How to lower Alkalinity

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Seabeast, Sep 28, 2009.

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  1. Seabeast

    Seabeast Flamingo Tongue

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    And how much vinegar should i use with 1/2 table spoon? And how much should i dilute it?
     
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  3. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    well since its your first time and your only using a 1/2 tbsp only a few ml of vinegar.

    DONT USE THIS WITH KALK THOUGH! its actually a totally different reaction and when kalk is mixed this way it will make a pH of about 12.7 instead of the usual 11.9-12.1 from kalk and water.

    and dilute it a lot if you dont want too much calcium because it is very rich in Ca
     
  4. Seabeast

    Seabeast Flamingo Tongue

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    dont worry im not going to use kalk. but seriously only a few ml? Like 5 or 2?
     
  5. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    well now that i think about it a second time, the vinegar is what makes the solution slowly lower the dkh so id go with 5 to 10 ml then dilute to at least 2-3 liters
     
  6. Seabeast

    Seabeast Flamingo Tongue

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    Well i just made a new batch of my water and it read at 11. So what could be the problem now? I tested it twice.
     
  7. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    11 is a perfect dKh...
    it will take a few water changes over a few days to make the dKh stay stable at 11 however
     
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  9. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    make sure you monitor your calcium levels while doing this though
     
  10. horkn

    horkn Giant Squid

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    I agree with you.

    IO and RC have had a lot of inconsistency issues in the past few years. I, and many of my fellow local reef club members have switched to red sea for reasons like this. Well that and brown water and cat pee smells from RC or IO.

    I use Red Sea salt, as the levels are always consistent, and 200g buckets only cost around 50 dollars.
     
  11. Seabeast

    Seabeast Flamingo Tongue

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    Do you think i should still do the calcium with vinegar now?
     
  12. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    its up to you. both methods require time and multiple water changes to fix