Alk is sky high.....Help!!!

[martynhulyer]

I remember when I used Tropic Marine Bio-Cal well over two years ago and if my memory is correct regular use like raising from 350ppm or so to 400ppm + this did raise KH (alk)levels to 19+ KH.
I just left it and in a few days it had dropped into a more normal range 12 - 14 something like that.
It did not cause any problems to the reef inhabitants.
So I would not sweat over it it will fall the speed it falls will be dependent on what you stock in your system.

Martyn

 

[WWiley]

I don't know about bakeing soda two weeks ago I OD'ed my tank on bakeing soda, washing soda buffer. My ph was over 9.00 and alk about were yours is. I changed 250gal out of 380gal over 5 days and lost a few old friends. If I were you I do some water changes. How do your animals look are they burned ? I wish you luck. Bill Wiley

 

[danmhippo]

I'd say leave it, alk will come back down gradually. Usually, use of Biocalcium would not have a drastic effect on anything, at all. Unless you continuously overdosing with bio calcium, otherwise, it (biocalcium) will slowly take alk, Ca, and other trace elements level up. How is your PH doing? Is it still within 8.4?

 

[jnt626]

Thanks to everyone for their quick response. My PH is at 8.5 which is where it has always been. All of the fish and coral in the tank seem to be doing fine with the exception of my Octabubble who is a little witdrawn. I think I'm going to leave things as they are and simply monitor them for a few days. If I see anything out of the ordinary, I'll proceed with water changes. Thanks again for the advise.

John

 

[jnt626]

My Calcium levels have been low, around 360ppm. Regular dosing with Tropic Marine Bio-Cal finally raised levels to 400ppm. However, my Alk is sky high at 19.5dKH/6.96meq/l. After some reading I believe this is due to the Calcium supplement. It is my understanding that it is a balanced source of calcium and carbon dioxide similar to dosing with Kalwalser. Therefore the cause for the rise in my Alk levels. The problem now is how do I lower my Alk and to what level? I read that I can use baking soda at 1tsp for each 10 gallons of tank water. Has anyone done this? is it safe? how much will it lower the Alk?

 

[jnt626]

Just an update. I have retested all water parameters and everything is great! Nitrates could come down a bit. Again thanks for the input.

Ca 420ppm
pH 8.5
NO2 0.3 mg/l
NO3 20 mg/l
Alk 5.00 meq/l-14dHK

John