pH and Alk WAY TOO HIGH!!

J

jwcalifo

Registered Member
Mar 20, 2006
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HELP! I have just tested my 55gal sw tank for the first time in months... please no lectures...

Anyways, I want to get my tank looking good again but I have testesd ph and it was like 8.6 using the Red Sea tests and my Alk was at the level of HIGH with the RS tests...

What should/can I do? Should I dump lemon juice in there? What types of things cause high pH and Alk? Calcium levels? I used to know all o this but its been so long now... Please Help!

JWCalifo
 
Step 1. Take a deep breath. pH 8.6 will not harm anyone in the short term. If the livestock look OK for the moment, then we can take a minute to figure out what's going on. Adding anytihg to drop pH will only be a temporary fix if there is something out of whack.

Step 2. Lots of questions:
-Setupof the tank? (reef, FO....)
-Equipment?
-livestock
-Additives?
-Salt mix?
-calcium levels?

Usually, this kind of thing only happens when one adds too much buffer or kalkwasser, but there are exceptions. It is unfortunate that Red Sea kits don't give a numeric value for alk. If it gets too high, it will make your calcium drop.
 
what are your Ca levels? If you ahve a lot of corals, or even a bunch of coraline and you havent done a water change in a while (which soudns possible if you ahvent tested in a few months), your Ca could be way too low.
and id get a second opinion with a better test kit.
 
I have the same problem with a high pH
I use a red sea kit too
 
Double-check with another test kit as mentioned.

I swear by Salifert. Costs some more, but far more reliable and easy to read.
 
The Aalifert Alk test is the same price as the redsea pH/alk kit.
 
i just started a saltwater tank and the ph is 8.6 and the alk is at high. what should i do?
 
You could try a PH buffer such as Kent marine superbuffer dkh...

what is your alk's dkh ?
how many ppm of CA ?
 
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