High dKH, should i lower it?

[ReeferAdrian]

Hi reefer friends!

My tank is currently having a dKH of 11, which i believe is on the high side. This is due to the salt, Red Sea Pro that I am currently using, and that I am doing WC every 2 days to reduce my nitrate level, that is at 40ppm. Please advise if i should lower the dKH, and if so, how do i do it? Most of my corals are good except for 2 colonies of zoas that are not fully opened.

 

[Reef man 89]

The only way to lower your dkh would be to let it naturally come down on its own. With you doing a w/c every couple of days your dkh will stay on the high side.

 

[Lninwa]

I stopped using Red Sea Pro salt because the dkh was too high

 

[ReeferAdrian]

My nitrates are still on the high side, should i stop the water change? and let the dKH come down? There are 2 things here to look at, nitrates vs KH...
Lninwa, am changing to H20 Pro, hopefully this helps get me back on track moving forward.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Having the nitrates on the high side isn't always a bad thing. Yes 40ppm isn't great but where are your phosphates sitting? You should consider using RedSea Regular salt of maybe something like Fritz Pro with a much lower Alk. If you want to lover those nitrates you could also start dosing some RedSea NoPoX. That stuff consumes nitrates hot, quick and in a hurry.

 

[ReeferAdrian]

Sure thing Joey, will look into the suggestions. PO4 is at 0.2. I believe is from the reefroids feeding. Would Algone help as well? Was looking at that a while back.

 

[joeyhatch11]

Sure thing Joey, will look into the suggestions. PO4 is at 0.2. I believe is from the reefroids feeding. Would Algone help as well? Was looking at that a while back.

It might but Im not familiar with it. The NoPoX does an amazing job at attacking nitrates and phosphates and as cheap as it it for a 250ml bottle I would just go that route.

 

[ReeferAdrian]

ok but i have read that Nopox has an impact on corals as well. Any side effects after your usage?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi reefer friends!

My tank is currently having a dKH of 11, which i believe is on the high side. This is due to the salt, Red Sea Pro that I am currently using, and that I am doing WC every 2 days to reduce my nitrate level, that is at 40ppm. Please advise if i should lower the dKH, and if so, how do i do it? Most of my corals are good except for 2 colonies of zoas that are not fully opened.

IMO, that's a fine level unless you have SPS corals and ultra low nutrient levels. The zoanthids are not negatively responding to 11 dKH.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

The only way to lower your dkh would be to let it naturally come down on its own. With you doing a w/c every couple of days your dkh will stay on the high side.

It's not the only way, but in most cases it is the easiest way.

 

[Duraticate]

If everything looks good i wouldnt stress to much. If you change it to fast i mean have abig swing in parameters trying to fix it you could do more damage then just having a dkh at 11

 

[joeyhatch11]

ok but i have read that Nopox has an impact on corals as well. Any side effects after your usage?

Only side effects you could see with the corals is using too much and dropping the nitrates too quickly. I would start with 1/3 of the recommended dosage. I've been using it on both my 220 and 90 gallon frag system with no ill effects. Corals have responded very well and some have even gained deeper colors due to the better water quality.

 

[ReeferAdrian]

Sure guys, i have accepted that i will leave it to come down naturally rather than to do anything drastic to the system. At the meantime, will work on reducing my nitrates and perform twice WC per week. not quite sure the reason for the bam bam's not opening too well. i recently changed the activated carbon in my Fluval C4, could that have caused it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Sure guys, i have accepted that i will leave it to come down naturally rather than to do anything drastic to the system. At the meantime, will work on reducing my nitrates and perform twice WC per week. not quite sure the reason for the bam bam's not opening too well. i recently changed the activated carbon in my Fluval C4, could that have caused it?

No that carbon is not boosting alk, but water changes will keep it high if you use a mix that has high alk (many do).

 

[ReeferAdrian]

Hi Randy, understood on that, but have heard people mentioning activated carbon can sometimes affect zoas, am not sure how true is that. Any reasons for my bam bam's to be not fully opened? alk?
Currently alk is at 10 dKH now after the WC i did yesterday.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Hi Randy, understood on that, but have heard people mentioning activated carbon can sometimes affect zoas, am not sure how true is that. Any reasons for my bam bam's to be not fully opened? alk?
Currently alk is at 10 dKH now after the WC i did yesterday.

There could be lots of ways that carbon might impact an organism such as a zooanthid, from carbon dust to reduced trace metals to reduced organics.