alk wont go down

[mike12345]

randy i have been trying to get my alk in rang it is at 12.2 now and ca. is 425 what can i do to get it down and keep the ca. up

[bigzman]

Mike,

I can't keep mine up. I use the two part Kent. I was using kalk but no luck keeping alk higher.

Randy

What is a good way to buffer it so I don't have to worry about it and go back to Kalk?

[dakar]

Think I did a very BAD thing last night, ran Randy's two part additive, formula #2 (30% weaker than the recipe calls for), to my sump overnight at a very slow rate, about 1 drop each every 3-4 seconds. Alk shot up from 7 to 14, cal jumped from 400 to somewhere around 500 (off the salifert test chart). Rough guessing 2 cups of each total added to ~85 gals. Thats some potent stuff!

My tank holds a fairly steady 8.4PH using a limewater drip at one drop every 2 secs or so to hold things steady.

Needless to say I stopped all additives for now, and guessing a couple of water changes is in short order to try to slowly bring things back down.

Dave

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

andy i have been trying to get my alk in rang it is at 12.2 now and ca. is 425 what can i do to get it down and keep the ca. up

Are you adding any supplements now?

An alkalinity of 12.2 dKH is not bad. You can let it drop on its own simply by supplementing calcium only for a few days or longer and it should decline.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

What is a good way to buffer it so I don't have to worry about it and go back to Kalk?

I'm not sure that I understand the question. You want to go back to limewater, or you don't want to?

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Needless to say I stopped all additives for now, and guessing a couple of water changes is in short order to try to slowly bring things back down.

Yes, it is potent. :)

I wouldn't do anything except wait and see how it shakes out after a couple of days. It might be fine, and then you can resume dosing at a slower rate in the future.

[bigzman]

Randy;

Yes I want to go back to lime becuase it is easiar for me to dose. I want do the "randy reservoir drip" method which I already setup. My DKH went from 5 dkh on (lime) to 7 dkh on (Kent 2 part). SG 1024 salifert. PH 8.0 (Day Time). I have tried Kent DKH buffer but it only stays up for two days. I use Tropic Marine Salt.

Thanks,
ZC

[dakar]

Originally posted by Randy Holmes-Farley
Needless to say I stopped all additives for now, and guessing a couple of water changes is in short order to try to slowly bring things back down.

Yes, it is potent. :)

I wouldn't do anything except wait and see how it shakes out after a couple of days. It might be fine, and then you can resume dosing at a slower rate in the future.

Actually tested water params again this morning (after doing nothing but stopping drips. Alk dropped back down to 12dKH, cal is still up around 480 or so... and no change in PH.

Dead on as usual, Thanks Randy!

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

ZC:

My DKH went from 5 dkh on (lime) to 7 dkh on (Kent 2 part).

If you were replacing all evaporated water with saturated limewater (2 teaspoon lime per limewater gallon), and the alkalinity stayed at 5 dKH even after a week, then you do need something more.

The choices would seem to be mix some vinegar into the limewater and add more solid lime (say, 3 teaspoons per limewater gallon of solid lime and 45 mL per gallon limewater of vinegar), or to use fans to drive more evaporation.

Alternatively, you can use the limewater 7 days/week, and then just use the 2 part DIY (both parts) once or twice a week as necessary to boost alkalinity.

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Dakar:

Thanks Randy!

You're welcome. :)

[bigzman]

Randy,

I will try that. Thanks for the help.

Regards,
ZC

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

:thumbsup:

Good luck. :)

[sparkey65]

good thread