High dKH!

[taco99]

Whoa. I just tested for KH and it was 24!

I have always kept an eye on ph, which stays at 7.2 or 7.3

Is such a high KH bad? How can I soften my water?

Thanks.

 

[taco99]

Whoops. I meant to say that my ph is 8.2-8.3.

 

[Len]

I have a sneaking suspection that your alk test is old and/or in error (could be from interferance since hobbyist test kits are refined). 24dkH is outrageously high and would mean you have virtually no calcium in solution. I would recheck it with another test kit as well as the Ca levels.

 

[taco99]

I tested calc this morning and it was 400 (tropic marin test kit). The KH kit is also tropic marin. I just bought it.

Perhaps I should get another test kit.

What would such a high reading indicate?

 

[Len]

What would such a high reading indicate?

It would indicate to me that your test kit is faulty Retest it and see what you get. a pH of 8.3 and Ca of 400 will not exist with a dkH of 24.

 

[mkirda]

What would such a high reading indicate?

It would indicate to me that your test kit is faulty Retest it and see what you get. a pH of 8.3 and Ca of 400 will not exist with a dkH of 24.

Better yet, mix up some new salt water to the right salinity, let it mix overnight, then test it.

Normally, freshly mixed saltwater will be in the 2.5 meq/l range. You'll have to convert that to dkh yourself... :wink:

If the newly mixed water tests way out of whack, then I'd suspect the test kit first. Bring a sample of it to your LFS and have them test it too... Just to be sure you didn't get some weirdo batch of salt.

Bad batches of salt have been known to happen.

Regards.
Mike Kirda
OTOH, if that really is a good reading, you ought to have phenomenal coralline growth! :lol:

 

[taco99]

...uh, is 2.5meg/q= 2dKH? :?

I just tested some r/o from LFS mixed overnight with tropic marin salt to 1.22 sg (a little low) and it showed a dKH of 8 with the test kit in question.

:?:

 

[taco99]

Here are todays numbers for the tank:
-ph is 8.3 on meter (recently calibrated)
-calc is 416 with tropic marin test kit
-salinity is 1.25

and all my critters look happy!

 

[taco99]

Would it do any good to test some distilled water or pure RO with the kit?

 

[Len]

2.5 meq/l = 7 dkH.

RO, DI, and distilled water won't be detectable with these test kits. I'm guessing ions in your tank are interfering with the test kit if it continues to read so high, but I'd ignore it if everything is doing well. Test kits are often fooled and should be only rough guidelines.

 

[taco99]

Thanks Len. I will wait a few days and try again. I might also go buy another test kit.