Help with low alkalinity

[mwirth1]

Hey guys, so I am having trouble with my alkalinity. Its a 20 gallon tank with just a little bit of coral. Two 2" frags of birds nest, a 1.5" frag of favia, hammer, duncan whisker, and a bunch of small zoa colonies. I tested it today and it was ~6.1 dKh (pH ~8.1, Calcium near 500). I use Salifert's alkalinity test and API for calcium & pH. I don't dose much at all, but after checking, I dosed with Aquavitro 8.4 and brought up the alk to 6.7. I do 10-20% water changes every 1-2 weeks using Aquavitro Salinity. The alkalinity on the newly mixed water is 10 to 12 dKh and pH of 8.4 to 8.6.

My tank has been consistently low on alkalinity and I can't seem to figure out why. :doh: Any suggestions?

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

What salt are you using and what's your mixing procedure.

You may also need to start dosing 2 part. Bulk reef supply sells kits pretty cheep to start and have great videos. 6 isn't really that low and you should be able to bring it up pretty quickly with the 2 part. You can also use backing soda to bring up the alk. Look up randy Holmes on the inter webs to find lots of info.

Whatever you do, don't raise the alk by more than .5 dkh per day. Slow and steady.

 

[Tangs]

Do u use a water softener

 

[Tangs]

Don't add stuff to ur tank till u find out why it's low . You could do more damage than good

 

[Tangs]

When u add fresh water everyday if it's softened it will lower it , need more info

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Don't add stuff to ur tank till u find out why it's low . You could do more damage than good

Plus 1

 

[mwirth1]

What salt are you using and what's your mixing procedure.

You may also need to start dosing 2 part. Bulk reef supply sells kits pretty cheep to start and have great videos. 6 isn't really that low and you should be able to bring it up pretty quickly with the 2 part. You can also use backing soda to bring up the alk. Look up randy Holmes on the inter webs to find lots of info.

Whatever you do, don't raise the alk by more than .5 dkh per day. Slow and steady.

What 2 part dosing kit do you recommend?

I use Aquavitro Salinity and to mix, I use a little less than 1/2 cup per gallon of water and mix with a circulation pump. I recently started heating the water up to the proper temp since I stopped using dechlorinated warm tap water. I work in a lab and have a source of ultra-pure water (Milli-Q). If we overfill our carboys I will take the extra home to mix up my saltwater. It goes through another 4-stage filtration process after it goes through our DI tanks and RO filters.

Which brings up another question. We titrate waters daily (measure hardness and alkalinity), so I bring in my water to determine alkalinity once in awhile. I will measure alkalinity at work (in ppm as CaCO3) and then again with Saliferts. I have noticed a very consistent discrepancy where Saliferts is almost always 10% higher than what I get. So if this is correct, my alkalinity is even lower than 6. Roughly 5.5 dKh.

 

[mwirth1]

Do u use a water softener

Don't think so, I get water from work which is basically RO/DI.

When u add fresh water everyday if it's softened it will lower it , need more info

I top off with the water I mix my batches with

 

[mwirth1]

Don't add stuff to ur tank till u find out why it's low . You could do more damage than good

I agree. But what could be the reasons it's low? I figured I would dose a little since the remedy for low alkalinity is usually dosing something.

 

[Tangs]

I would check ur water at work work and make sure

 

[Tangs]

It is when u have a lot of sps or LPS doesn't sound like u do . I wouldn't dose till u find out why first . If it where mine I would check my water at work , if it's not softened I would change my salt to tropic marine pro or b-ionic and do water changes once a week and go from there .

 

[Tangs]

I have never heard of that salt . And I don't trust anyone's water but mine . Maybe invest in a rodi

 

[mwirth1]

I would check ur water at work work and make sure

No need to really. We use it everyday to make waters according to EPA guidelines for specific water types based off hardness and alkalinity. It's 100% pure water.

Could there be any issue with using ultra-pure water instead of RO/DI water? We use it to make saltwater for hatching out brine shrimp everyday as well as a few other saltwater organisms without issue.

 

[mwirth1]

It is when u have a lot of sps or LPS doesn't sound like u do . I wouldn't dose till u find out why first . If it where mine I would check my water at work , if it's not softened I would change my salt to tropic marine pro or b-ionic and do water changes once a week and go from there .

The base water source is Fort Collins city water, then through our RO/DI filters, followed by 4 more Milli-Q filters (0.7 micron filters)

 

[Tangs]

I run a 6 stage filter with dual di so 8 stage , always start with good water and salt that's half ur battle

 

[Tangs]

Yes u can over buff the water

 

[Tangs]

Find a rodi system for you . It will fix ur problem , you don't have enough corals to dose with u doing water changes every 2 weeks . And try a little better salt it will pay off in the long run

 

[mwirth1]

I can get the exact details on the water treatment system at work tomorrow.

Roughly though: it starts as Tap water and goes to -> two large mixed sediment bed canisters -> carbon canister filter -> two-stage RO -> four-stage Milli-Q system (Carbon filter, Deionizer filter, 0.7 micron filter, bacteria/organic filter)

 

[Dr.DiSilicate]

Salinity drops the alk when over mixed. I know that sounds weird but it does. It's great if you mix it for a couple of hours but does not hold the alk. Just mixing less may help you out. Also, I never trust others water. I agree with checking with work to see if they soften the water, although that's not super common here. In your case you may just need to change your mixing habits.

 

[mwirth1]

Find a rodi system for you . It will fix ur problem , you don't have enough corals to dose with u doing water changes every 2 weeks . And try a little better salt it will pay off in the long run

I'm not sure if you are totally understanding what I'm trying to say lol. The water source is the highest quality you will ever find. We use it to do aquatic toxicity testing in accordance with EPA procedures and guidelines. One filter from our Milli-Q system is roughly the price of a decent RO/DI system.