Low alk in my nano

[dmolavi]

Their site says it mixes at 1500...

 

[jeffaquarius]

Without doing a large pwc you can raise your Alkalinity just like what I had suggested earlier. Mix about a teaspoon of baking soda per gal of ro/di on your ato. It should gradually raise it up. Take readings daily and adjust the ratio as necessary.

 

[dmolavi]

I'm just wondering why the large drop through the week, unless it's normal...

I am going to measure/log daily and see how it tracks.

 

[jeffaquarius]

That is how the "balancing act" works. Each time you increase your Cal your Alkalinity drops. That is why there is Part 1&2 for dosing. When you have a high Cal on your salt mix it is just like you are dosing. Your Alkalinity just slowly keeps dropping each time you do your pwc. You have to manually raise your Alkalinity by dosing to balance it.
Edit: A good surface agitation also would help pH and Alk since they interact with each other. I don't think an hob has enough oxygenation effect.

 

[dmolavi]

OK, so before the water change yesterday:
Ca: 432
KH: 5.94

Did an approx 30% change yesterday. Exactly 24hrs later (yep):
Ca: 484
KH: 6.72
Mg: 1440

The baseline KH of the mixed water is 8.9.

I'm going to test Ca and KH again each night for a week, and see how they trend.

 

[BigRedsReefs10]

Maybe do another 30-50% change and get your alk into the 7-12 range and then start the log

 

[dmolavi]

I'm skeptical of doing another big change since I don't want to drive the Ca too high.

Time for baking soda in the ATO.

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[dmolavi]

Is it "better" to use baking soda, or bake it to get to the straight sodium carbonate? My pH is 8.0-8.1 and I don't want to send it too high. (I don't have a pH probe...yet...want to get an Apex as part of the tank upgrade).

 

[jeffaquarius]

With baking soda on ato, it will be a gradual increase of parameter. A pH of 8.4 is acceptable. Since you will be monitoring it daily, you can control the level if it becomes too high.

 

[dmolavi]

I appear to be dropping KH by about 0.1dKH per day. I'm going to do the bicarb route in the ATO in an attempt to level it off, then slowly increase it back to an acceptable value.

 

[Stlrockguy]

I just started dosing baking soda ash yesterday. The ph probe helps me monitor my alk. Its a useful tool

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