Alkalinity. The higher the better?

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#1
Hello All
Looking for some direction here. I have a reef tank which is mainly lps with a handfull of sps. Iam currently using tropic marin pro salt. Out of the bucket, that salt mix will spec at 7 dkh alkalinity. Because of this, my Alkalinity is always between 6.7 to 7 dkh. My calcium is about 450 and ph 7.9. Should i switch to a different salt mix that have a higher alkalinity? My concern is that i may end up having a lower calcium due to the desired for a higher alk. Iam currently not dosing. Any thoughts.....

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#2
I wold not say higher the better. I prefer to aim for 8.6 -9 DKH myself. Primarily because it is in the middle of the tolerable range for most corals. 7 DKH is acceptable, but at that it can easily drop to levels that are not.
Alk is easy to increase very inexpensively with backing soda, or baked baking soda(higher PH) mixed with RO/DI water. I would increase the ph of you salt mix the same way to match what you want your tank to be. Search for Randy's two part method. For more info.
 

joseserrano

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#3
This is a very detailed topic. But I would suggest 8-9 for someone like you/in your position. Lots of stuff to read why lower Alk or higher Alk is beneficial in x or y situation
 

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