REALLY High Alkalinity

[trudismith]

I've been keeping a 100 gallon reef tank since March 2002 and I have had very high alkalinity almost from the start. The last test I performed was with the LaMotte test kit and the result was 520 ppm. I divided that by 17.85 to get the dKH — 29! This doesn't surprize me since I have getting results of from 17dKH and climbing steadily upwards for months. I have tried 5 different tests with comparable results. All my corals are dying and there is not much coralline algae growing on my rock but a plague of hair algae is developing. Test results: Salinity = .025; pH = 8.3; Alk = 29dKH; Ca = 375; Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates = 0. I am supplementing with: Leng Sy Reef Solution, Mark Weiss Coral Vital and Coral Vital LSB, C-Balance, Seachem Buffer, Seachem Reef Calcium. I have done a 40% water change in the past 2 days using distilled water and Crystal Sea salt mix.
Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated!

 

[randy holmes-farley]

The usual problem with high alkalinity is low calcium.

If you are adding C-balance to maintain calcium, then the alkalinity will always stay high, and you may never attain reasonable calcium levels. The only caveat to this diagnosis is that if you are using Seachem salt mix, then the alkalinity measurement is confounded by the excessive borate alkalinity in that mix.

Here's an article that tells you how to correct the alkalinity sitiuation, but you'll need to know the calcium level before deciding what to do:

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

Good luck!

 

[trudismith]

Thanks, Randy. I have read the article you mentioned but am still unsure how to apply the information to my situation. My calcium is slowly rising, but so is the alkalinity. The Ca as of yesterday is 375. I am using Crystal Sea salt mix, not Seachem. Is there the same issue with boron in Crystal Sea? Also. What do you know about Seachem Reef Calcium (liquid)? Would it be wise to stop C-Balance for now and use only the Seachem Reef Calcium? And what about pH —do I continue to use the Seachem pH buffer? Thanks, again, for your time and interest.

 

[randy holmes-farley]

Is there the same issue with boron in Crystal Sea?

I expect not, but don't know for sure.

The alkalinity will only rise if you add an alkalinity supplement. Use a pure calcium supplement llike calcium chloride (Kent's Turbo Calcium) to raise just the calcium level. The Reef calcium would presumably also work. The calcium part of the C-balance will also work (don't add the alk part).

Don't add anything else until the calcium is where you want it.

 

[trudismith]

Thanks!

 

[Apophis924]

Hey Trudi, i am not chemist but i do follow the articles that randy writes. My alk hovers around 17 which is not too bad, My ca is 450. I started supplementing with Magnesium and seems to bring down my alk to 16. What i did was stop ALL those supplements. Then test your change water for everything you test in your tank. Find a salt that has the values closest to that of your tank or that which you prefer and use that salt. Do a large water change and test and SLOWLY adjust. I gave up all my supplements but iodine and Mg. I drip Kalkwasser for my ca and alk. Once i got my tank stable gave up all of them But the kalk. It seems to work for me. remember to think of reef chemistry as a mathematical function. What ever you add on one part of the equation has an effect on some other part of the equation. Too many supplments and you end up having chem warfare with Your tank rather than the supplements helping the living things in your tank. They end up fighting for control of your water parameters.