Help with alk levels

[reefer4eva]

Just curious (as you mentioned in an earlier post) what exactly did you do to get your alk to 15?and Edd couldn't have explained it any better

 

[duromega]

Yea just salt in a clear bag i got from the reef store lol

that's reef crystals or instant ocean , it comes in a clear bag lol


and don't worry about your Alk at 15 dKH I'm sure is a false reading
get salifert or red sea test kits please

 

[pauliwalnuts]

i read an article and they explained alk and cal levels on simple terms.
they said if you have a jar filled with equal amounts of blue and red marbles, if you wanted to add 5 more blue then you have to remove 5 red marbles. and vice versa.
if your alk is too high it won't drive cal down. but it won't increase until the alk comes down.
just give it time with reg water changes and your alk will drop over time.
try raising cal to 425-450 as alk drops.

Hahaha, love this basic breakdown of the chemistry between alk+cal. As a newbie, I remember scratching my head several times on this matter. This just made it well to understand. Thanks for sharing Edd

 

[lnevo]

With what you said you have in your tank you shouldn't need to be dosing and I wouldn't worry about 15dkh. As others have said it will drop over time and through water changes.

 

[AreUaBadFish2]

Lol thank you all who have posted on this matter. I got carless and started topping off with tap water and my alk spiked. I just tested after a water change with RO water properly and its gone down to 13. Yes i will be switching to red sea salt. And im a little over a year into the hobby, yes I've had many head scratching moments too lol and still do. This is deff not a hobby for the carless or dumb lol. Ive learned so much since ive started and still am thanks to all the help. The main reason i worry about my alk levels are that my corals, specifically my zoas n mushroom have not opened up fully since ive introduced them into my tank and its been severals days. N its bothering me