Alkaline

[Melissajk]

I have had my Tank up and running since February. I'm now testing my parameters. My alk is low. 6.5. The calcium is 430, mag 1360. Why is the alk going so low? My tank is a 50 gallon with a sump. I do water changes every week. 7 to 10 gallon wc and I also vacuum the sand every week. My tank is a rimless tank. I was told by a lfs that I'm doing touch wc to often I'm not letting things grow and mature. ????.
They recommend wc every 2 weeks. I have a small bioload.
Please help. What should I be doing.

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[BigRedsReefs10]

What salt are you using? What does the wc water test at?

 

[Melissajk]

Aqua vitro I'm not to sure what it test at. I buy it from the lfs. A different store than the one that told me to do less frequent wc.

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[Melissajk]

I have in my tank
5 small fish
Zoas
Monti
Trumpet coral
Xenia
And a daisy type soft coral
They are all frags.

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[aadair22]

If you do a google search on aquavitro low alk/cal you will find that your not alone.. several people have had issues with them and some say they've never had a problem. Best bet would be to contact them with your batch number and tell them whats up, they are supposed to have excellent customer service so you should hear from them. Worst case scenario, switch to reef crystals or (my personal preference) Red Sea Coral Pro Salt.

 

[Melissajk]

Than you. I have another lfs I can go to and he uses oceanic salt. Do you know anything about this one? Eventually I will be getting a ro/di unit the I can mix my own salt

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[aadair22]

Don't know anything about oceanic personally. Your LFS should sell RODI water, which you could buy and use to make your own until you get your own unit.. Thats what I did (unless I was being lazy..) They sold it for 0.59 a gallon so it won't break the bank.. Word of advice though, always check the salinity when buying it from a shop.. When I would by reef crystals from my lfs it wasnt uncommon for the SG to be up or down a couple of points..