what causes low alkalinity?

[aj2001]

New 55 has been set up for a couple weeks now, ammonia and nitrates down to zero,ph at 8.2, but the alkalinity has never gotten above 1.7, havnt been able to find an answers w/ searches.
55gal
45lbs LR
2"southdown bed
cpr bakpak
2 175MH65k
2 vho actnics.
2 mx1200s
Any Ideas?Concerns,fixes?
Thanx
Oh yeah,while I'm here,any reason not to use those $2 florescent tube covers from HD to help keep salt of the bulbs?
Aj :roll:

 

[wasabi]

I would think your tank is still cycling. i wouldnt do anything drastic. have you done any water changes? this might get your parameters more intact. you may need to start buffering to get the alkalynity up, but unless your feeding a ton of food your your alkalinity should stabalize on a new setup when your tank finishes its cycle.

 

[fishfarmer]

I agree with wasabi. What type of test kit are you using for alk? I used fastest early on and had a hard time getting a reading over 3 meq/L and that was when I was dripping kalk. If your test kit is fine then I would start dripping kalk and start testing and getting a feel for your calcium needs.

 

[BCReefer]

fishfarmer - do you still use fastest for your alk. I have the same tester and I read around the 2.5 - 2.7. Have you switched to another brand?

Thanks
P

 

[fishfarmer]

I switched to Salifert for alk. You get a more accurate reading, plus you can cut the test in half and get a lot more tests for about the same price as a fastest. I also had a similar problem getting a high reading from the fastest calcium as well, so I switched to Tropic Marin.