Can't get good alkalinity levels

[Reef Man]

Hi,

I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
through my kalkwasser reactor.

Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
C-Balance:
30 ml part A daily
60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
my calcium levels)

I have tried water changes and didn't solve the problem. KH isn't
getting higher.

By the way, i have a Deltec Fluidised Calcium Reactor (PF600). It's
outputs are: 40 dkh and a ph lower than 7,5. This calcium reactor
doesn't seem to help :(

Hair algae persists. What should i do? Add more part B of C-Balance?

My tank is 180 gallon with mixed SPS and soft corals. 4 small fish.
DSB and lots of live rock.
Some coraline algae grows behind the rocks.
I have a huge efficient skimmer (Aqua-Medic Turboflotor 5000 Multi).

Than you for your help,

Reefman

[Marc Levenson]

Hi Reefman,

Have you read this page yet?
http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

You have a Calcium Reactor and a Kalk Reactor going to your 180g, and you are
still dosing C-Balance? I would think at that point you wouldn't need a 2-part
additive.

Marc


Reef Man wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
> found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
> I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
> dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
> I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
> dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
> Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
> through my kalkwasser reactor.
>
> Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
> higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
> C-Balance:
> 30 ml part A daily
> 60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
> my calcium levels)
>
> I have tried water changes and didn't solve the problem. KH isn't
> getting higher.
>
> By the way, i have a Deltec Fluidised Calcium Reactor (PF600). It's
> outputs are: 40 dkh and a ph lower than 7,5. This calcium reactor
> doesn't seem to help :(
>
> Hair algae persists. What should i do? Add more part B of C-Balance?
>
> My tank is 180 gallon with mixed SPS and soft corals. 4 small fish.
> DSB and lots of live rock.
> Some coraline algae grows behind the rocks.
> I have a huge efficient skimmer (Aqua-Medic Turboflotor 5000 Multi).
>
> Than you for your help,
>
> Reefman

--
Personal Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com/oanda/index.html
Business Page: http://www.sparklingfloorservice.com
Marine Hobbyist: http://www.melevsreef.com

[Rob Marston]

> KH was too low and calcium too high

Read this to solve this problem...

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm


> Hair algae persists. What should i do? Add more part B of C-Balance?

Hair Algae will due to either...
High Nitrates
High Phosphates
Old or Incorrect Colour Freq Lamps

Try using a macro algae {seaweed} to out grow the hair algae...
Rowaphos to absorb the phosphates and check the age of your lamps...

Rob

[Reef Man]

Hi, Marc,

> Have you read this page yet?
> http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html

Yes i've read it and tried everything during a full year, except
rising my alkalinity. If i could get 10 dkh and stay with it for maybe
a month, i'm sure i'll get rid of the algae.

> You have a Calcium Reactor and a Kalk Reactor going to your 180g, and you are
> still dosing C-Balance? I would think at that point you wouldn't need a 2-part
> additive.

That's what I thought when I bought the calcium reactor about 5 months
ago!
Then about 2 weeks ago I started adding C-Balance.
The reactor is working like the manufacturer instructions. According
to Deltec, my calcium reactor is suitable for 355 gal. aquariums with
heavy stocking and high illumination
(www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com/calreactors_3.php).

Any ideas?

Reefman

[Benjamin]

Reefman,

I'm thinking Boomer would have some ideas what could be draining that much
Alk out that fast. Maybe there is a heavy weight on the end of the Alk
balance pole... Sounds awful whatever it is.
--
--

My Web Site: http://showcase.netins.net/web/reefpage/


"Reef Man" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi, Marc,
>
> > Have you read this page yet?
> > http://www.melevsreef.com/gha.html
>
> Yes i've read it and tried everything during a full year, except
> rising my alkalinity. If i could get 10 dkh and stay with it for maybe
> a month, i'm sure i'll get rid of the algae.
>
> > You have a Calcium Reactor and a Kalk Reactor going to your 180g, and
you are
> > still dosing C-Balance? I would think at that point you wouldn't need a
2-part
> > additive.
>
> That's what I thought when I bought the calcium reactor about 5 months
> ago!
> Then about 2 weeks ago I started adding C-Balance.
> The reactor is working like the manufacturer instructions. According
> to Deltec, my calcium reactor is suitable for 355 gal. aquariums with
> heavy stocking and high illumination
> (www.deltecaquariumsolutions.com/calreactors_3.php).
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Reefman

[Dragon Slayer]

if your reactor is adjusted correctly then your ballance should be
consistant and not be dropping on either Alk or Ca.

have you double checked your test kit? just a thought on that.

also doing a large water change might help get it back in ballance and then
make it easier to keep there. adding the c-ballance is most likely just
hindering your progress and unballancing your system IMO.

kc

"Reef Man" > wrote in message
om...
> Hi,
>
> I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
> found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
> I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
> dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
> I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
> dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
> Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
> through my kalkwasser reactor.
>
> Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
> higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
> C-Balance:
> 30 ml part A daily
> 60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
> my calcium levels)
>
> I have tried water changes and didn't solve the problem. KH isn't
> getting higher.
>
> By the way, i have a Deltec Fluidised Calcium Reactor (PF600). It's
> outputs are: 40 dkh and a ph lower than 7,5. This calcium reactor
> doesn't seem to help :(
>
> Hair algae persists. What should i do? Add more part B of C-Balance?
>
> My tank is 180 gallon with mixed SPS and soft corals. 4 small fish.
> DSB and lots of live rock.
> Some coraline algae grows behind the rocks.
> I have a huge efficient skimmer (Aqua-Medic Turboflotor 5000 Multi).
>
> Than you for your help,
>
> Reefman

[Reef Man]

"Dragon Slayer" > wrote in message >...
> if your reactor is adjusted correctly then your ballance should be
> consistant and not be dropping on either Alk or Ca.
>
> have you double checked your test kit? just a thought on that.

I have always used Hagen's Test Kit Carbonate and Total Hardness
(KH/GH) - (http://www.hagen.com/usa/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=124&PROD_ID=01078300020101)
I buy lots of this test kits.

> also doing a large water change might help get it back in ballance and then
> make it easier to keep there. adding the c-ballance is most likely just
> hindering your progress and unballancing your system IMO.

Over the last months i've done lots of water changes. Last week i did
2 WCs (18% each one).

Reefman

[Dragon Slayer]

My best suggestion then would be to readjust your Ca reactor.

its best to do daily testing of Alk and keep upping your CO2 until you don't
get a decline in Alk from one day to the next. then test Ca, if its low
dose "turbo Ca" to bring it up to the desired levels. recheck your Alk when
you get Ca correct and make sure you don't need to fine tune the reactor.
if your system is balanced then the reactor should keep both Alk and Ca at a
constant level at this point. this can take a week or two to get in
adjustment. it takes patients and its best to write the test results down
daily for a log to look at. it's well worth the effort in the end.

kc

[Craig Bingman]

In article >,
Reef Man > wrote:
>Hi,
>
>I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
>found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
>I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
>dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
>I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
>dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
>Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
>through my kalkwasser reactor.
>
>Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
>higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
>C-Balance:
>30 ml part A daily
>60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
>my calcium levels)

I think that 7.5 dKH is plenty high enough. You are trying to chase
numbers that aren't necessarily realistic.

You won't necessarily be able to resolve a hair algae problem by
only working on calcium and alkalinity numbers. Adequate calcium
and alkalinity is a prerequisite for good coralline algae growth
in a system, but there are a number of other biological and
chemical issues at play here. You need appropriate herbivores
in the system, you generally need a good meiofauna population,
and you need to get a handle on any excess nutrients in the tank
before you will be able to resolve a nuisance algae issue.

--
--

[Dragon Slayer]

"Craig Bingman" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Reef Man > wrote:


> You won't necessarily be able to resolve a hair algae problem by
> only working on calcium and alkalinity numbers. Adequate calcium
> and alkalinity is a prerequisite for good coralline algae growth
> in a system,...............


that is true to a degree, but having higher levels of Alk and Ca help to
precipitate out PO4 and there by reduce the chances of nuisance algae's
using them as a food source.


kc

[wolfhedd]

got my DKH steady by dosing CA to about 550-600ppm inadvertently while
adding an occasional superbuffer, then when i finally got a CA tester, i
stopped adding it cold turkey. i was using TurboCalc. I havent added CA in
my tank for over a month. I add about 15ml of superbuffer a day, while i
watch my DKH rise, when it got to 9.8DKH, i stopped adding it in every day,
now its just like 2-4 times a week i add Kents SuperBuffer. Thats it. I
have 1/1/2 DSB which also reacts and alot of rock which also reacts with the
buffering of the tank. ALSO good quality salt will to. YOU ARE using
Professional Marine Grade salt right? IF not, theres may be your problem.
WH

"Craig Bingman" > wrote in message
...
> In article >,
> Reef Man > wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
> >found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
> >I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
> >dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
> >I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
> >dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
> >Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
> >through my kalkwasser reactor.
> >
> >Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
> >higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
> >C-Balance:
> >30 ml part A daily
> >60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
> >my calcium levels)
>
> I think that 7.5 dKH is plenty high enough. You are trying to chase
> numbers that aren't necessarily realistic.
>
> You won't necessarily be able to resolve a hair algae problem by
> only working on calcium and alkalinity numbers. Adequate calcium
> and alkalinity is a prerequisite for good coralline algae growth
> in a system, but there are a number of other biological and
> chemical issues at play here. You need appropriate herbivores
> in the system, you generally need a good meiofauna population,
> and you need to get a handle on any excess nutrients in the tank
> before you will be able to resolve a nuisance algae issue.
>
> --
> --
>
>

[Reef Man]

Thanks for your answers.

Craig is right about my herbivores population. I have just some 8
hermit crabs in a 180g reef tank and no snails. However, i have a
minimum nutrient level because there's only 4 small fish that are
becoming thiner :(

I'm using 2 litres of Rowaphos just to be sure all phosphate is
removed.
IS it possible that the DSB is acidifying the water and consuming
alkalinity? The DSB is Aragamax 4" - 5" deep and i think it is
clogging with a hard sand layer on the top with some brown microalgae.
Deep layers are grey and smely (is this normal?).

I used Instant Ocean salt mix and changed 3 months ago to Red Sea Salt
hoping things would get better, but it didn't improve. Any advices on
a better salt mix?

Any advices on a netter action plan?

Thank you all

Reefman

"wolfhedd" > wrote in message et>...
> got my DKH steady by dosing CA to about 550-600ppm inadvertently while
> adding an occasional superbuffer, then when i finally got a CA tester, i
> stopped adding it cold turkey. i was using TurboCalc. I havent added CA in
> my tank for over a month. I add about 15ml of superbuffer a day, while i
> watch my DKH rise, when it got to 9.8DKH, i stopped adding it in every day,
> now its just like 2-4 times a week i add Kents SuperBuffer. Thats it. I
> have 1/1/2 DSB which also reacts and alot of rock which also reacts with the
> buffering of the tank. ALSO good quality salt will to. YOU ARE using
> Professional Marine Grade salt right? IF not, theres may be your problem.
> WH
>
> "Craig Bingman" > wrote in message
> ...
> > In article >,
> > Reef Man > wrote:
> > >Hi,
> > >
> > >I´ve been fighting hair algae for a year. I tried everything, then i
> > >found my KH was too low (4,5 dkh) and calcium too high (550).
> > >I tried to put things right. So i stopped adding kalk and started
> > >dosing Seachem's Reefbuilder.
> > >I had to dose lots of this product to reach 8 dkh, but, when i stopped
> > >dosing it just for one day, dkh fell around 1 or 2 dkh.
> > >Then I realised calcium fell to 280, so i restarted dosing kalk
> > >through my kalkwasser reactor.
> > >
> > >Now calcium levels are fine at 420 and i still can't get my alkalinity
> > >higher than 7,5 dkh. I stopped dosing Reefbuilder and i am now dosing
> > >C-Balance:
> > >30 ml part A daily
> > >60 ml part B daily (I want to get my alkalinity to 10 dkh and mantain
> > >my calcium levels)
> >
> > I think that 7.5 dKH is plenty high enough. You are trying to chase
> > numbers that aren't necessarily realistic.
> >
> > You won't necessarily be able to resolve a hair algae problem by
> > only working on calcium and alkalinity numbers. Adequate calcium
> > and alkalinity is a prerequisite for good coralline algae growth
> > in a system, but there are a number of other biological and
> > chemical issues at play here. You need appropriate herbivores
> > in the system, you generally need a good meiofauna population,
> > and you need to get a handle on any excess nutrients in the tank
> > before you will be able to resolve a nuisance algae issue.
> >
> > --
> > --
> >
> >