Alkalinity HELP

[Mike Lemming]

I probably explained horribly, but the answers should be in here;

Chemistry And The Aquarium: Solving Calcium And Alkalinity Problems

I hope this article proves useful is understanding and dealing with the different types of calcium and alkalinity problems encountered by reef keepers. Once you get calcium and alkalinity under control, you are far along the road to having your tank chemistry optimal for its inhabitants.

reefs.com

Looks like we are talking about zone 4.

Thank you sir. I’ll give it a read!

 

[Mike Lemming]

It can be difficult to use AFR. It’s dependent on bacteria and the delayed consumption and conversion makes it more difficult to test Alk, Calc. I tried AFR, but went back to 2-part. It’s okay to use with a soft coral tank, but easier to create spikes which is not great for an SPS tank.

Instead of 2 or 3 dosing methods, go with 1, either kalk, or 2 part. For raising pH, an outside airline to the skimmer intake is the easiest method that I’ve found.

Marbles

The Right Way to Use 2-Part Additives

Nearly 20 years ago a company called E.S.V invented a product called B-ionic. This was a product that came in two bottles that replenished both calcium and alkalinity in their natural, ionic balanc…

joejaworski.wordpress.com

I have a calcium reactor as well. Maybe I’ll just forget the rest and set that back up!

 

[Mike Lemming]

By the way, in general, corals consumes more alkalinity than calcium. The reason is that coral utilizes alkalinity as a carbon source for growing its flesh as well as other organic matters. Only part of alkalinity that coral takes in is used for building skeleton.
So the thought of 1:1 ratio of dosing alk and calcium is outdated. But the good thing is that coral is not very sensitive to calcium level, anywhere from 300 to 500 ppm of calcium makes not much difference.

I didn’t know that dosing equal parts what’s an outdated theory. Thanks for the help Dong! Once this tank stabilizes, I’ll make a trip out to you and grab a few things!

 

[shrimpchips]

You mentioned clumping substrate - old knowledge but the going theory back in the day was low pH, alk too high and Mg too low causing grains of substrate to essentially fuse through local deposition of calcium carbonate. One theory was that increased water flow could help prevent that, but not sure how much I believe that. Is your tank pH low? Can you draw in outside air into your skimmer to help keep pH higher?

 

[JohnK]

I didn’t know that dosing equal parts what’s an outdated theory. Thanks for the help Dong! Once this tank stabilizes, I’ll make a trip out to you and grab a few things!

It's not wrong, just that we shouldn't be overly focused on their being a set ratio. Ie, our tanks need Ca and Alk, but that "balanced" ratio will vary to some extent. For example, on a system relying mostly on kalk, the kalk should be close, AND it will need corrections from time to time.

In your case, things have drifted a bit and you are currently seeing higher Ca, and lower alk. Adding "balanced" additives such as Kalk, or AFR (note concerns/limitations as noted by Dong) should basically be keeping your numbers at that same ratio because they are "balanced". "balanced" just isn't quite "balanced" to what your tank needs at the moment.
*Dong, am I saying this right?

 

[Mike Lemming]

You mentioned clumping substrate - old knowledge but the going theory back in the day was low pH, alk too high and Mg too low causing grains of substrate to essentially fuse through local deposition of calcium carbonate. One theory was that increased water flow could help prevent that, but not sure how much I believe that. Is your tank pH low? Can you draw in outside air into your skimmer to help keep pH higher?

My ph is rather low. It tops out around 8.05 and the low is like 7.9. I have a co2 scrubber going but I’m getting tired of changing the media so I may just try outside air. I’ve been toying with the idea for a few weeks now. My flow is fine. 2 mp40’s and a couple jeboas. I think the problem is, my tank is in the basement along with my gas boiler..

 

[Mike Lemming]

It's not wrong, just that we shouldn't be overly focused on their being a set ratio. Ie, our tanks need Ca and Alk, but that "balanced" ratio will vary to some extent. For example, on a system relying mostly on kalk, the kalk should be close, AND it will need corrections from time to time.

In your case, things have drifted a bit and you are currently seeing higher Ca, and lower alk. Adding "balanced" additives such as Kalk, or AFR (note concerns/limitations as noted by Dong) should basically be keeping your numbers at that same ratio because they are "balanced". "balanced" just isn't quite "balanced" to what your tank needs at the moment.
*Dong, am I saying this right?

Thanks for that. I understand they deplete in different ratios, but in a day, my calcium will go from 520 to 510 while my alk with go from 7-6.9 after a 90ml dose of alkalinity. I have stopped the AFR and kalk for now to see if maybe kalk was interfering in some way. I’ll continue to keep an eye on it and report back. Thanks for the help!

 

[dz6t]

It's not wrong, just that we shouldn't be overly focused on their being a set ratio. Ie, our tanks need Ca and Alk, but that "balanced" ratio will vary to some extent. For example, on a system relying mostly on kalk, the kalk should be close, AND it will need corrections from time to time.

In your case, things have drifted a bit and you are currently seeing higher Ca, and lower alk. Adding "balanced" additives such as Kalk, or AFR (note concerns/limitations as noted by Dong) should basically be keeping your numbers at that same ratio because they are "balanced". "balanced" just isn't quite "balanced" to what your tank needs at the moment.
*Dong, am I saying this right?

You are correct, to correct the unbalanced high calcium/low Alk situation, you can’t use kalk or AFR. Simply bump up Alk using soda ash following a calculator.

You are also correct that calcium and alk levels need to be checked and corrected when using “balanced“ additives, when one of them is out of range.

Calcium and alkalinity consumption ratio is different with different types of coral, such as LPS vs SPS. But the calcium and alk have relatively large ranges that are suitable to coral. There is little evidence nor theoretical necessary for a set “balance “ ratio for calcium and alkalinity for “optimal” health for coral.

For calcium, anywhere from 300 to 500 ppm makes no difference. For Alk, anywhere from 7 to 11 makes no difference.
Anything higher can risk precipitation of calcium carbonate.

When the sand bed hardens, it is a sign that calcium carbonate precipitation happens.

 

[JohnK]

^ Thank you!