ph 8.6 alk 1.7 need some help

[spscrazy]

I am having a problem getting my alk up in a recent 40b set up I am using black sand but have about 50 or so lbs of well seasoned live rock 3 fish & lps according to my red sea test kit my alk is about 1.7 and my ph is 8.6 I also have a 95g tank & test there run ph 8.4 and alk 2.8 I am running kalk on the 95 and want to use it on the 40g but I know I have to get the alk & ph correct first as it won't raise these (that is right isn't it?)
I have used kent tech cb & brightwell alk 8.3 to try & raise the alk ammo & nitrites are zero on both tanks nitrate is about 20 on the 40g and 5 on the 95g all live critters sps etc seem fine but the low alk is really bugging me is there someway to raise alk without raising the ph anymore?

 

[spscrazy]

can anyone help me figure this out? thanks

 

[DrTrey]

If your pH is 8.6, then I would certainly expect your alk to be higher than 1.7 dkh. What sort of test kit are you using, and have you tried more than one? Possibly consider having the LFS test it for you. I would be concerned about an old or defective test kit

 

[reefsmokinFOOL]

+1 Get a second kit. The dkh Kit is wrong.

 

[spscrazy]

it is a red sea test kit I don't have a lfs the test kit is only about 6 weeks old I did the ph test first then the alk I was rather shocked at how low the alk was reading & did it several times to be sure everything in both tanks seem just fine what is everyones opinion on Red Sea test kits?

 

[DrTrey]

Red Sea test kits in general are just fine. But I am highly suspicious that the particular test kit you have in your possession is defective for some reason. Do you have a reefing buddy nearby who could loan you their kit? Otherwise I'd go ahead and order a different kit in the meantime. Elos makes some great test kits

Just as a little academic experiment, you could test your kdlkwasser with the Alk test kit and see what the result is...

 

[spscrazy]

hadn't thought to test the alk # off the kalk it's off the charts! so at least I know there is alk going in for sure going to order a new kit this one just can't be right I really wish I had a lfs or a fellow reefer locally seems I'm the only one around here into saltwater......so lonely......... :cry: lol

 

[CJO]

What units?!! Saying 1.7 is relatively meaningless.

In what units does you test kit measure Alkalinity? ppm, dKH, meq/L? 1.7 meq/L is a lot different than 1.7 dKH!

CJ

 

[spscrazy]

it's meq/L it's a red sea test kit the chart reads low 0-1.6 normal 1.7-2.8 high 2.9-3.6 the meq/L is in little letters on the top of the chart which is why I didn't think to include it sorry altho tech. at 1.7 I am in the normal range it is at the lowest end of normal & it just seems too low to me especially compared to 8.6 ph going to order a salifert ph & alk test kits tomorrow

 

[Reggie]

Hmm. 1.7 meq/L = 4.7 dKH. That's a bit too low. In my opinion, it should be at least 7dKH or 2.5 meq/L.

 

[HighlandReef]

I just skimmed over the thread but I didn't see anything about what you other params are?
List all you params
Reason being if you ca and mag are off it will throw everything all out of whack
I have seen tanks that the owners did nit realize the ca had dropped and they were trying to bump up the alk with buffer only for it to drop back down within a couple of hours.
If you have not already test your other params and see what's what.

 

[Sandy]

agree with highlandreef, test mag and adjust first, then calcium, then alk aiming for 8 dKH maybe a little higher if keeping sps