alkalinity to high

i dose with b-ionic and have been for about a month. i tested today and my calcium is at 460 and my alkalinity is 8 meq/L or 22.4 kh. is this a problem? everything in my tank is fine and water looks fine. the seachem test instructions say to shoot for 4-6 meq/L. should i just decrease the amount i dose or stop dosing my tank all together. i have no sps or clams sucking up calcium i am doing b ionic for coralline which seems to be doing better. i do a 5 gallon change (55 gallon tank) every other week.

 

That's really high. The calcium and kh levels are tied together so I'd suspect a bad test kit to be honest.

 

Only dose what you have to. Stop the ALK part and test every 2-3 days to see the fall off rate for the alk, then dose accordingly. You may end up dosing Calc every day and Alk every 5-7 days for example.

 

hmm. i thought 2 parts had to be done in balance. the directions state add equal parts so ive been doing 15 ml each day. maybe i should half the amount of alk im putting in and keep calcium the same? talking to experienced reefers...should i just stop dosing and maintain my tank with bi-weekly water changes. that seems to be a better alternative than messing with the parameters by dosing.

 

I didn't think Alk would go that high... I would double check your test results, maybe take a water sample to a LFS and have them test as well.

 

this response confused me. you're implying that you're currently dosing and not doing water changes.

water changes are a must. dosing is only necessary if needed. i also agree with 'unclejed' that you should stop dosing, check your params religiously for the next few days and study how the alk/calc is being depleted and at what rate. if you have enough corals to be leeching that out of the water before your next water change with new saltwater that contains those elements, then you'll easily figure out in a day or two how much you really should be dosing.

you may also want to get a second alk test kit to confirm the test is accurate.

im curious what your magnesium level is with an alkalinity supposedly that high.

 

if you have no SPS, and no clams etc...then I wouldnt really dose anything. Your levels will be replenished with the water changes if done regularly.

I would then regularly test those levels for a bit and watch it.

In answer to your other question...it is ok to not dose both together. I dose my alk much more frequently then I dose my calcium.

 

no i diddnt say i diddnt do water changes. i do one bi weekly....5 gallons out of my 55 gallon tank. i said should i stop dosing and just rely on the water changes for trace elements. i think im going to lower the dose of the b ionic and retest in a week or so. normally i put 15 ml of each part in so maybe ill try 10 and see what happens. i do agree with you guys if my alk was actually that high wouldnt it be snowing calcium particles in my tank haha.

 

as mentioned above, test your magnesium also. That is probably really, really low. (bowl of gumballs....red is calcium, yellow is alk, green is mg. The bowl will only hold so many gumballs before it is unable to hold anymore. If you increase the yellow balls, then you will have to decrease the number of the other ones or else they will spill out)

Somebody on here told me this little thing to help me understand the relationship. I am a very visual person! :}

 

I personally would not dose anymore for a couple days at least (if you are not comfortable NOT dosing) but it does not sound as if you need to dose anything IMO