Raising KH

[daney90]

I'm using salifret for KH. and I'll be using salifret for my Calc too.

 

[jeffaquarius]

So that confirms that it is in dKH since your last reading is 7 dKH. The Salifert Table is only up to 5.59 meg/L max. You are using 4 ml or water sample right?

 

[daney90]

This midnight I'm going to skip another dose of calc again, right ?

 

[jeffaquarius]

If your last reading for calc is 500 then yest skip it. However, I would dose only half of 35 mL for alk. to slow it down.

 

[daney90]

Tested my water at 8:45 am after skipping midnight dose of calc. KH is 7.7 and calc is 500 still now. I'm going to skip this noon for calc.

 

[daney90]

Just a quick update on my tank. It's been 4 days now that I stopped putting calcium in my tank to raise the alkalinity. Today's readings are KH 7.7 calcium 470 mag 1400 pH 8.1 now I am wondering why my KH is staying at 7.7dkh for the last 3 days. Any ideas? What should I do now?

 

[jeffaquarius]

You can resume Part 1 for alk back to 35 mL every 12 hrs while Part 2 for cal to 20 mL. Once alk reaches 9 dKH you reduce it back to half again. That will become your amount to maintain it at that level. For cal you increase or decrease it depending on how it reacts to the 20 mL. You play with the amount of each as you go along. It is preferable if you can stagger dosing like for cal wait 6 hours after alk.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Just curious on your last readings.

 

[daney90]

Ok I just tested my water. I haven't started adding calcium yet. But I'm going to set my doser now. Is it 6 hours after dosing KH?

So the readings are
July 20: KH 7, calc 500
July 21: KH 7.7, calc 500?
July 22: KH 7.7, calc 500
July 23: KH 7.7, calc 470
July 24: KH 7.7, calc 400

 

[jeffaquarius]

Have you already dosed 35mL of Part 1 for alk since yesterday? It seems not right if it stays on 7.7 dKH.

 

[daney90]

I never stopped dosing 35ml every 12 hrs. I know, why is my KH staying the same? I actually tested twice because I was in doubt, but it's KH is 7.7 in both readings.

 

[jeffaquarius]

Okay. Just make sure your mag is still at least 1300. Increase Part 1 to 40 mL while cal at 20 mL. Test should be done the following day.

 

[jeffaquarius]

I just wanna make sure that your water sample for KH using Salifert test kit is 4 mL right?

 

[daney90]

Ok I'll adjust my doser this midnight to dose 40 ml of kh.

And yes I'm using 4 ml water to test KH using salifert.

 

[daney90]

2 days ago i Started to add calc 20 cc every 12 hrs and increase kh to 40cc every 12 hrs.

Current readings are ph-8.1, kh 7.7, calc-430, mag 1400.. KH should be going up, isnt?

 

[jeffaquarius]

I would keep up the same amount of Part 1 and reduce Part 2 to 10 mL. If calcium tends to drop down make it 15 mL. The kH should start to go up a bit. If it does not, I would leave it that way. The reason behind why kH stays on 7.7 is whenever you dose calcium the effect is to pull it down. That is the "balancing act" you are seeing.

 

[daney90]

I would want to keep the KH around 9dkh but then the calcium would go down.

 

[jeffaquarius]

It is really not necessary to have a 9 dKH if your tank doesn't want it. There is a big risk of crashing your tank if you force it. There are lots of experienced reef keepers maintaining their alk at 7.0. As long as your corals are doing great and your calcium is good, you need not worry about it.

Edit: Consuming an 80 mL daily of Part 1 seems too much for an 80 gal tank. My 60 gal only consumes about 30 ml daily.

 

[jeffaquarius]

May be you need to try another product to raise your alk. I use pure baking soda (armor) with a ratio of about 1/2 tbs to a gallon of ro/di in my ato. From there you can increase or decrease the amount. It is cheaper than the 2 parts.

 

[daney90]

Once my KH runs out I will definitely try using baking soda. It's getting too expensive to buy gallons of part 1 and part 2 bionic now especially it's not staying at the levels where I want it to be.. hmm which one is pure baking soda?