Dkh too high!!

Nitzanah

Copepod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#1
Having some trouble with my kh. It's testing at about 14dkh. About a month ago my ph was super low for my 16g reef tank so the gal at my LFS gave me "eight.four" to dose the tank. I did and the ph came up. Then I noticed my calcium was really low so I picked up some calcium supplement and dosed for a while but I got tired of doing that so I switched my salt to "instant ocean reef crystals" instead of the plain "instant ocean" which had kept my ph and calcium in check.

I'm using RODI water for my water changes and my ato
Ph is 8.6
Ammonia 0
Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Calcium 440
Phosphate 0
80 degrees
stock innovative marine filters
nano protein skimmer


I'm not dosing my tank with anything and haven't in quite a while. I do weekly, 5g water changes. I've tested my rodi water with my kh test and it comes to zero. I've tested some water from the frag rack table from a coral frag I just bought from my LFS and theirs came to 9dkh with my test kit. I'm using a API test kit and while I know they aren't the most accurate, the levels are what they should be with my rodi water and LFS water. I made a small half gallon batch of saltwater and tested it and it was at 9dkh.

So what could be causing the dkh to be so high in my tank? I feel like it's keeping my Xenia from fully opening and keeping my coral from growing.

I am am not adding ANYTHING to my tank other than the rodi saltwater. I don't have a whole lot of coral...maybe 9-10 different ones. Please help!

TIA
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#2
Don't chase PH. Ever. It will take care of it's self and buffer if you have any kind of calcium carbonate in the system. You can cause more damage chasing PH than having it range on it's own. Besides, PH issues are from high room/home CO2 about 99% of the time, so any remedy that you apply will be short lived. Most low, or high, PH readings are from less-than-accurate test methods.

eight.four is bicarbonate buffer. This is what is raising the dKh. If you ever do want to chase PH (don't do it - seriously), then use Kalk to raise and Muratic Acid to lower... they do less ancillary damage than a buffer.

Is is precipitating? Is the water cloudy and do you have dust on anything? If not, just let it come down in it's own - test it and when it gets down to where you want it, you can start to plan to dose again.

Do yourself a huge favor and buy a Salifert Alk test kit.
 

jahmic

Reef Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#3
Some may not agree with this...but don't dose any products designed just to bring up pH levels. Just my .02 If everything else is stable and your tank is well oxygenated, it will be where it needs to be.

All you can do at this point is small water changes every few days and/or wait it out. It will eventually come down.

What is our magnesium level at? If your Mg is low, then nothing will stay stable in your tank. Make sure your Mg is in range, then just wait it out. Your Ca is fine so I wouldn't dose anything until you know where your Mg is, then wait it out until your Alk decreases. Check the articles section on reef chemistry...there are some links that will help you get a better understanding of what's going on and how to correct the problem.
 
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sethsolomon

Hammerhead Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#4
jda123;331124 said:
Don't chase PH. Ever. It will take care of it's self and buffer if you have any kind of calcium carbonate in the system. You can cause more damage chasing PH than having it range on it's own. Besides, PH issues are from high room/home CO2 about 99% of the time, so any remedy that you apply will be short lived. Most low, or high, PH readings are from less-than-accurate test methods.

eight.four is bicarbonate buffer. This is what is raising the dKh. If you ever do want to chase PH (don't do it - seriously), then use Kalk to raise and Muratic Acid to lower... they do less ancillary damage than a buffer.

Is is precipitating? Is the water cloudy and do you have dust on anything? If not, just let it come down in it's own - test it and when it gets down to where you want it, you can start to plan to dose again.

Do yourself a huge favor and buy a Salifert Alk test kit.
+1
 

Miah2bzy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#5
Nitzanah;331119 said:
...but I got tired of doing that so I switched my salt to "instant ocean reef crystals" instead of the plain "instant ocean" which had kept my ph and calcium]


A good salt mix will help a lot, not sure on instant ocean reef crystals but a lot of the long term reefers use kent. Just my two cents. When did u switch from IO to reef crystals?
 

Nitzanah

Copepod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#6
Switched to IORC a couple months ago. Right around the time my ph and calcium was real low.
Dont have a magnesium test, guess I'll pick one of those up

is salifert or redsea best?
 

sethsolomon

Hammerhead Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#7
Miah2bzy;331168 said:
A good salt mix will help a lot, not sure on instant ocean reef crystals but a lot of the long term reefers use kent. Just my two cents. When did u switch from IO to reef crystals?
Instant Ocean Reef crystals is one of the most consistent salts out there. It is about 98% the same every time you mix it up. Kent is a lot more inconsistent and is high in heavy metals, but its cheap.

Nitzanah;331173 said:
is salifert or redsea best?
Both have their merits. I prefer salifert as they are very easy to use and strait forward. Red sea test kits can get complicated.
 

Miah2bzy

Nurse Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#8
sethsolomon;331174 said:
Instant Ocean Reef crystals is one of the most consistent salts out there. It is about 98% the same every time you mix it up. Kent is a lot more inconsistent and is high in heavy metals, but its cheap.
Haha...I thought it might be that. My bad.

I'm still a young Jedi and have much to learn.
 

sethsolomon

Hammerhead Shark
M.A.S.C Club Member
#9
Miah2bzy;331176 said:
Haha...I thought it might be that. My bad.

I'm still a young Jedi and have much to learn.

I am liking fritz reef pro salt its pretty good. No caking like Salinity and just as good levels. as for consistency I have not been watching how it mixes up each time.
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#10
Just regular old Instant Ocean is the best mix-it-up salt on the market IMO... except for maybe Tropic Marin Pro Reef which is more than twice as expensive. Kent and Coralife (which I believe to be the exact same salt) are best left to Fish Only tanks and don't even come close to resembling Natural Seawater. Most of the people who swear by Kent Salt oftentimes swear at it once they start to use something else.
 

Nitzanah

Copepod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#11
[FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]So I did a 1/2 gallon water change this morning with the SW that I made yesterday to test the dkh of my fresh saltwater. No point in wasting the water, right?

Dkh is now 10.

A half gallon water change brought it from 14dkh to 10dkh but a 40% kept it at 14dkh.... W.T.H??
[/FONT]
 

zombie

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#13
You could have gotten a bad batch. I got a buckets of reef crystals that tested consistently around 1300 mg, 400 ca, and 8 dkH. Then I got another bucket in february that tested 1100 mg, 650 ca, and 14dKh. Test a batch before you add it to the tank. If you get numbers that are way off, send them an email and they will send you a new bucket after sending in a cup of salt.
 

Nitzanah

Copepod
M.A.S.C Club Member
#14
zombie;331197 said:
You could have gotten a bad batch. I got a buckets of reef crystals that tested consistently around 1300 mg, 400 ca, and 8 dkH. Then I got another bucket in february that tested 1100 mg, 650 ca, and 14dKh. Test a batch before you add it to the tank. If you get numbers that are way off, send them an email and they will send you a new bucket after sending in a cup of salt.
of all gh answers Ive received, yours makes the most sense!! Unfortunately I used all of the old batch and the SW I made last night was from a new bag. I never thought to check the batch first so thanks for that too!!!
 

SynDen

Administrator
Staff member
M.A.S.C Club Member
M.A.S.C. B.O.D.
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#15
Miah2bzy;331168 said:
A good salt mix will help a lot, not sure on instant ocean reef crystals but a lot of the long term reefers use kent. Just my two cents. When did u switch from IO to reef crystals?
IO reef crystals are just fine, dont use kent, it sucks. others may disagree with that but kent's number can vary widely from bag to bag where as IO will always be consistent. But agree with JDA and Jahmic 100%
 

jda123

Dolphin
M.A.S.C Club Member
#17
ANY salt that you get in a bucket needs to be dry mixed. Some bags too. Most all manufacturers will say that they have a uniform particle size and all of that, but it is bunk.

If you have a big enough of a tank, then just mix the whole bag and figure out water changes that way.
 
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