Red Sea Coral Pro High Alk. Question

[Zwickm]

I feel silly asking this after Richard Ross's presentation discussing all the endless debates as to what is a good salt and why.... but...

 

With my current tank, I have always used Kent Marine. For whatever reason, i decided to try Red Sea Coral pro on my new 150 gallon tank that i'm currently building. I noticed that the alkalinity mixes at +11-12dkh! This is much higher than i try to run my tank, usually 9.5 dkh, so i'm concerned about the potential impact of this high a level as i transfer in my inhabitants from the old tank. Yes, i read a lot of other forums about this salt but wanted to get the local groups input.

 

Who has used this salt and was this an issue/concern for you?

 

If i was using it for a water change, i would not be worried but starting a new tank at the high of a level worries me. I heard adding some muriatic acid can help drop the Alk..

 

Thanks!

[milesmiles902]

Hey Zwickm,

 

I use Reef Crystals salt, which has a dKH of..11 something (It is on this forum somewhere). I keep my alkalinity of my tank around 9.8-10.2 most days. I want to lower it down, but I am in the same situation of using a salt that has a very high dKH. All in all, it doesn't bother my tank at all, since I dose in the morning and afternoon. Whenever I do a water change, I just don't dose the night of. The new water makes up for my dosing and probably more. If you are setting up a new tank, I would at least do 50/50 until they become acclimated. A new tank AND new salt might cause problems. I'd eliminate one variable.

 

Also, don't add muriatic acid to the saltwater. It will lower your alkalinity, but I could definitely see someone adding too much. It would also upset the buffering capacity of the salt causing drastic swings.

 

Lastly, I think each aquarium has it's own niche and you need to find that. Just like every salt has their own niche. Make any change slowly and everything will fall into place.

Edited May 17, 2016 by milesmiles902