4 dKH

[Altantis]

hELP.

4 dKH.

Any recommendation the better Additives to add.

[loster]

another cheapest way to raise up your kh... u can get baking soda to raise. u can get it from NTUC or any supermarket store.

this is the calculation for the among use base on your tank vol. raise it up slow and steady

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

[yooyoo99]

kent marine carbonate buffer is good but do check your magnesium level as well

[Altantis]

another cheapest way to raise up your kh... u can get baking soda to raise. u can get it from NTUC or any supermarket store.

this is the calculation for the among use base on your tank vol. raise it up slow and steady

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

Err... sound OK. Anyone using baking soda

[Altantis]

kent marine carbonate buffer is good but do check your magnesium level as well

Hmm... I don't have TK for magnesium. I heard magnesium aid in coralines gowth right?

[fongster]

Hmm... I don't have TK for magnesium. I heard magnesium aid in coralines gowth right?

calcium (400-450) and kh(8-14) supports coraline algae growth.

magnesium supports the calcium level to be maintained at such a high level, it is something of a supporting cast, but still relatively important.

mg shld be kept at around 1350ppm

[yooyoo99]

personal experience:

always have a problem maintaining proper level of CA and dkh. been dosing both for a long time but always see the 2 elements swing up and down. magnesium at 1200++

what i did:

buff up my magnesium to high level, last test at 1400++, by adding 3 spoonful of mg powder (tropic marine) to my new salt water mix. i change water 1 red pail per week.

also top up water using kalkwasser whenever need to, use to top up using DI water.

parameter now:

CA 440

dkh 7

hope it is useful for u, it works for me

[Altantis]

As of today, the correct reading kH should be kH 5.6 dkh.

Which of this is best, considering not to raise my Ca (600) and not to lower my pH (7.9):

1) Seachem Reef Carbonate

is equivalent to Liquid Reef Builder™. It is a concentrated (4,000 meq/L) optimized blend of carbonate and bicarbonate salts designed to restore and maintain alkalinity in the reef aquarium. Calcium and carbonates are essential to all coral growth. If either becomes deficient, coral growth will cease, followed by a rapid decline in coral health. Used as directed, Reef Carbonate™ will not deplete calcium, magnesium, or strontium which usually tend to precipitate with increasing alkalinity. 500 mL treats 8,000 L (2,000 gallons).

2) Seachem Reef Buffer

is intended primarily for use in a reef system where the maintenance of a pH of 8.3 is often difficult. When used as directed Reef Buffer™ will raise the pH of your reef system to 8.3 without fear of accidentally overshooting the pH to a dangerous level. Reef Buffer™ will also raise carbonate alkalinity. Reef Buffer™ is a blended product and is not just sodium carbonate. Reef Builder™ should be used to raise alkalinity when pH is not a problem. Use Seachem's MultiTest: Marine pH & Alkalinity™ to check pH and total alkalinity. 500 g treats 16,000 L (4,000 gallons).

3) Seachem Marine Buffer

is the original and still unique buffer with a pH of 8.3, designed to adjust pH to 8.3 and maintain both pH and alkalinity(KH). It is formulated not to disrupt the natural ionic balance of marine water with prolonged use. Marine Buffer™ contains a natural balance of sodium, magnesium, calcium, and potassium salts of carbonate, bicarbonate, and borate, formulated for enhanced and lasting buffer capacity at pH 8.3 without sacrificing calcium. It dissolves readily and does not obscure water clarity. The original Marine Buffer™ remains clearly superior in both composition and performance and is the choice of discriminating aquarists. A 250 g bottle treat 800–1600 gallons. Marine use only.

4) Salifert KH + pH Buffer

It is a highly concentrated, fast dissolving powder which increases alkalinity (carbonate hardness) and stabilizes the pH at the correct value. In these ways it contributes significantly to the health of all aquarium inhabitants including corals, coralline algae and fish. Within 24 hours it will acquire the pH corresponding to other aquarium parameters. Should the pH remain low within 24 hours of corrective measures then an insufficient gaseous exchange (inefficient aeration) is quite often the cause.

5) Kent Marine Pro-Buffer dKH

Enhanced Pro Buffer dKH with Coralline Accelerator raises alkalinity or buffering capacity and works automatically to control pH in any marine aquarium. In addition, when used with any of our calcium additives, it encourages strong coralline algae growth. Each 16 oz. of Pro Buffer dKH will treat 1,900 gallons or 7,200 litres.

6) Kent Marine Superbuffer dKH

Kent Superbuffer-dKH is a specially formulated pH buffer and alkalinity or carbonate hardness (KH) builder, designed to adjust the pH of saltwater aquariums to the range of 8.0 to 8.3 and build the KH. Superbuffer-dKH is the finest buffer available for either fish only or reef type marine aquariums and is designed to mix clear with little or no cloudiness or precipitation. Will not flake on your corals as other competing products can! Compatible with and designed for use with Kalkwasser Mix, Concentrated Liquid Calcium, or Turbo-Calcium by Kent Marine.

7) Tropic Marin Triple-Buffer

• Raises and balances pH

• Boosts and stabilizes alkalinity

• Adjusts Trace Elements level

When do I need Tropic Marin Triple-Buffer?

• Acidification from fishes and decomposition products has shifted the pH out of the recommended 8.2 - 8.4

• Precipitation has lowered the needed alkalinity (3-6 meq/l);

• Absorption by the aquarium population and precipitation as result of imbalances in pH and alkalinity reduced the level of trace elements

Contains all natural ingredients of highest purity - like the famous Tropic Marin sea salt. Sophisticated formula includes pharmaceutical grade salts.

And any other suggestion also can.

[loster]

1) Seachem Reef builder

u can use this. powder form is good. u can use this calculation to guide your dosing. once your kh up, you ph will follow

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

[Altantis]

1) Seachem Reef builder

u can use this. powder form is good. u can use this calculation to guide your dosing. once your kh up, you ph will follow

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

another cheapest way to raise up your kh... u can get baking soda to raise. u can get it from NTUC or any supermarket store.

Hi Loster,

Sorry. Did you use the above before. If 2 compare, which is better?

Or can I include the fred. of water change with TM salt mix more to adjust the parameter of more natural

[hammy]

1) Seachem Reef builder

u can use this. powder form is good. u can use this calculation to guide your dosing. once your kh up, you ph will follow

http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html

i am using that too... recommender by cyder_15 .

but together with triple buffer

[Altantis]

So Seachem + Tropic Marin Product = for bester result

actually I not sure of the actual differences although the writeout that I copy from various web seems very good.

[loster]

Hi Loster,

Sorry. Did you use the above before. If 2 compare, which is better?

Or can I include the fred. of water change with TM salt mix more to adjust the parameter of more natural

i used the cheapest product.. baking soda to raise my kh no ill effect on my sps tank

may be u wanna read more on "home make" additives

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2006-02/rhf/index.php

[shoelevy]

i vote for seachem reef buffer and reef carbonate

the POWDER form

been using them ever since i started the hobby and never had an issue with it

if u're not sure with the calculations i can help u

for the PH powder: 3g/100L will boost your PH by 0.09 and kh by 1.26dkh

for powder carbonate: 3g/100L will boost kh by 1dkh

my two cents for ya!

[subxero]

I've tried both Salifert KH + pH Buffer and SeaChem Reef builder. Both are working well for me. SeaChem Reef builder need to dissolve first in DI water, while I just dose directly for Salifert buffer

[Altantis]

My Mg reading below 300 mg/L...so i intend to do the following today:

Action plan today:

1) Buy Salifert Mg TK

2) Buy Seachem Reef builder (To raise kH, no impart in pH & calcium)

3) Buy Salifert Supplement - Magnesium Powder (To use only if Mg confirm very low after the Mg test)

4) Test for Mg & check reading

5) Change 1 red pail of tank water with TM salt mix with Seachem Reef builder and maybe Magnesium Powder

Errr...am i doing the correct thing...

Can Seachem Reef builder add together with Salifert Mg Powder

seek for all your advise and comments

[shoelevy]

don't waste your reef builder and magnesium powder

just keep changing water until the parameters are good, its fast and cheap unless your tank is big la and its bad for your back

[jervismun]

Bro, not trying to discourage you... but you seem to have too much issues on hand atm... IMO Magnesium is not as crucial as the rest. Focus on getting the rest fix-up first. Dosing Magnesium can be very costly in the long run... so find out the problem why instead of immediately buy and dose. I did a lot of mistakes previously and you are right, some products doesn't work well with other (especially by other brands).

That's why not I only buy my additives from 1 LFS, 1 brand. It's much easier that way.

Henry is a very reliable source, if you just want to follow his advice... that's better than getting bits and pieces from diff LFS and even bros from SRC. As you can see... everybody has their own ways of running things (some follow guidelines, some cut corners)... so the best person to talk to is a reliable LFS that understand your situation. Bring you water down and a list of your current additives and salt mix. Tell him your procedure and blah blah... ask him what to do. Your problem is not unique and I'm sure an experienced LFS seen it 10,000 times!!! But the moment they try to sell you inferior product... look for someone else already.

This is just what I am doing to calm myself down... get a realiable brand and stick with it... unless it doesn't work

[loster]

i guess in my experience... mg is one of the important part of our water chemistry... most of us always bush it aside and over look it...

Magnesium

Magnesium's primary importance is its interaction with the calcium and alkalinity balance in reef aquaria. Seawater and reef aquarium water are always supersaturated with calcium carbonate. That is, the solution's calcium and carbonate levels exceed the amount that the water can hold at equilibrium. How can that be? Magnesium is a big part of the answer. Whenever calcium carbonate begins to precipitate, magnesium binds to the growing surface of the calcium carbonate crystals. The magnesium effectively clogs the crystals' surface so that they no longer look like calcium carbonate, making them unable to attract more calcium and carbonate, so the precipitation stops. Without the magnesium, the abiotic (nonbiological) precipitation of calcium carbonate would likely increase enough to prohibit the maintenance of calcium and alkalinity at natural levels.

For this reason, I suggest targeting the natural seawater concentration of magnesium: ~1285 ppm. For practical purposes, 1250-1350 ppm is fine, and levels slightly outside that range (1200-1400 ppm) are also likely acceptable. I would not suggest raising magnesium by more than 100 ppm per day, in case the magnesium supplement contains impurities. If you need to raise it by several hundred ppm, spreading the addition over several days will allow you to more accurately reach the target concentration, and might possibly allow the aquarium to handle any impurities that the supplement contains.

An aquarium's corals and coralline algae can deplete magnesium by incorporating it into their growing calcium carbonate skeletons. Many methods of supplementing calcium and alkalinity may not deliver enough magnesium to maintain it at a normal level. Settled limewater (kalkwasser), in particular, is quite deficient in magnesium. Consequently, magnesium should be measured occasionally, particularly if the aquarium's calcium and alkalinity levels seem difficult to maintain. Aquaria with excessive abiotic precipitation of calcium carbonate on objects such as heaters and pumps might suffer from low magnesium levels (along with high pH, calcium, and alkalinity).

if our mg offline... no matter what we do, we are not be able to bring our ca and kh inline. shoelevy has his point, water change is the cheapest way and the safer way to correct our water paramters the most important is to get a good saltmix which gives good parameters. if not, keep dosing additives is going to cost you. especially mg additives is not cheap

but the most important is to double check your mg to confirm the reading... 300ppm is way too low.

[Killerwhale]

agreed with jervismun suggestion. I had a similar problem too but my case is overdose. My KH went rocket high to 20 dkh. quickly did a water change after listening to Henry's advise and the whole event lasted 4 days before everything go back to normal. The PH went down to 7.5 and lasted for 3 days and I was struggling to bring the KH down. Finally, I managed to control it by having the right ionic balance as advised by Henry. The rule of thumb is 3 part of magnesium to 1 part of calsium. With this right proportion, your KH & PH will fall into the right zone i.e. 9dkh and 8.2 respectively.

so try not to rush and think wat's the root cause. getting additive only solve your problem short term.

[shoelevy]

yeah u can get henry to test for u and tok to him