low alkalinity

makana · #1 12-23-2008, 04:56 PM

Well I added 1/4 tsp of baking soda last night, wich was less than the calculator said I needed to bring it from 7 to 8 dkh. It brought it up to 9 though. Would that be too big of an alk swing down the road when the tank is established and stocked? I'll check it tonight as well, maybe the soda hadn't fully disolved yet.

reefermadness · #2 12-23-2008, 05:12 PM

The calculator is not usually wrong. Remember it's total system water but you have to minus all the space the rocks, equipment and corals etc. take up. What test kit are you using?

Anyway I would say 2dkh change that fast is not good. I like to keep mine to .5 max. Calcium on the other hand can be ajusted faster.

makana · #3 12-23-2008, 09:07 PM

Well hopefully now that it is up there I will only need to maintain it. The swing didn't seem to bother the snails any. I suppose it is possible that the soda hadn't fully dissolved yet and I got a false reading. If not that then I would have to blame the calculator. I know my tank has 8 gallons in it. I put it my dkh and what I wanted for dkh and chose baking soda. It said .3 of a tsp and 1/4 of a tsp would only be .25. I guess if I ever have to change it again I will have to use a very small amount.

reefermadness · #4 12-23-2008, 10:40 PM

Did you use a measuring spoon? Just curious.

I'm sure you tank is fine with the small swing. Swings over 1dkh is usually only a problem for fusy corals.

makana · #5 12-23-2008, 11:32 PM

I used a 1/8 measuring spoon. For the most part I just really want to get this all figured out so that when I have livestock I'm not guessing.

Delphinus · #6 12-23-2008, 11:53 PM

There's a fair bit of trial and error at first until you find the right amounts. Right now there isn't a lot of draw in your system so start off small. Basically I take an amount, and dose it everyday. Then I test. If things are too high, I use a smaller amount and try again for a week; if things are too low, then I increase the amount. If I'm really not sure of the rates I might test everyday at first until I'm comfortable I'm not pushing huge swings on the tank. It's better to let things get little depleted than it is to push a wild swing on a tank.

At this point it's no big deal mind you, but as stated already, alk is one you don't want to adjust too much in one go. Particularly SPS are sensitive to this, you get "alkalinity burn". Make small adjustments and it should be OK.

Hope this helps..

makana · #7 12-26-2008, 03:58 PM

My tank seems to have taken a bad turn. Christmas day it turned brown and cloudy. I tested everything and all was fine except ph which had dropped a lot. The tank also stinks quite bad. There is no amonia so I don't think anything died in there. I did a large water change last night while scraping the hair algea off the glass but I'm not sure it helped.