How can I drop my alk
- Thread starter karina97
- Start date
First triple check to be sure that's not a false reading. (like maybe confusing the directions between high and low resolution procedures for the same kit)
If it needs to be lowered it should be done slowly as rapid changes in alk can be worse than having the level way off. Assuming it really is super high, I would suggest shutting the ca reactor down and let the alk drop naturally while supplementing Ca maually until things balance out.
What's your Ca at, and how are your corals looking?
If it needs to be lowered it should be done slowly as rapid changes in alk can be worse than having the level way off. Assuming it really is super high, I would suggest shutting the ca reactor down and let the alk drop naturally while supplementing Ca maually until things balance out.
What's your Ca at, and how are your corals looking?
that's odd...you went from roughly a 7 or 8 dkh (converted) to 17? Is everything dead? I would slow down and maybe take some water the the LFS and have them test. Then if you want to lower, a couple of 30% water changes over a day or 2 will lower it. Shutdown or slow down the reactor....then start testing daily to see what changes.
MikeG
Non-member
And I would guess this is why all your corals were bleaching from your other thread. I would turn off the reactor and let the calcium drop a bit as well. Were you measuring alk while dialing in your reactor?
MikeG
Non-member
Then you didn't dial in the reactor. I would take it off line and wait to hook it back up until you have a good grasp on how it works. You need to adjust the pH and effluent rate so that it maintains your alk and calcium levels. You had it set to deliver too much and it increased your levels over time stressing out all your corals.
I would search for some info on calcium reactors and go from there. You can also do some small water changes to help bring things back into the right range but as mentioned don't over do it. High values are better than large quick changes especially with alkalinity.
Here's a link discussing Ca reactors
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?5564-How-does-it-work-Vol-2-Ca-reactors
http://www.bostonreefers.org/forums/showthread.php?5564-How-does-it-work-Vol-2-Ca-reactors
I would suggest manually dosing Ca to keep in the 375-450 range for now. Meanwhile monitor the alk and mg, alk will be coming down more quickly while the mg should be depleted quite slowly.
Have you decided what your target for alk is? Traditionally the general reccomendation was anywere from 8-12 as long as it's stable. More reccently some reefers have been targeting lower alk in the 6-8 range, but this is usually in conjunction with running Zevoit or similar systems (If you don't know what I just said, then you can probably just go with anywhere between 8-12 as long as that number is kept stable
).
Edit, adding this line; How many gallons is your system, what kind/size Ca reactor is it, and did you note the water flow rate and or Co2 rate the way it was running?
When you get into the alk range you want, then bring the reactor back online but do so cautiously. My guess is that you had excessive water flow going through it, AND the Co2 cranked up to keep the PH down. From here you probably should start a slow flow of water through it (dripping not streaming, from the output on the reactor), then very gradually start the Co2 back up but at a much slower rate than you had before.
Have you decided what your target for alk is? Traditionally the general reccomendation was anywere from 8-12 as long as it's stable. More reccently some reefers have been targeting lower alk in the 6-8 range, but this is usually in conjunction with running Zevoit or similar systems (If you don't know what I just said, then you can probably just go with anywhere between 8-12 as long as that number is kept stable
).Edit, adding this line; How many gallons is your system, what kind/size Ca reactor is it, and did you note the water flow rate and or Co2 rate the way it was running?
When you get into the alk range you want, then bring the reactor back online but do so cautiously. My guess is that you had excessive water flow going through it, AND the Co2 cranked up to keep the PH down. From here you probably should start a slow flow of water through it (dripping not streaming, from the output on the reactor), then very gradually start the Co2 back up but at a much slower rate than you had before.
Last edited by a moderator:
MikeG
Non-member
Do you know what you are looking for and do you use a magnifying glass or something? Most are not seen by the naked eye unless you are well trained in what to look for.
