What am I doing wrong? Or am I just being impatient ?

[albert_dao]

Well, to be honest, it's probably not your alk that's causing the issue since you're not running probiotic.

FYI, natural SW kh is between 7-8.

I don't have any beginner-friendly ways to bring down alk, so I'll just keep my mouth shut there.

In any case, test the freshly mixed (ish, 24 hour mix) water first and we can panic after.