I've been bad :( (fixing low pH/calc & high alk)

[nikkipigtails]

I have a 47 tall in Olivia's room that I've been slacking on. I did a no-no...so let's not get into the butt-woopin I know I deserve . I haven't tested anything in FOREVER because everything's been thriving, getting larger and looking awesome...until a couple of days ago. My xenias started melting. I just got rid of the tang and the coral beauty a month ago which substantially reduced my bioload. I ended up having to take out all the rock to catch the little boogers and afterwards I did a 10 gal water change because I know how stressed they got. I decided to do a 5 gal water change biweekly since all I have in there (fish-wise) are 2 clowns. So...I tested the water today and everything was great...
phosphates: 0
nitrates: 0
ammonia: 0
nitrites: 0

until I got to pH, calc & alk...

pH: 7.2!!!!
calc: 275ppm!!!!
alk: 15.4 dkh!!!!

So...I mixed up some anhydrous calcium chloride in about 2.5 gal of ro/di water (~14.5 tsp according to reef chemistry calculators to raise the calc from 275 ppm to 425ppm) so that should help my calcium. I mixed it in my top-off water and dosed about 3/4 gal tonight and will dose the rest over the course of the next 2-3 days so I don't bring up the calcium too quickly. I'm anticipating some calcium perciptation because my alk is so high but I think I'll fix that with some kalk.

So...here's my question:

Once I bring the calcium up to an acceptable level, how do I deal with the pH and the alk? I'm assuming that if I start dosing kalk instead of using Kent's CB parts A & B that will keep my calcium up and help bring my pH back up. If I leave the alk alone, will it just go down since I won't be dosing it anymore? Is there anything else I need to do?

[sasquatch]

low ph, high levels of c02, do you have a skimmer? low ph, accumulations of detritus, check magnesium! do you open any windows in that room? fresh air could be a big factor

[nikkipigtails]

I don't have a skimmer on that tank but I have a HOB I can put on there. If there was a lot of detritis, wouldn't nitrates be high? There's a window in there that I could open if I need to. The top of the tank is completely open and the surface of the water is agitated. Doesn't that help with tank oxygenation? Am I completely off?

I dn't have a test for mag.

[sasquatch]

umm its possible your system is consuming the trates, if the room has a high c02 content it will go to the tank, crack the windows and let it breath a bit, mag test kit = ouch! another way to spend money lol

[nikkipigtails]

I'll open a window and see if that helps. What do you suggest for the pH or will the open window help with that too?

[sasquatch]

ph is depressed by carbon dioxide, the freh air in the room should drive off the co2, theres an easy test if you have an air pump and stone, put a cup of tank water in a glass and test ph, aerate for a 1/2 hour or so and recheck, if ph is higher its co2

[nikkipigtails]

cool...I've got an airstone, but I'm going to open the window anyway.

Thanks!

[sasquatch]

your very welcome, just hope its the right thing lol

[Boomer]

pH: 7.2!!!!
calc: 275ppm!!!!
alk: 15.4 dkh!!!!

Thes do not make any sense, chemically, do a retest with these kits on your other tank. I see a testing error. And who's kits are they ?

[nikkipigtails]

The pH test is API the other two are Salifert. I retested the calcium this morning after adding the calcium chloride and it's 325. I haven't had a chance to retest the pH or alk yet.

Check this out: Chemistry and the Aquarium I'm in zone 3.

[nikkipigtails]

Ok...I just tested the pH and the alk again.

The pH was 7.8
This is where it gets confusing...
The Salifert test shows that the alk is 15.7dKh / 5.6 mEq/L
It even shows how they calculate it and I re-did the math to make sure it wasn't a faulty chart and I got the same thing.
The Instant Ocean test for alk was 7.7dKh and 2.75 mEq/L

Each test shows results at opposite ends of the spectrum ?!!?

I think the Salifert test may just be a bad kit.

[BarbMazz]

I've been following this, Nikki. I'm using a Salifert alk test too, and my alk is the only thing testing out of whack.... it's testing high, too! Ca and pH are both good, and Mg is, too.

[prow]

ph 7.2??? is everything dead? i agree boomer, if you still have fish swimming around i dout your ph is that low. the alk is high and does help the fish and coral compensate(offset) for lower ph's, but not that low of ph. have someone else, the LFS, test it.

[prow]

barb and nikki, what batch number is on you alk test kits? if you both have the same batch number it could be a bad batch. niki, that ph is more like it with the IO alk test results. still just to be sure i would have the LFS test Ca/alk/ph aswell as Mg+ just so you have something to compare your results with.

[nikkipigtails]

Originally Posted by prow

ph 7.2??? is everything dead? i agree boomer, if you still have fish swimming around i dout your ph is that low. the alk is high and does help the fish and coral compensate(offset) for lower ph's, but not that low of ph. have someone else, the LFS, test it.

nothing's dead, in fact, I haven't tested in so long because everything's been doing to well. My mushrooms have gone from being dime size to quarter size and my hammer frag split so I have 2 heads of it now.