Dre

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How can i safely raise my alkalinity without raising my ph.I use B-Ionic Calcium/Alkalinity system in the mornings over the past two weeks. I realize that the alkalinity raises very slow and the ph goes over 8.6 very quickly.I have not reached the desired alkalinity range because i stopped using it .Your thoughts will be appeciated thank you.
 
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Dre

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I may have not known if i hadn't bought a ph monitor a few weeks ago. How often do you need to colibrate it.Some test kits are very frustrating.
 

KathyC

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Dre - what are your Alk & Ca levels and where do you want the Alk to be?

Josh - I recall you mentioning this the last time I was there...does your PH come up at all when you open a window?
 

Dre

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I just took some readings 2:00pm.
KH=14.4,ALK=5.14,PH=8.39,CAL=300,SG=1.022.The alkalinity test was done with Salifert test kit.The ph raise in the morning when the light comes on.I will have to observe what happens when i open the window in the morning.My alkalinity target is KH 7-8dkh or 2.5-2.9 meq/l.I'v kept soft corals and LPS for a long time without paying much attention to alkalinity but i'v been drawn to the callenge of the SPS.What adjustments do i need to make to keep SPS.Thanks for your help guys.
 
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Dre

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Someone else mentioned that.I added magnesium but i stopped because i did not know if i was adding too much.Thanks for your input i'll consider that.
 
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KathyC

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Tobin is correct - you want to get yourself a Mg test kit so that you know what that reading is. While Ca & Alk are important, Mg is the 3rd piece of the puzzle and if it isn't where it should be, you will have a devil of a time keeping your alk up.
Please keep in mind that if you aren't testing for it - you shouldn't be dosing it ;) Sure fire way to screw up your tank :(

Kinda wondering why your Ca is at 300..that is definitely on the low side, especially considering you are dosing.

What kind of salt mix are you using?
How much Alk & Ca were/are you dosing? Did you base the amount you are dosing on any particular thing?

My suggestion at this point would be to not dose anything at all until you figure out what your baseline is in your tank as you may not know just how much Ca & Alk your tank is using up (which is how you ulimately figure out how much you need to dose, but I can't explain that at the moment.. may have something to do with the fact that I have been out partying tonight ...:))

The best thing you can do for your tank at any point is a water change - and that would be my suggestion for now :) Then leave it alone for a few days and take more readings (including Mg!) and post them here.

One other thing - when you mix up your new batch of SW - test that too. Can be a real eye-opener to see what you are truly adding to your tank. Would like to see those readings as well if possible.
 

Dre

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Thanks for your advice.I dose B-Ionic recomended dose 1 ml of each component per 4 gal.that's about 22ml each for my 90 gal.The calcium is at 300 because i stopped dosing .I'm trying to make the tank habitable for SPS .I have soft corals and LPS that seem to be fine until i started raising the alkalinity.My salt is whatever is cheaper when i run out Reef Crystals,Instant Ocean,Kent and Red Sea is that a good idea?Is the natural sea water any good?
 

SevTT

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Yeah, get your Mg fixed, and then boost your alk. I find baking soda works find. Just add the supplements slowly, dripped in over the course of a night, or in smaller increments over the whole day.

Once you get everything balanced, frankly, I think a slow kalkwasser drip is the best way to maintain Ca / Alk, so long as your needs don't surpass the ability of kalk to supply it. If you've got a sump, drip it into the overflow slowly and it's pretty hard to screw up your pH with it. The key is a slow drip and good aeration; CO2 will help balance the pH. Because of the way Kalk works, it's also pretty hard to increase the Ca or Alk too high; it'll just start preciptating out as Calcium Carbonate.
 

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