How do I increase my alkalinity?

[namlessdude]

I am cycling a tank at the momment using libe rock that i brough from a 6 year old tank. I just started feeding the tank fish food to spike the ammonia and I am testing my parameters using API master test kit.

I tested the alkalinity and Ph which were 80ppm and ~7.8 respectively. I converted and found that equals to 4.4dkh which I read is very low for alkalinity. Water salinity is at 1.021 and the water is new. Should i be concerned about these values? When i looked into how to increase alkalinity i saw people saying to dose baking soda, some said do a water change (but my water is new!!), and some saying don't worry about it.

What should I do?

 

[Yasha Hase]

4.4 for DKH is low, your salinity at 1.021 is low as well typically you should aim for 1.025-.026 raising your salinity will raise your alk some but not to normal levels. I would retest with your API test kit as well as another test kit if possible as API is not known for being reliable. If retesting gives the same results look to raise your alk with baking soda or kalkwasser. I would aim for .5 DKH a day or less raise but others have reported a full point change in DKH with no ill affects. There are various online calculators for kalkwasser and baking soda concentrations to raise a given volume of waters alkalinity by a set amount.

 

[VintageReefer]

Bring salinity up to 1.026 salinity then retest. Avoid api if possible

What brand salt?

 

[namlessdude]

Bring salinity up to 1.026 salinity then retest. Avoid api if possible

What brand salt?

Seachem vibrant sea brand for the salt and i have a lot of red sea coral pro salt that was passed down to me from the person i got the rocks from that I can use to bring salinity to 1.026.

As for API, i thought they were reliable? My local store practically told me they are one of the best to get, especially for the price. Do you disagree? What else should I get?

 

[namlessdude]

4.4 for DKH is low, your salinity at 1.021 is low as well typically you should aim for 1.025-.026 raising your salinity will raise your alk some but not to normal levels. I would retest with your API test kit as well as another test kit if possible as API is not known for being reliable. If retesting gives the same results look to raise your alk with baking soda or kalkwasser. I would aim for .5 DKH a day or less raise but others have reported a full point change in DKH with no ill affects. There are various online calculators for kalkwasser and baking soda concentrations to raise a given volume of waters alkalinity by a set amount.

I will work on increasing the salinity tomorrow first then retest and go from there. I will look into the baking soda method as it's the most accessible at the moment

 

[eliaslikesfish]

Seachem vibrant sea brand for the salt and i have a lot of red sea coral pro salt that was passed down to me from the person i got the rocks from that I can use to bring salinity to 1.026.

As for API, i thought they were reliable? My local store practically told me they are one of the best to get, especially for the price. Do you disagree? What else should I get?

your lfs either has never heard of hanna (doubtful) or lied to your face. spend the extra cash and save yourself a million headaches later on.

I personally use seachem’s reef builder. works great for me.

 

[namlessdude]

your lfs either has never heard of hanna (doubtful) or lied to your face. spend the extra cash and save yourself a million headaches later on.

I think it was more that they wanted to recommend a cheaper all around test kit for a beginner. The hanna alkalinity test device is like 80 canadian dollars on amazon!! .

 

[eliaslikesfish]

I think it was more that they wanted to recommend a cheaper all around test kit for a beginner. The hanna alkalinity test device is like 80 canadian dollars on amazon!! .

okay, do what you will.

 

[Yasha Hase]

I think it was more that they wanted to recommend a cheaper all around test kit for a beginner. The hanna alkalinity test device is like 80 canadian dollars on amazon!! .

Hanna is nice for convenience as you should test alkalinity frequently for sps (it's what I typically use) and the hanna test is quick. I prefer salifert for most tests and use it as the baseline for my Hanna alkalinity tester. It is affordable upfront. Red Sea tests also have a good reputation but I have no experience with them.

 

[VintageReefer]

Salifert is not too expensive and is very reliable.

As for as ease of use though…the Hanna is the easiest and fastest and there is no interpretation error. When you run out of tests, you can just buy refill bottles for significantly less than the unit initially cost

 

[VintageReefer]

Alkalinity Baking soda calculator:

Reef Chemistry Calculator

 

[Doctorgori]

I was wondering if a 4.4 dKH even chemically possible for Seawater?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Personally I would not make changes to a tank based on API test kits, you should retest with a better test kit.

I also feel you're making it harder for yourself by testing and chasing parameters while still cycling. Its good to learn but I wouldn't worry about it until your ready to get into corals.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I was wondering if a 4.4 dKH even chemically possible for Seawater?

It’s possible, but I don’t know if it is accurate.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

I think it was more that they wanted to recommend a cheaper all around test kit for a beginner. The hanna alkalinity test device is like 80 canadian dollars on amazon!! .

Most of them are $60 at the LFS, or order from reefsupplies.ca
Try not to order aquarium supplies from amazon, everything is $10-$20 more expensive than the LFS.

Keep in mind that with hanna you only get 25 tests, then its $15 more for 25 more tests. So if you have 2 or 3 or 4 hanna's, that's an easy $50-$60 per month extra on top of everything else.

The other popular brand that people use is the salifert test.