Help with alkalinity test.

[VenturaSteve]

I was out of town for a week and just tested my water in my 60 gl., (4 months old, I've had it 3 weeks). Everything was normal except for the Alk. It was off the scale of my salifert test kit. Over 6.0. I was told it should be between 4.0 and 4.6. My Calcium was alittle low (405) so I added some Calcium buffer. I did a 15% water change before I left, and cleaned out my fluval (rinsed in tank water). Why would this happen, and what should I do? :eek1:

[Markk96]

What do you have in your tank as far as corals?

What else do you dose in your tank?

Can you give us more info on the tank?

[speccialj922]

i could be wrong but ive always read/heard that alk should hover around 3 (2.5 - 3.5 acceptable). correct me if im wrong...

[bertoni]

What test are you using for alkalinity and what are the units for the results. The target range is 2.5-3.5 meq/dl, depending on whom you ask, but we need to know the units for your test.

[VenturaSteve]

Thanks for the responses. The tank has been running for almost 5 months. I have had it for 3 weeks. 60 ga., Bak-Pak skimmer, fluval 304, and a few power heads for flow. There is a solid 4" fine sand bed and I'm running a 4X48" + 1 24" T-5 lighting system. The test is a salifert KH/ALK Profi Test. The Alkalinity is measured with (Alkalinity in meq/L) . LFS told me to expect levels between 3.54 and 4.57. We performed a test at the LFS when I purchased the test kit and the levels were perfect. 1 week later the Alk. spiked. Hope these are the perameters that you are looking for from me. I don't know what I'm talking about.

[bertoni]

Did you add anything to the tank? The alkalinity shouldn't spike without something being added or something dissolving. What are you using for a Ca "buffer"?

3.5 is a good target for the alk level. The chemistry forum has more details, and lots of good article links in the sticky notes. The LFS targets are pretty reasonable, although I think 4.5 is a bit high.

[VenturaSteve]

Thanks, I'll check out the chem. forum.