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Pet Forum / Aquaria / Marine Reef / November 2004Limewater increases Alkalinity?
I currently have a low calclium (340 PPm) and high alkalinity. My PH is consistently 8.2 . I switched from using limewater to using kent liquid calcium and stopped adding buffer to let the alkalinity drop. (which is starting to happen.) I have been reading about the relationship of limewater to alkalinity and while I have seen that it clearly increases PH, the literature seems less clear about whether it contributes to alkalinity. One article said it indirectly contributes to alkalinity (not sure what that means). Bottom line. If I stop adding buffer and only add limewater, will my alkalinity keep dropping? > Bottom line. If I stop adding buffer and only add limewater, will > my alkalinity keep dropping? Only if the amount of Kalk you are adding is not enough to keep up with your tanks demand. Kalk adds calcium and alk in a balanced ratio. IOW, if you manage to raise your calcium with it, your alk will have gone up as well. And, if you are maintaining calcium levels with it, it's likely that your alk will not go down. Kev Kev, So the best thing to do if my calc is low and Alk is OK, is to raise the calc with a one part calcium until I get it where I want it and then maintain it with Limewater? Thanks, david > > Bottom line. If I stop adding buffer and only add limewater, will > > my alkalinity keep dropping? [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Kev > Kev, > > So the best thing to do if my calc is low and Alk is OK, is to raise the > calc with a one part calcium until I get it where I want it and then > maintain it with Limewater? Exactly. Use single part additives to line up Ca/Alk, then manage them with something balanced (Kalk). Then, over time, you may notice a trend of one dropping faster than the other. Just keep them in line with occasional one-part additions. In my system (which still has parts of a nasty, dirty, 3+ year old DSB in it), I find that Alk is used up faster than Ca. Reef building corals use Ca/Alk in balance to build calcium carbonate skeletons. But, algae, and other lifeforms can dump alot of CO2, and other acidic compounds, into the system, eating up Alk faster than stony corals alone would. Thus the imbalance in usage rates. HTH, Kev |
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