gradth Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I was curious what people do to raise and keep their alkalinity stable. Mine was pretty low and I found out that was a portion of why I was having algae issues. Since I started raising it, my hair algae has almost gone all away and my tank has cleared up quite well. My issue is it keeps dropping. i use Seachem reef builder, I dose when ever I think about it, but I cant seem to get it to come up to 4-5 meq/L. It seems to stay at about 3. Do I need to dose throughout the day until it comes up? Once its there, what is a good way to keep it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 What salt are you using? I assume no calcium reactor? I use baked baking soda to raise ALK and keep PH up. See following link for additional info. http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grassi Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I use baking soda (my ph is right). I think is my salt mix (kent) which is very rich in calcium but not able to keep my alk up in my tank. I also buffer the water before to perform a water change. Since I started buffering it seems to stay there (4meq). I also dose kalk at night. I noticed less algae too, sadly also some I like in my fuge are dying :-( Some other useful links: http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm and the related flash calculator with the 4 zones: http://reef.diesyst.com/flashcalc/flashcalc.html Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted October 3, 2009 Author Share Posted October 3, 2009 Calcium and ph seem to be fine, its just the alk. No calium reactor. Is the Seachem reef builder not a good choice? And I use Oceanic salt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kilmca Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Only reason i use baked baking soda is it's less expensive. that seachem reef builder is fine, just know when you run out you can use baking soda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralreefer Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 I drip kalk at night on auto timer with dosing pump out of premixed bucket in garage...for the occasional spike, I'll mix up some kent superbuffer dkh and add some of that. IMHO, baking soda seems to raise pH well but doesn't promote alk stability well... DrMerle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byrd Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 +1 for the kent superbuffer dkh, I have a Calcium reactor so I dont have to add KH any more, but when I did the Kent product was what disolved and worked best. My reactor keeps the Ca at 450 and KH at 10.5, so I "set it and forget it" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael7979 Posted October 3, 2009 Share Posted October 3, 2009 Drip kalk here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 So are you saying use baking soda right out of the box the same as the reef builder? Or is there something you have to do to the baking soda first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 So are you saying use baking soda right out of the box the same as the reef builder? Or is there something you have to do to the baking soda first? You just need to add water and it works the same. I found that adding all of the baking soda I need to the top off keeps my Alk pretty stable. Every time the auto top off kicks on, the tank is being dosed for alk. Way eaiser for me then remembering to dose the bottle stuff everyday. I don't have a reactor or kalk dripper either, but this way is still pretty easy. Be prepared to start adding calcium though as the increased alk seems to speed up the need for calcium and magnesium IME. HTH Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gradth Posted October 5, 2009 Author Share Posted October 5, 2009 how do you know how much to add to your top off. I have a 13 gallon garbage can I use for my ATO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted October 5, 2009 Share Posted October 5, 2009 This site is pretty good at figuring things like that out. http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chemcalc.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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