KalkWasser making Alk too high

[Derby City Corals]

Started dosing kalkwasser a week
Ago as well as isol8mt for minor and trace elements

As my ph was dipping down to 7.7 at night and at a high of 8.1 during the photo period. At this time I was only dosing soda ash and calcium chloride
Alk 8.3 calcium 430 mag 1400+

Per the aci method I’m using an apex and a dos to implement kalkWasser to the system based on ph. Kalkwasser is in a separate vat and mixed to full saturation 6g per gallon rodi water

Daily evaporation is 12,400 ml per day

Dos setup
24,800 ml per day
If ph > 8.22 then off

This system is 250 gallons total and I have prob 40 colonies and 400 frags

Ph has definitely increased and stabilized but so has my alk cal and mag

Ph 8.18 - 8.21 very stable
Alk has been creeping up and is currently 10.75
Cal 458
Mag 1410

Main reason for this post:

What’s the max safe level my alk can go to?

Will the alk eventually level out and starting being consumed?

Thanks for any help or tips

 

[exnisstech]

Daily evaporation is 12,400 ml per day

Dos setup
24,800 ml per day

Sorry I can't really help but I don't understand how you can be dosing twice your evaporation rate? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something I dose kalk but don't monitor anything as I don't use controllers like apex or hydros.

 

[KStatefan]

You could reduce your soda ash dosing to maintain alk.

I really wish when this method was talked about all the details would be given

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I generally recommend 7-11 dKH.

If it is near 11 dKH and rising, dose less until alk stabilizes where you want.

Alk rising higher than desired in a case like yours is a reason to not use this method.

 

[KStatefan]

Sorry I can't really help but I don't understand how you can be dosing twice your evaporation rate? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something I dose kalk but don't monitor anything as I don't use controllers like apex or hydros.

There should be more code to only allow the doser to run 12 hours per day.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It’s a fancy way of saying dose kalk at night. lol

 

[Derby City Corals]

the idea behind dosing 2x the evaporation rate is so the doser will run faster when the ph is less than desired at light out
im only dosing kalk at this point i have stopped all other dosing
the coding
if ph greater than 8.22 allows for the ph to be stable and the doser will auto shut down once the photoperiod has started due to the corals photosythising

everything looks great but the alk is scaring me to be honest

 

[Derby City Corals]

so im thinking maybe put in a code for only a 12 hour period of dosing and also a code that protects my alk via trident dosing

9pm-9am time limit
as well as
if alk greater than 11 then off

 

[twentyleagues]

I have recently watched the videos from/about the aci method. Seems there is a dont worry about alk portion to this method explained at some point in what I watched. This is why I was like WHAT!? I am a new again noob kinda like I got my virginity back in this hobby. So a lot of what was discussed was a little over my head but i am trying to learn about the new controllers and the ability of them to control chemistry. I need more straight talk less scientific explanation. Last time I was in I had a mentor and he told me what he thought I should do and how to make it happen. Thought I learned a lot, maybe not, maybe stuff has changed that much?

 

[Derby City Corals]

everything is always evolving as we learn more and more about corals and animals and implemening electronics into the hobby ive been running a reef shop for about 15 years and we have came a long long way but i cant ever see running a reef tank without a controller it has saved my butt a bunch of times

the apex controller isnt perfect but i can tell you it has saved my tail more times then it hasnt like a aquarium babysitter so to say

do you need one to run a aquarium absoulty not but man it really helps with peace of mind sometimes
even if you dont control things through the system and just monitor parameters and tempature

 

[Derby City Corals]

apex coding

t data is 9pm-9am the inverse of the photo period
i think this will adjust it and add some protection

Fallback OFF
tdata 00:00:00,1,18,6,186,2,88,54,6,198,0,0,10,0
tdata 21:00:00,1,18,11,2,3,192,11,11,4,0,180,16,0
If pH > 8.18 Then OFF
if Alkx4 > 11.0 then off

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I need more straight talk less scientific explanation.

No science: This method will not always work out, unless you do not care how high alkalinity rises.

Simple no science answer: monitor alk when using it, at least for a while.

 

[Mkkari]

No science: This method will not always work out, unless you do not care how high alkalinity rises.

Simple no science answer: monitor alk when using it, at least for a while.

My Alk is sitting at 20+ since last 3 months and things look great. Is it a ticking time bomb or should I keep not worrying about it?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

My Alk is sitting at 20+ since last 3 months and things look great. Is it a ticking time bomb or should I keep not worrying about it?

That seems unlikely to be accurate without the oh being very low, or else massive precipitation of calcium carbonate is highly likely to happen.

How did you measure it?

 

[Mkkari]

That seems unlikely to be accurate without the oh being very low, or else massive precipitation of calcium carbonate is highly likely to happen.

How did you measure it?

I measure it using trident, it's a replacement unit for my old unit. I cross checked it with Hannah and it blinked at 20 (I did not try diluting it yet).

It's a 2 year old system (Fish only for 1 year and then corals have been in for 11 months).

Started with Caribsea dry rocks (broken down from previous systems, bleached and dried out for months before placing them in the tank).

Yesterday I did a 20% water change and stopped dosing kalk as top off and my ph is back to 7.6 and alk is reading 14.8 with trident.

I do enjoy the kalk dosing for higher ph but worried about ALK.

I am thinking of not dosing kalk for another couple of months and bring down the alk to a 6 and start dosing kalk at night only and stop dosing if it reaches 8 or 9.

 

[PharmrJohn]

I used to run my ALK between 15 and 18 back in the day (a LONG time ago). Now I wouldn't keep it above 12. My next build will see an ALK between 10 and 11. Everyone's different here so you'll see many numbers thrown at you. Of all posters here, Randy is best versed in Reef Chemistry IMO. So despite the numbers I like, I'd steer towards his recommendations.

 

[klc]

Your alk will drop down to 8 in several days not months, and why let it drop all the way to 6 before you bring it back up to 8?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I measure it using trident, it's a replacement unit for my old unit. I cross checked it with Hannah and it blinked at 20 (I did not try diluting it yet).

It's a 2 year old system (Fish only for 1 year and then corals have been in for 11 months).

Started with Caribsea dry rocks (broken down from previous systems, bleached and dried out for months before placing them in the tank).

Yesterday I did a 20% water change and stopped dosing kalk as top off and my ph is back to 7.6 and alk is reading 14.8 with trident.

I do enjoy the kalk dosing for higher ph but worried about ALK.

I am thinking of not dosing kalk for another couple of months and bring down the alk to a 6 and start dosing kalk at night only and stop dosing if it reaches 8 or 9.

I'd try to validate the alk result, if you can, by testing it is some new salt water or a standard of some sort.

That said, obviously if alk is higher than you want using any alk additive system, using less is needed. This result (if real) is exactly why it is, IMO, inappropriate to follow the method some suggest of adding kalkwasser to attain a specific pH without monitoring alk.

 

[aSaltyKlown]

Per the method, it does state that ALK will rise, and should stable out and then come down some. It can take a while. When I started this method, my ALK hit 11.5 at the peak and now is 9-10. I did start very slowly with the kalk drip. I started a few points above the low pH value at night and not the average. I'd raise it by 3 points every 5 days until I got to where I wanted the pH to be at night.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Per the method, it does state that ALK will rise, and should stable out and then come down some. It can take a while. When I started this method, my ALK hit 11.5 at the peak and now is 9-10. I did start very slowly with the kalk drip. I started a few points above the low pH value at night and not the average. I'd raise it by 3 points every 5 days until I got to where I wanted the pH to be at night.

IMO, one should not follow a method of adding alk supplements without monitoring alk. What happens in some tanks does not happen in all tanks. In this case, tanks in very high CO2 air may get very high in alk.