Help please.... Alkalinity

[danderso]

I just tested using a red sea test kit

CA- 400
MG- 1220
KH- 6.4
PH- 8.0

According to red sea that's super low for KH. I decided to test some water I have in my water change barrel that's been mixed for a couple of days and it tested at 6.4 as well. Then I remembered I have some NSW that's been sitting sealed and blacked out for 4 weeks. I tested it and it came back at 7.8. The tank has been up for about 6 weeks. I have a couple of softies and a hammer that are all doing great. I don't have any fish in it at the moment (I had 2 false perculas that both died about 3 weeks ago). Lots of crabs, snails and a blood shrimp. All very happy. I was dripping a little kalk but haven't for a week or so because I didn't feel that there was a whole lot of need for it at this point. Should I just go back to the kalk drip or is there something else I should be doing to bring this up?

[Gonzalex]

Thats not a terrible number as long as it is stable. It will slowly affect coral growth, but should not cause harm in the system. I have low alk numbers right of the barrel and have to supplement with Reef Builder by Seachem. If your using an ATO you can easily mix it in with your water reservoir to dose by itslef.

[danderso]

Thanks. I think I'll just go back to the kalk and moniter.

[tebstan]

Gonzalex, aren't lower alk numbers inherently less stable?

danderso, what brand of salt are you using?

[Gonzalex]

When I didnt dose anything, my alk lvl was a constant 7.0. What I was saying that although its a low now, its better to be consistent than trying to keep it up and going through a roller coaster.

[Palting]

Those numbers are all a little on the low side, but most especially your alk. Alk should be 7-11 dKH. What's your salinity/SG?

I personally keep my alk at 8-9dKH. At 6.4, you will have trouble keeping hard coral and also have trouble starting coraline growth. Let's start by telling us what your salinity is and what salt you use.

BTW, are you using thr Red Sea Pro test kit (titration) or the regular RedSea (color chart)?

[rezaktp]

I agree go back to Klak in your top off, that will definetly help, or just dose some baking soda.

[seapug]

I'd recommend you go with a good two part supplement so you add calcium, magnesium and buffer together. It'll keep everything in much better balance with a lot less time end effort. Its the next best thing to a calcium reactor.

[Palting]

Didn't he say this was a 6 week old tank? It's way too early and a waste of money to be doing dosing and additives if this is truly a 6 week old tank.

There are 2 main reasons the numbers can be off on a 6 week old tank. Most common is too low an SG. At an SG of 1.022, all your alk, calcium, mag etc numbers will be lower than saltwater, which has an SG of 1.026. Second would be a bad test kit or bad testing. Less common would be bad salt or bad salt mix.

[danderso]

The tank has been runnig for 8 weeks today. I started with 35 lbs fully cured fiji lr and I never had a cycle. I am using tropic marin salt. SG is 1.022 with a hydrometer and 1.023 with my refractometer. I am checking both because I calibrated my refractometer with distilled water. I have some calibration fluid on order but its not here yet. I have a hammer coral, mushrooms, and some various frags that are all doing great. Just started my ato system Sunday in which I have 5 gallons of water mixed with 2 teaspoons of kalkwasser powder. It is getting about 250 ml dripped 5 times a day which seems to match the evaporation rate perfectly. Calcium is stable everyday at 400 and mag is at 1200. So #1- I definetly need to up my sg. Should I get that up before making any other adjustments or should I add more kalk to the top off water? Or add some baking soda or reef buffer? And can I put it in the kalk or do I need to dose it separately? How about adding saltwater to the top off to slowly bring up the sg or is it a problem to mix the kalk with salt water? Thanks for all of the input so far.

[RubberFrog]

Get your sg up to 1.025-1.026 first. Then start checking.

[danderso]

Ok. So I am going to stop using kalk for now and start using salt water for my top off until it comes up. I am assuming that by adding salt water I will also be adding calcium so it should keep up with the light calcium demand I have right now. Thanks for all of your help guys.

[GPB]

FWIW, I use Kalk in Top off and have to add a little baking soda twice a week to keep up Alk. I lose Alk faster (about 1.5dKH / week) than Cal (stays around 490)in my system.

[danderso]

Can I add baking soda to my kalk top off reservoir or should it be added separately. And if so what is the best way to add it?