels should be 1300 - 1500.

You will need some good test kits for Ca, Alk, and Mg which you can also get a BRS if you choose to go with that option.

my Ca & Mg is fine.
So i only need to have my Alk higher. So Kalk is no good your saying?
but if i use the 2 part wont it add Ca when its not needed?

[tibob32]

my elegance wouldn`t open with alk<7. I never tried with my SPS, but I would say it's not a good idea. As said before sodium bicarbonate, or sodium carbonate (depending on your ph) are a good idea. check Randy`s recipes in the chem forum

[Wrench]

OK i will continue to try to keep it up higher as i also do have Carbon in a GEO reactor with phosphate remover (GFO)

Carbon and GFO will have no effect on CA and Alk.

Your CA is too high. The alk may actually be precipitating out of solution as soon as you add it.

If you are having a hard time maintaining alkalinity you should measure your magnesium levels. Insufficient levels of Mg make it difficult if not impossible to maintain alk.

[Holyreefer]

Carbon and GFO will have no effect on CA and Alk.

Your CA is too high. The alk may actually be precipitating out of solution as soon as you add it.

If you are having a hard time maintaining alkalinity you should measure your magnesium levels. Insufficient levels of Mg make it difficult if not impossible to maintain alk.

My mg is fine at 1450
My Ca is higher because i use Oceanic sea salt
Also so because im using Kalk as my auto top off i should also get the Alk part of the 2 part solution and have that added to the tank as well to help maintain alk? (Im asking)?

And can i only add the alk part of the solution without the Ca or Mg?
I also did read about Carbon add alk

Also if i only add baking soda wont that raise my alk?
if i remember correctly does Randy have an article on that as well

[unbreakable]

yes you can just add alkalinity by itself. id raise it 1 dkh per day until you get to the level you want

Kalkwasser will help maintain your current calcium and alk levels, along with raising ph

ive baked baking soda before to raise alk in the past, but I never had luck with dissolving the baking soda completely. i must have been doing it wrong, but I used it like that anyways

[vegaskid11]

Kalk is great for maintaining proper alk/calc levels (depending on consumption)but a poor choice for raising levels. I like using baking soda for raising alk levels and even for maintaining them.

For me, Kalk helps supplement cal/alk but more over helps with maintaining propoer ph levels.

[coralfarm123]

You don't need to bake the baking soda especially since you have been dosing Kalk. I would mix 1 1/8 cup Baking Soda in a gallon of water and it will dissolve crystal clear. Then you can use this reef chemistry calculator below to figure out how much of the solution to add. This mixture is the Alk portion of Randys two part recipe #2 under the "Pick a Product" field in the chemistry calculator link.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html

[Holyreefer]

You don't need to bake the baking soda especially since you have been dosing Kalk. I would mix 1 1/8 cup Baking Soda in a gallon of water and it will dissolve crystal clear. Then you can use this reef chemistry calculator below to figure out how much of the solution to add. This mixture is the Alk portion of Randys two part recipe #2 under the "Pick a Product" field in the chemistry calculator link.

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html


I did use the Calculator and it did brake it down for me.
hopefully i won't have any issues with the baking soda dissolving.
I will start dosing it tonight and will post a reading in the tomorrow

[gasman059]

If I had one kit and one kit only it would be ALK.

I have not measured Calcium in months but alk twice a week.:thumbsup:

[Holyreefer]

So all of this is making sense on why the 1 acro i have (SOLDIER) hasn't really grown at all.
I went and got the baking soda last night.
Here is what im starting off with for my dosing regiment:

Dosing 1363 ml (48 fl oz) daily. (or is this too much?)
I have the dosing pump coming on for 5 mintues every 4 hours over 24 hrs.
I will test Alk in 24 hrs and see what my results are

[rbnice1]

I never really bothered with dosing baking soda for alk.

When I was dripping kalk I would just test my alk twice a week and add powdered baking soda at that time. Mine ended up being right at a full tablespoon twice a week.

[Fig]

i never really bothered with dosing baking soda for alk.

When i was dripping kalk i would just test my alk twice a week and add powdered baking soda at that time. Mine ended up being right at a full tablespoon twice a week.

+1

[Holyreefer]

+1

Some of us arent that lucky.
Is what im adding 1363 ml in 24 hours is that amount too much?

[Fig]

You could just get a calcium reactor and forget about the 2-part/kalk dosing all together.

[Holyreefer]

I think id prefer to dose and if needed down line i would go with a CA reactor
How would a CA Reactor make a difference in my ALK?

[coralfarm123]

I would raise it slowly. I would aim to raise it 1 dKh per day until you get it where you want to be. Then test again a few days later and see if it dropped and by how much. Then use the calculator to figure out how many mls you need to add to get back to your target number and then divide that by that number by the number of days you waited to retest and that should be your daily maintenance dosage to keep your Alk fairly stable.

[Holyreefer]

how do i have my autotop off and my dosing not overflow my sump?
Its crazy because i can't keep it down when dosing. But its fine with my autotop off.

[Holyreefer]

ok i finally got my Alk up to 9.6 so im happy.
Thanks guys for everything
Noone every answered my question about how a Ca Reactor effects Alk...
I understand Ph but Alk... im sure i read about it but can someone remind me?

[unbreakable]

i wouldnt bother with a calcium reactor. having dosing pumps connected to digital timers would be the best way. just check every 2-3 days how much alk or calcium has dropped, and then have the dosing pump turn on for X amount of minutes/hours daily to add alk or calcium after adding two part to get it back to normal levels. with a calcium reactor youll have to do a lot of tweaking and testing before getting it dialed in. with the dosing pump you just increase the amount of minutes or decrease

unless your tank is large enough that using a calcium reactor would be more economical

you can shop around at www.bulkreefsupply.com for dosing pumps

[Holyreefer]

ok thanks for the words

[Henry Bowman]

Alk, or should I say stable Alk is probably the most important paramater to maintain to keep a promising SPS tank. The answer to your question is simply YES... Depending on your approach, alk should be maintained at least...and I say at least NSW values... Those not running carbon/bac approach report running as high as 10dkh for alk. Make sure you are reporting dkh not meg. That of course would make a HUGE difference. With calcium values at 520, leads me to believe that you are testing meg not dkh, in which case you are very high in alk... Just a thought

+1

Your Ca is on the high side. I dont believe the OP is reporting alk in dKH not meg. Otherwise, the Ca would be precipitating out of solution.

Let the Ca drop to the mid 400's and keep the alk rock steady betw 8-10 dKH unless, as stated above you are vodka dosing or otherwise running an ULNS system. In the case of ULNS (Zeo / Vodka etc..) the alk should run 7-7.5 dKH.

[Rizup]

Trouble is the Oceanic salt is very unbalanced. It has a high calcium content and low alkalinity. It also has a high magnesium level which is fine. If you plan to continue using Oceanic, I would suggest that you buffer the alkalinity with baking soda before doing your water changes. This way you can make sure that the new water has the same alkalinity (dKH) of your tank. It will make keeping your parameters stable much easier.

As for the calcium reactor, it is used to maintain your alkalinity and calcium levels just like you do by dosing two part. It is just a different way of doing the same thing. The same goes for using kalk as well. Before any of these methods really work properly, you need to get your levels where you want them to be and then use whatever method to keep the levels there once you know your tanks demand.


+1

Your Ca is on the high side. I dont believe the OP is reporting alk in dKH not meg. Otherwise, the Ca would be precipitating out of solution.

Let the Ca drop to the mid 400's and keep the alk rock steady betw 8-10 dKH unless, as stated above you are vodka dosing or otherwise running an ULNS system. In the case of ULNS (Zeo / Vodka etc..) the alk should run 7-7.5 dKH.