Alkalinity Help

[childers]

I've been trying to figure out why my alkalinity is low. I am using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. Mixing salt to 35ppt or 1.026 and maintaining that in the tank. I tested alkalinity in the tank yesterday before and after my 20g water change. The display is 75g and the sump is approximately 13-15g. Prior to the water change my alkalinity was 5.4 DKH. After the water change my DKH was 6.9. Today I tested the water again. Parameters from this afternoon: DKH=6.7, PH=8.0, Nitrate is 0, Phosphate is 0, Salinty is 35ppt/1.026, Temperature is 78*F. I decided to test the saltwater I mixed in the brute holding tank. It was also 78-82* (hard to tell with the needle thermometer I used). It measured 7.0DKH. The testers I use are Hanna for DKH, phosphate and nitrate. BRS refractometer that was just calibrated with their Refracto Juice. Salifert for PH. I have read that the Reef Crystals is supposed to mix a high DKH.

I don't know if this matters. The tank has been running for a little over a month. I started the Marco dry rock in a brute trash can back in April. 2-3 weeks ago I bought a 5# live rock from an LFS and added it to the sump to seed it further. I have run a carbon reactor a little bit to keep the tank a little cleaner. I turned it off yesterday because I don't want to run it full time if I don't need to. I have a protein skimmer in the sump with some other rock rubble. I'm not dosing anything either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you!

 

[childers]

I will also add I have my own RO/DI system for mixing and topping off.

 

[ecoreefguy]

Honestly instant ocean, even reef crystal mixes low. If your batch mixes low, your tank will remain low. If you’re not confident in the numbers. Recalibrate or bring it to a LFS to get a second opinion.

But, that salt is amazing as a baseline so you can dose it to what you want . It’s not the salt you use if you want everything already elevated.

 

[childers]

What would be a good recommendation for raising alkalinity? I've read about soda ash. I'm considering bringing the refractometer and a water sample with me to a LFS to compare their numbers. Creation and Optimum are the two closest to me. I used to use Reef Crystals 10-12 years ago when I had a 150g display and could grow anything from zoas to acros with halides. I'm getting back into the hobby. Figured I'd stick with it due to cost and availability.

 

[ecoreefguy]

2 part all. It’s super cheap

 

[skrappy]

Sodium Bicarbonate(baking soda) will raise alkalinity with a small decrease to PH, and Sodium carbonate(soda ash/baked baking soda) will raise alkalinity with a large increase to PH. Products like Brightwell's Alkaline8.3 are a mix of the two with the goal of keeping your water properly balanced without heavily effecting the PH. I don't know what ratio brands use, or what would be best for your specific tank, but I mix 256 grams of sodium bicarb with 36 grams of soda ash into a gallon of water and then I dose that as I need to(I don't need it often since I also dose kalkwasser).

 

[fzs122]

I use the web-based Reef Chemistry Calculator to calculate how much of a particular product I need to add in order to increase the Alk of freshly mixed saltwater. It includes helpful "warnings and usage" information tailored to the product you choose. Simply because I have some left over from my tank start up, I am currently using Seachem Reef Builder dry, but, if I didn't have that already on hand, I'd personally choose Pure Baking Soda.

 

[NAS]

I've been trying to figure out why my alkalinity is low. I am using Instant Ocean Reef Crystals. Mixing salt to 35ppt or 1.026 and maintaining that in the tank. I tested alkalinity in the tank yesterday before and after my 20g water change. The display is 75g and the sump is approximately 13-15g. Prior to the water change my alkalinity was 5.4 DKH. After the water change my DKH was 6.9. Today I tested the water again. Parameters from this afternoon: DKH=6.7, PH=8.0, Nitrate is 0, Phosphate is 0, Salinty is 35ppt/1.026, Temperature is 78*F. I decided to test the saltwater I mixed in the brute holding tank. It was also 78-82* (hard to tell with the needle thermometer I used). It measured 7.0DKH. The testers I use are Hanna for DKH, phosphate and nitrate. BRS refractometer that was just calibrated with their Refracto Juice. Salifert for PH. I have read that the Reef Crystals is supposed to mix a high DKH.

I don't know if this matters. The tank has been running for a little over a month. I started the Marco dry rock in a brute trash can back in April. 2-3 weeks ago I bought a 5# live rock from an LFS and added it to the sump to seed it further. I have run a carbon reactor a little bit to keep the tank a little cleaner. I turned it off yesterday because I don't want to run it full time if I don't need to. I have a protein skimmer in the sump with some other rock rubble. I'm not dosing anything either.

Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thank you!

I recently had the same exact issue. Been using instant ocean for a long time but latest batch mixed to a 7.0 alkalinity. I had to use two part to bring it up.

 

[childers]

Thanks yall.

 

[SamT125]

I struggled for the longest time. My consumption rate is between 1.5 and 2 dKH because of a heavy amount of stony corals in my tank.
I am doing two part dosing using kamoer F1 dosing pumps, and my alkalinity consistently stays at 10, pH 8.3
I dose soda ash in the AM and sodium bicarb in the evening.
I don’t necessarily recommend using both in general, but I’m having to do so due to my high dKH consumption rate.

 

[msporleder]

all for reef is also an easy way to raise it

 

[GaryD]

All For Reef also raises calcium and replenishes trace elements. Great product.

 

[billyocean]

You can use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to make a solution or oven baked baking soda (sodium carbonate/soda ash). 594 grams of baking soda per gallon of rodi makes the solution or 381 grams of soda ash makes the carbonate solution. Alkalinity calculators will tell you how much to add to raise it. Wouldn't raise more than 1dkh per day if there are corals in the tank and I would go even slower than that.

 

[SamT125]

You can use baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) to make a solution or oven baked baking soda (sodium carbonate/soda ash). 594 grams of baking soda per gallon of rodi makes the solution or 381 grams of soda ash makes the carbonate solution. Alkalinity calculators will tell you how much to add to raise it. Wouldn't raise more than 1dkh per day if there are corals in the tank and I would go even slower than that.

This is exactly what I do and has worked for me perfectly.
The one thing I learned exactly like you said was don’t raise the dKH more than 1 per day. SPS don’t like alk swings and I paid the price.
The BRS app had a fantastic calculator.

 

[SamT125]

Also BRS (bulk reef supply) sells a 2 part dosing kit fairly inexpensive, which comes with 3 jugs, funnels and pre measured powder for soda ash and calcium.
The online calculator tells you how much to add so makes it very simple.

 

[jkz429]

Have you tried foundation B. My alkalinity was 6.9 and I added all-for-reef and foundation b. Now it’s up to 8.2