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Any same way to bring this down besides just letting everything soak it ? Hovering around 13.4-13.6 dkh atm
High Alk issue
- Thread starter ecoreefguy
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Water change will help.
WC with a low alk level salt like Instant Ocean.
About 10 years ago I had a high Alk issue and it was my salt, check your salt before you do a water change if ok lower your salinity a little. If you don't need a water change take some saltwater out and replace it with RODI water each night for a few night. Make sure your test kit is right, go to a friend's or a LSF and get them to check it. Watch your coral and make sure they are not melting. Good Luck!
Not really advisable but I had a kalkwasser overdose once (or twice) and my alk went to 16 dkh. After reading through the reef chemistry posts on it by Randy Holmes-Farley on R2R, I brought my alk down bit by bit using muriatic acid ($5 at 24-hr walmart). You have to go slow and pay attention to your dose relative to the concentration of the particular brand you purchase, but it did work, and don't think I had any losses. I brought it down to 12 - 13 then let water changes and natural processes do their work.
Have you double check your test results with another test kit or at a store. Whenever I get a weird result I retest, if it's still odd I try a different kit to verify.
If it was an overdose then turning the return pump off and dosing small amount muriatic acid very slowly, right at the water level, to a lifeless section of the sump will lower it better and have a smaller impact on overall ph. By not allowing the acid to mix right up in the water and pool in one area it will chew through the alk in that chamber. Depending on the size of your system I would start slow and with small amounts, let it sit for 10 minutes, turn the pump back on and test again after an hour or two.
I also wouldn't drop it lower than 10 to 11dkh and let the rest drop naturally. You also don't want to add the acid into a chamber that has rock in it. You want it to react with the water and not anything else.
If your not willing to try it this way in your sump you can do it to a fresh batch of water in your mixing container to lower the alk before doing a change. Just make sure the water has had time to settle out before adding the acid. You want the water still with no currents so it can sit concentrated in the water column.
If it was an overdose then turning the return pump off and dosing small amount muriatic acid very slowly, right at the water level, to a lifeless section of the sump will lower it better and have a smaller impact on overall ph. By not allowing the acid to mix right up in the water and pool in one area it will chew through the alk in that chamber. Depending on the size of your system I would start slow and with small amounts, let it sit for 10 minutes, turn the pump back on and test again after an hour or two.
I also wouldn't drop it lower than 10 to 11dkh and let the rest drop naturally. You also don't want to add the acid into a chamber that has rock in it. You want it to react with the water and not anything else.
If your not willing to try it this way in your sump you can do it to a fresh batch of water in your mixing container to lower the alk before doing a change. Just make sure the water has had time to settle out before adding the acid. You want the water still with no currents so it can sit concentrated in the water column.
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