Alk is going up

funkejj · 03/07/2018, 10:01 AM

Last week I noticed my alkalinity was high, it was nearly 15.5 dkh. Took my mall stirrer offline and straight ro water for tip-off. Been testing daily ever since, started to see a decline. Monday it was 13.05 dkh. Tested this morning when I got home from work and it has gone up, now reading 13.45 dkh. Why would this go up if I am not dosing to the tank? My nitrates are around 2-5 (salifert test and my eyes can’t tell which one it is, phosphates are .1 calcium is 475. Mag is 1320. Some corals don’t seem affected while others have no PE.

So questions are

1 why has the alk suddenly gone up?
2 best way to get it down?

Thanks in advance

mcgyvr · 03/07/2018, 10:56 AM

mall stirrer?

I do not believe that its possible for alk levels to rise in a tank without the addition of an alk supplement or performing water changes with a higher ratio..
It may just be in test kit inaccuracy..

Its possible that your dosage (I assume kalk through the ATO) was inconsistent too causing a rise..

funkejj · 03/07/2018, 11:31 AM

Kalk stirrer, freaking autocorrect on phone and I didn’t catch it sorry. Haven’t done a water change in a week and using a Hannah meter. Tested it 5 times this morning with very little change in readings like less than .1 difference between them

funkejj · 03/07/2018, 11:31 AM

Kalk stirrer has been offline for 9 days as of now.

nereefpat · 03/07/2018, 02:38 PM

You're not adding any "buffer," are you? That raises alk.

funkejj · 03/07/2018, 03:06 PM

No, nothing added since I noticed it high

bertoni · 03/07/2018, 10:20 PM

That change is fairly small. I'm not sure what's happening, but there might be some testing limitations in play. I would give the tank a few days to see how it's going to respond.

funkejj · 03/09/2018, 08:52 AM

Not much change in alk. Has gone down 2 ppm in 2 days. My concern is that it is 238 ppm which is 13.3 dkh which is high. I know letting it go down naturallly over time is best but at this point with the decrease at the current rate it will be like 3 weeks before it is in a normal range. Thoughts?

bertoni · 03/09/2018, 09:19 PM

13.3 dKH should be safe enough for quite a while. I would ignore it, personally.

03/07/2018, 10:01 AM	#1
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	Alk is going up Last week I noticed my alkalinity was high, it was nearly 15.5 dkh. Took my mall stirrer offline and straight ro water for tip-off. Been testing daily ever since, started to see a decline. Monday it was 13.05 dkh. Tested this morning when I got home from work and it has gone up, now reading 13.45 dkh. Why would this go up if I am not dosing to the tank? My nitrates are around 2-5 (salifert test and my eyes can’t tell which one it is, phosphates are .1 calcium is 475. Mag is 1320. Some corals don’t seem affected while others have no PE. So questions are 1 why has the alk suddenly gone up? 2 best way to get it down? Thanks in advance

03/07/2018, 10:56 AM	#2
mcgyvr Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: North Carolina Posts: 20,050	mall stirrer? I do not believe that its possible for alk levels to rise in a tank without the addition of an alk supplement or performing water changes with a higher ratio.. It may just be in test kit inaccuracy.. Its possible that your dosage (I assume kalk through the ATO) was inconsistent too causing a rise.. __________________ Who me?

03/07/2018, 02:38 PM	#5
nereefpat Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Central Nebraska Posts: 3,190	You're not adding any "buffer," are you? That raises alk. __________________ Pat Current Tank Info: 125 in-wall , 40b sump. 6 bulb T5. ASM G2 skimmer. LPS and leathers

03/07/2018, 10:20 PM	#7
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	That change is fairly small. I'm not sure what's happening, but there might be some testing limitations in play. I would give the tank a few days to see how it's going to respond. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/09/2018, 09:19 PM	#9
bertoni RC Mod Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Mountain View, CA, USA Posts: 88,616	13.3 dKH should be safe enough for quite a while. I would ignore it, personally. __________________ Jonathan Bertoni

03/07/2018, 11:31 AM	#3
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	Kalk stirrer, freaking autocorrect on phone and I didn’t catch it sorry. Haven’t done a water change in a week and using a Hannah meter. Tested it 5 times this morning with very little change in readings like less than .1 difference between them

03/07/2018, 03:06 PM	#6
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	No, nothing added since I noticed it high

03/09/2018, 08:52 AM	#8
funkejj Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 747	Not much change in alk. Has gone down 2 ppm in 2 days. My concern is that it is 238 ppm which is 13.3 dkh which is high. I know letting it go down naturallly over time is best but at this point with the decrease at the current rate it will be like 3 weeks before it is in a normal range. Thoughts?