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  • question about carbonate hardness

    I'm new to reef keeping and I just purchased an api reef master kit today and every thing checked out accept the carbonate hardness was way higher then their chart allowed for almost double but my fish and corals appear to be ok. is a high level of carbonate hardness a major problem and if so what can I do about it?

  • #2
    I would double check again. Alkalinity should be from 8-10dKH. In the past people have ran it at 16dKH before without much livestock issues. Just as long as the livestock was properly acclimated.

    The only real problem was high amount of precipitant all over gear. They would need vinegar baths often. Calcium deposits would be everywhere.

    What are the test results?

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    • #3
      i checked twice and both times it took 21-22 drops befor it turned yellow which i guess means it is 21-22 dkh

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      • #4
        Are you dosing? How'd it get that high?

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        • #5
          i don't know i put some buffer in to raise my ph I think that stuff raises alk some but I didn't know I had a problem with alk when I did it

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          • #6
            Almost all marine ph buffers raise alk. You gotta be careful with that.

            Why were you adding buffer? What Kinda livestock do you have?

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            • #7
              I have a variety of corals mushroom,zoas,monti,cabbage,toadstool,brain,anenom es,tea cup etc. and fish and my ph was sitting at7.8 when the booklet recomends 8.2-8.4 so I threw a few tea spoons full in surely i must have had an alk problem before that

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              • #8
                maybe it's just in my water i just bought an ro/di system but I haven't set it up yet

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                • #9
                  I think that's where you alk prob came from.

                  Marine saltmix ranges from 7dKh-10dKH. There's no other way for it to increase unless you added something. Generally, carbonate hardness aka alkalinity will drop over time. Corals/coraline use alkalinity and calcium to build their skeletons to grow. Alk and calc will only deplete if left alone. I wouldn't worry if the ph dropped to 7.8 at night. If your livestock don't show any problems, usually it's best to just leave it be.

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                  • #10
                    thanks for the advice

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                    • #11
                      i checked up on my kh recently and found that mine is within range i am sitting at 10 dkh and all my other test showed to be in good order with the exception of a slighly low calcium reading which i'm guessing i would have corrected by water change and if not i have calcium liquid i can add. reason i'm writing this is because i just helped my brother in law check his new reef and his dkh is at about 18. i am now running off of the r/o water and he isn't so i'm guessing the problem is in the water here (we live in the same home so he's using the same water that i did)

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                      • #12
                        Wow that's really high Alk water. Is it well water?

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                        • #13
                          it's a mobile home community and we do have private water well that supplies the neiborhood

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                          • #14
                            I would be curious to see what the Alk values are before you mix the salt. Check the alk on the water outta the tap. It could just be water that seeped through limestone and fully saturated the water.

                            The weird thing is.... The RO should have taken out most of the Alk. You might wanna check if your RO unit is working correctly.

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                            • #15
                              my alk with the r/o is only 10 it's my brother in laws tank thats high now

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