Need to raise Alk fast

Discussion in 'Coral Health' started by crustytheclown, Oct 2, 2010.

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  1. crustytheclown

    crustytheclown Eyelash Blennie

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    i need to raise my alk fast. Many off my corals are looking very ill. I tested and my alk was at like 5dkh and it needs to be at like 10 :(
    I just recieved SeaChem Reef Builder, SeaChem Reef Complete, and SeaChem Reef Buffer from Dr. Foster and Smith and have dosed the tanks once. Does anyone have experience with these supplements? How long/many times does it take to get your levels up? I will test again but am sure i need to dose again. The bottles say to dose twice a week, can more be done? I just dont want to lose any coral.
    I also have Kalkwasser, but am not really wanting to use it cause of the possibility of destroying my tank by overdosing.
    :confused:
     
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  3. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Hi Crusty

    you do not want to increase your DKH by more than 1 degree per day
    rapid changes, even changes that are percieved as improvements are a bad thing for most corals

    I have used all the products you mention above

    the reef builder is your best best for the DKH issue IMO
    Reef complete will also increase Calcium and I assume your calcium level is OK?

    Your magnesium level will dictate if your DKH / combined with your calcium targets are acheiveable?

    so knowing your mag - Is important - otherwise you may find yourself adding supplements every day and never getting anywhere

    yes you can dose reef builder every single day, if thats what your tank demands (IME)

    Steve
     
    Last edited: Oct 2, 2010
  4. crustytheclown

    crustytheclown Eyelash Blennie

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    Thanks alot steve. I tested my Mag yesterday with The SeaChem Reef Status Magnesium, Carbonate Borate test kit. Mag level was 1162.5. I have some SeaChem Reef Advantage Magnesium i just bought but havent dosed yet? Should i do that?
    Are you saying that i should start by getting my Magnesium where i need to be before trying to deal with Alkalinity?
     
  5. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Yes without doubt , get your mag up to 1300 - 1350 but not by more than 100 ppm in any 24 hour period - so that means you need to dose that over 2 days

    when your mag is at that level, it will help to keep the other ions (calcium and Alkalinity) in solution

    if you find, as many do that you can then get DKH to 8 but not much higher, without then seeing a drop in Calcium level - you can then increase your magnesium again to 1400 and once again that gives you the ability to maintain more Calcium and Alkalinity ions in your solution

    Steve
     
  6. crustytheclown

    crustytheclown Eyelash Blennie

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    So with all these supplement that i have Reef Builder, Reef Buffer, Reef Complete and Magnesium. Should i not use more than one supplement a day? A couple of the bottles say not to use with some other supplements in the same day. Like the Magnesium says not to use in the same day as Carbonate supplement. Reef Builder says to use Calcium supplement and Carbonate on alternate days? but than says or at least 30 min apart lol?
    so which is it?
     
  7. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    Your fine with using all the Seachem products on the same day
    but what I did was , dose Calcium during the day and Alkalinity at night - so they where used 8 -12 hours apart
    Mag - I only had to dose that once per week, once my levels where as I wanted so again no issue

    You could dose 100ppm Magnesium today
    then dose enough to increase your DKH from 5 - 6 after lights out tonight
    then you could dose another 100pm Mag tomorrow
    and dose another 1 Degree of DKH tomorrow night after lights out

    keep an eye on your calc - as for every degree of DKH you increase you could decrease Calcium by 20ppm - if your Mag is not adequate

    err on side of caution IME
    if your tank is 10 gallons, add supplement based on it being 7 gallons
    that way you dont over dose the additive 1st time you use it and its better to take 3 days to increase 2 degrees of DKH than it is to do it in one day

    Steve
     
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  9. crustytheclown

    crustytheclown Eyelash Blennie

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    wow thank you so much for your help man. I was really getting worried about this! Is it common once a tank reaches a one year mark that Cal, Alk, Mag start to deplete rapidly? The only other thing that makes me wonder is that i switched from Red Sea Coral Pro Salt to Tropic Marin Pro Reef about 6 months ago. I do generous water changes every week too?
     
  10. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    welcome Crusty
    Yes there are many factors , growth of corals , growth of coralline algae that can cause these levels to drop its not uncommon for Mag levels to drop below min general guideline levels

    its always worth doing tests on freshly made up salt water, as knowing your starting values are good, means 1 less thing to worry about

    both the salt brands you mention are good IME

    Steve
     
  11. crustytheclown

    crustytheclown Eyelash Blennie

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    how do i dose exactly 100ppm Magnesium. I mean how do i know how much to add? The Bottle says that each 5grams or level teaspoon will raise Mag by about 5mg/L?
     
  12. steve wright

    steve wright Super Moderator

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    it does - but it means if you add 1 teaspoon for every 20 gallons of water you have it will increase it by 5mg litre

    Im not sure on your tank volume? as if I knew , I would use the 3 reef calculator , and it would tell me exactly how many teaspoons I would need to add to go from 1162 - 1262 - and then I would reduce that amount by 20% so I was on the safe side

    Steve