Should I raise my kh?

jenajet · 09-05-2006, 10:36 AM

Okay so my kh is at 7. My ph however is 8.0 in the am and raises to 8.2 in the evening. I never add anything to my tanks. I have seen that most people keep it between 8 and 11 kh. So if it's not affecting my ph do I still need to raise? My calcium is 500.

Wiskey · 09-05-2006, 10:43 AM

I think a good range for Dkh is 8-11, 7 is a little low IMHO. I keep my Alk at 9.0 Dkh.

Whiskey

jenajet · 09-05-2006, 10:46 AM

So will raising the alk affect any of my other numbers? I guess I just get nervous changing things that seem to be fine but I also want things to be right.

Wiskey · 09-05-2006, 10:58 AM

7 is right on the hairy line of issues, that's why I reccomend bumping it. If you could keep your alk exactally at 7.0 without letting it drop even a little bit then you would be fine, but in the real world it will drop.

Raising your Alk will effect your PH (raise it) but this is good because idealy PH should range from 8.1 to 8.3, it also might lower your CA but once again this is good because your CA should be at 425 to be in ballance with an Alk of 9.

HTH,
Whiskey

tiburon · 09-26-2007, 02:26 PM

holy thread ressurection, Batman!

sorry for bringing this one back from the dead, but my alk is low.. under 7.. right around 6dkh.. I know, not good. I got kent SuperBuffer DKH and am planning on using some tonight to start getting the alk back on track.. at least by a little.. What is safe in terms of agressiveness when raising alk? I heard I could add two heaping tablespoons of the DKH to a pint of water and dose the sump, to get the alk up off the floor... then dose my water change water to keep bringing it up to a better level.. target between 8 and 11. I use B-Ionic daily.. but I guess that only maintains alk, doesn't fix a low alk issue.. I can tell my coraline algae is starting to have issues calcifying in current conditions.. at any rate, so what's the best way to safely bring the alk up quickly?

jenajet · 09-26-2007, 02:37 PM

I cut the dose in half and did it every other day for about a week till I got it where I wanted. I run between 10 and 11. Just got to bring it up nice and slow. The stuff is strong.

tiburon · 09-26-2007, 03:14 PM

Hi - so put 1 heaping tablespoon of the stuff in a pint of water and dose with that once every 48 hours?

Do you dose your water change water also?

tdwyatt · 09-26-2007, 09:52 PM

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

http://www.andy-hipkiss.co.uk/index.....uk/cacalc.htm

mg · 09-27-2007, 04:30 AM

Can use baking soda to raise and maintain alk. Much cheaper than aquarium additives.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php#7
There are 2 recipies there for baking soda. One you use as is if your pH is ok. The other you bake in the oven before mixing it. This drives off excess CO2 and in turn will help to raise the pH. If you do this make sure to keep any extra baked baking soda sealed so it doesn'r reabsorb CO2.

tiburon · 09-28-2007, 12:53 AM

yeah - I am seeing in the long run it will be more cost effective to use baking soda.. at any rate, I am dosing one teaspoon of kent superbuffer dkh in 8oz of ro/di water, then putting that in my sump once every 12 hours until I get to the right alkilinity.. so far so good.. pH/ca is holding steady and alk is on the rise..

Loverotties · 09-28-2007, 06:15 AM

7 is low .just add a little buffer.

whatevva · 09-28-2007, 06:27 AM

In the past I always used a bit higher target. 12 was my midpoint. The growth in my tank was so fast that I've since lowered the target to 9 in an attempt to slow things down a bit.

tdwyatt · 09-28-2007, 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whatevva

In the past I always used a bit higher target. 12 was my midpoint. The growth in my tank was so fast that I've since lowered the target to 9 in an attempt to slow things down a bit.

Butch, drop the temp down to 78F a well, tht will slow your growth in stony corals. After a while of high growth it gets to the point that you feel bad about trimming back the branches of reef top spp.

mg · 09-28-2007, 01:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tdwyatt

Butch, drop the temp down to 78F a well, tht will slow your growth in stony corals. After a while of high growth it gets to the point that you feel bad about trimming back the branches of reef top spp.

Tom, what would you target your parameters at to maximize growth of SPS?

tdwyatt · 09-28-2007, 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mg

Tom, what would you target your parameters at to maximize growth of SPS?

Fastest growth for "SPS" reef top stony Acroporiids and Pocilliporiids in a SAFE RANGE (to avoid bleaching issues) will be 28^o to 29.4^o C (84^o to 85^oF) if you can guarantee that it will stay in this range, but remember, unless you have really good controller and chiller to make sure that your temp does not rise into the areas > 29.5^oC (85^oF), you stand a good chance of bleaching out your stony corals whenever there might be some issue either with the lights, you chiller, your home's A/C, or any power outage or pump failure, etc that may drive up temps for a period in the tank.

I personally run at ~27.5 to 28^oC (81 to 83^o F)to give me some leeway error margin, just in case something screws up, because it always seems to happen just when you expect it the least. If I am going out of town for a week or more, I make sure the temps com down to 25.5^oC (~78^oF) while I am gone to be on the safe side.