dKH problem in my Reef Tank. Your help is appreciated.
- Thread starter Grumpy Bass
- Start date
- Tagged users None
I am trying to follow along, but have been busy with the holidays.
You very well could be dealing with multiple issues.
Why Mg levels are so high when you aren't dosing is a mystery to me, salt mix is my best guess, unless you somehow got mg stuff for you reactor and not regular, which would kind of explain your paramets
I guess I misunderstood, I thought the dkh drop was due to co2 running out while you were out of town, and thus you bought a new tank. I guess when I get home I need to go back and read it all again. One more thing, I have always used co2 from a welding supply shop and never had issues.
Phosphates tests tend to give a false sense of security. If you have algae growth, green on the glass, hair algae, etc then you probably have excess phosphates regardless of what any test says. You shouldn't need to clean green off you glass more than once a week. Once a month on a system with no evidence of po4 is a good schedule for changing out gfo. Also if you truly had 0 po4 all hair algae would be dead.
How is coraline algae growth? This is what I use for indication of good conditions. Coraline usually stops growing when either phosphates show up or alk/ca levels are wrong.
Back to the reactor. You said you tested the output of the reactor and it was off the scale? And it still is not keeping up with the demand? When you changed out to the new media did you change it all or just top off what was in there? Seems to me that when you are running too low of a ph in the reactor gets cloudy, at least from my experience.
A slow drop in alk isn't that bad, at least until you get below 7. Alk is the only thing I test regularly for and I test it once a week on a stable tank. The rest is every month or 2
My suggestion is to use 2 part and slowly bring the numbers where you want them. Then monitor alk/ca/mg levels every couple of days and see whats going on.
You very well could be dealing with multiple issues.
Why Mg levels are so high when you aren't dosing is a mystery to me, salt mix is my best guess, unless you somehow got mg stuff for you reactor and not regular, which would kind of explain your paramets
I guess I misunderstood, I thought the dkh drop was due to co2 running out while you were out of town, and thus you bought a new tank. I guess when I get home I need to go back and read it all again. One more thing, I have always used co2 from a welding supply shop and never had issues.
Phosphates tests tend to give a false sense of security. If you have algae growth, green on the glass, hair algae, etc then you probably have excess phosphates regardless of what any test says. You shouldn't need to clean green off you glass more than once a week. Once a month on a system with no evidence of po4 is a good schedule for changing out gfo. Also if you truly had 0 po4 all hair algae would be dead.
How is coraline algae growth? This is what I use for indication of good conditions. Coraline usually stops growing when either phosphates show up or alk/ca levels are wrong.
Back to the reactor. You said you tested the output of the reactor and it was off the scale? And it still is not keeping up with the demand? When you changed out to the new media did you change it all or just top off what was in there? Seems to me that when you are running too low of a ph in the reactor gets cloudy, at least from my experience.
A slow drop in alk isn't that bad, at least until you get below 7. Alk is the only thing I test regularly for and I test it once a week on a stable tank. The rest is every month or 2
My suggestion is to use 2 part and slowly bring the numbers where you want them. Then monitor alk/ca/mg levels every couple of days and see whats going on.
Me z
Active Member
I think that your playing with fire. This is why we have different grades of co2. In order of purity its industrial/commercial (welding, factories, etc..) food grade (for soda beer etc..) and pharmacutial grade (hospitals use this). Im the better safe than sorry type. Also a good amount of co2 anymore is food grade you almost have to look to find commercial. Your welding shop probably has the same distributor as the local brewery.
Last edited:
Similar threads
