Raising dKH in 12g Nano
 

I bought and tested for the first time a dKh test kit. My 12g nano is at 5.1 dKH so it needs to come up a couple of points.

I have zero experience with dKH but I know it must be raised slowly. My tank is display and three compartments behind a false wall, no sump.

Corals looks ok, sps is new to me(six weeks) and while there is PE the growth on two pieces is rather slow or no growth. How best to raise this please? Any hazards?

What brand of Alk Test Kit did you buy? There are a few unreliable kits out there. I use either the Hanna Colorimeter or the ELOS kit.

From what I've learned you have to raise Alk very VERY slowly. Do it through Water Changes weekly. The alternative is to drip small amounts daily and slowly bring Alk up throughout a week or so.

Did you test your new Saltwater before WC's?

I am using the Salifert titration kit. There is a test mixture of dKH 6.1 which I am able to test exactly too so I trust my method is good. I do weekly 10% water changes with Instant Ocean. I am due for a water change in a few days so I will test the fresh mix then.

http://www.bulkreefsupply.com/store/reef-calculator

I found this page and with baking soda I raised my dKH from 5.1 to 5.7 I have a batch of salt water mixing overnight and I will measure the dKH of that tomorrow.

This morning dKH in the tank was still 5.7 and the fresh mix of IO was dKH 9.3 which I think is accurate. I did a 10% water change and then dKH in the tank measured 6.7

This is a raise of more than 1 dKH point in 18 hours which is probably on the outside of the comfortable curve but fish and coral look fine.

Any updates on the Alk?

I have been adding 1/8 of a teaspoon of baking soda every morning to raise the dKH from 5.7 to 6.7 which is still low but the corals look a lot better. I don't have a Ca test kit yet but I can't see that being the issue as I do weekly water changes.

For now it's daily baking soda until I can get a better history and understanding as to what is happening.

What has happened to your pH with the baking soda dosing?

The pH might drop briefly but when I test for pH and dKH thirty minutes after dosing it is fine.

Snaz, you've been at this a lot longer than me, but ...
I'm surprised you don't have a Ca test kit
Also, what's your Mag @ ?

IMO, sounds like your WCs aren't keeping up to your corals, but only more testing will show