Super High Alk/kh! What gives?

[NewInTown]

I just setup my frag tank about a month ago.
All of the water parameters are A+, as with all of my other tanks.
but yesterday I tested my Kh/ALK (salifert kit) and it was off the charts.
My alk is testing at 5.7+ and dkh is over 16.

I cant figure out whats going on. my Ph is 8.2 and my calcium is around 440 ppm.

what else effects alk? the only things in the tank are some lps and shrooms.

should I buff the water?

the corals are doing fine am I overreacting?

[Phyl]

It is a little on the high side (8-11 is a good range but mine has been as high as 12). Slow and steady is your solution, regardless of the problem, epsecially in a stock tank. What are the parms of your newly salted water and what additives are you putting in the water to supplement?

I wouldn't buffer the water anymore that will only drive your Ca down (because I don't think your Alk can get much higher).

[NewInTown]

after I mix up fresh salt water
my water tests at

po4= 0-.5
dkh = 10
alk = 3.2
ph = 8.1-8.2
all others nitriate nitrite ammonia at 0

I use RO water too

[Phyl]

Do you use any additives? If so what ones and in what quantities? I would plan a series of water changes to reduce the levels for you. Maybe 2 or 3 this week.

[NewInTown]

yes I use Salifert Calcium and hard coral trace. The thing I cant figure out is why my other tanks are fine and that one is high. I have a phosphate reactor on the tank thats the only difference I can think of. I will remove it and change 10 gal this weekend and see what happens.

[Phyl]

I wouldn't remove the phosban reactor. That's not your problem. My guess is that it is in the mystery element "hard coral trace". You're adding Alk into your system some way or another. Back off on that stuff and test every other day to see what happens to the numbers.

Good luck!

[NewInTown]

I should not have said remove the reactor. I figure I will just shut it down and do a water change and see what happens. I only use about a third the recommended dose of the trace. The only reason I think it could be the reactor is because I have never had alk/dkh this high in any of my tanks and I have been using salifert
about a year. I just want to make sure that their is not any thing in the phos media.

I will still stop dosing the trace but I dont think I have for about two weeks.