Low Alk question

Mag is at 1450ppm cal is 480 and the alk is low? I havent been able to get a good reading from the red sea mag test kit so I went to the lfs today and got a new test kit. I got the seachem one with alk test kit in it too. in the alk kit it test for total alk whick mine was 1.5 then it had borate alk which was 2.5 and carbonate alk which tells me to subtract borate from total which gives me a total of 1. I thought it the mag and calcium was up then it kept the alk up too? Do I need to add just alk or borate or carbonate? The ph has stayed at 8.0 forever other then when the power was out allot of you helped me there too. Any imput on this situation would be helpful. Just whan you think you understand here is another aspect to learn about.

 

Hello, this article is really good at explaining the relationships of the elements;Problems with Calcium and Alkalinity in a Marine Tank
I (and many others) use a 2 part dosing system for Calc and Alk, I use Kent Marine Tech CB, Part "A" and Part "B". If one or the other needs to be raised or lowered, you simply dose accordingly.

 

Do you use kalkwasser? That will help add Ca alk and maintain an elevated pH. Like jed stated some commercial two parts are good, or you can make your own.... Use 2 1/2 cup BAKED baking soda(bake at 300 or higher for at least an hour) add that to a half gallon of RO water and shake like crazy..... It will take a LONG time to dissolve. Then fill the rest of the gal with more RO water and let sit to completely dissolve. Then add to tank on a daily basis to maintain or raise alk. You could also use a handy calculator like the one here on 3reef or Bulkreefsupply.com and determine how much baking soda or equivelent is needed to raise alk to the level you want. Then mix up a solution of the said product and add to tank..

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

What does baking the baking soda do? I just add it right into my RO/DI water when I need to raise my Alk levels. I use 1 tsp per 20G to raise it by about 1 point.