My Alk Seems High

Wow Dave, that was a good read. Unfortunately, the links in the article for the B-Ionic references are dead ends. I did however find a good explanation here:
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm
This put in to perspective what JohnO said at the top of this post. I am in region one of the chart so all a have to do is wait for it to pass through my target zone. I am not so alarmed any more. thanks for the advice and the links.

 

BTW, what is the normal pH of RO/DI water?? Mine is about 7.2, which makes me believe that every time I top off, I'm reducing the pH. Should I treat my top off water in advance, or after tank checks only, treat the tank????

 

There is no normal level. It depends on where you live just like Phosphates, Chlorine, Chlorides, Nitrates, etc.

Should you pre-treat is a whole other issue. It depends on evaporation rates where you live, the Calcium demands of your tank, etc.

There's a lot of good advice and links in this thread IMO.

Yes, you are dropping the pH with every topoff. The effect might be HUGE or it might be minor. It even depends on the size of the tank. During the winter when my heater is running (which tends to increase water loss) this is a bigger issue than Spring or Fall. During summer, my temps tend to rise by 1 degree and I lose a little more water at that time as well.

My topoffs into my reef tank have very little impact even though my water is very low in pH. The same cannot be said for my topoff's in my nano's. I pretreat my nano topoff water and don't worry about the water going into my reef tank.

 

[quote author=JohnO link=board=Water;num=1086230885;start=0#9 date=06/06/04 at 18:08:04]
Actually the B-Ionic system rates pretty well.

Is this the right link Dave?  It seems to just compare the different methods rather than setting up a schedule.

John
[/quote]
I should have said scheme.
Every tank is different so testing and adding plays a big roll to fine tune your own schedule your your tank.
Once you are consistant with adding the same amounts everyday (with B-Ionic) then you lay off the testing and change testing to once a week. Once you are compfortable with the adding it becomes second nature.

I personally do kalk once or twice a week and then calxmax the day after that which seems to be a good combo for me and my tank.

Dave

 

[quote author=Ben Dover link=board=Water;num=1086230885;start=0#11 date=06/07/04 at 08:23:54]BTW, what is the normal pH of RO/DI water?? Mine is about 7.2, which makes me believe that every time I top off, I'm reducing the pH. Should I treat my top off water in advance, or after tank checks only, treat the tank????[/quote]


If your alkalinity is good then you shouldn't see any swing in the tanks PH.

At the moment I wouldn't add anything.

John