overdose on alkalinity

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

i did something really stupid last night. I had setup my auto dosing yesterday with the bulk reef supply chemicals. I had 2 dosing pumps adding calcium and alkalinity on seperate timmers.. Well I left one of the digtal timers on the on position, so it slowly dumped the alkalinity into the tank all night .. around 2 gallons worth.. >< Should i be freaked out? Can you overdose on alkalnity? It was being dosed it in really small doses... What should I do?

 

[Gomer]

measure your alk, Ca and Ph. See where they are. You might have to do some large water changes.

 

[A_Lee]

[quote author=Gomer link=topic=5436.msg67457#msg67457 date=1228597490]
measure your alk, Ca and Ph. See where they are. You might have to do some large water changes.
[/quote]

What would happen if the dKH was too high?

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

OK so I ran the tests...
Here is what I have:
Ph-8.5 (Should I use baking soda to bring it down? )
Calcium 360 Droped from 450 (should I be worried?)
Alkalinity 10 meq/l wow high...
Magnesium 875 low...

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

I was planning on doing a 10 percent of the water.. should I up it 25? Or should I just add some calcium and magnesium to the water and see what happens?

 

[Gomer]

Looks like (and expected) alk crashed down your Ca and Mg. If it was my tank, I would do a couple 25% water changes spread in the day (so that you don't double shock your tank). Perhaps someone else has better advice? At the very least, get a WC done. It can't hurt

 

[orientalexpress]

use Oceanic salt for water change,They're known to have Low Alk and high calcuim.gl


lapsan

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Yah, do a couple water changes in close succession. I'd go between 25% - 50%. Toward the higher side if you haven't been neglecting water changes.

I wouldn't bother boosting Ca or Mg yet. For short term, it's not going to be a problem.

Just let the water changes move the Ca and Mg towards the proper levels.

Keep doing water changes until you get below 4.5 meq/l. Corals can tolerate high alk better than low. European reefers tend go on the high side. Faster growth but, less skeleton density.

Super high alk is not good for long periods. You can get alk burn on the tips of your sps.

Don't bother trying to correct pH. 8.5 is ok. If you have any bryopsis, you'll probably be happy about it melting Don't let it overflow your skimmer though.

Let your pH adjust on it's own through water changes just like the Ca and Mg.

 

[pixelpixi]

[quote author=Pianotips link=topic=5436.msg67467#msg67467 date=1228600464]
Ph-8.5 (Should I use baking soda to bring it down? )
[/quote]

No! That would raise your alk further!

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Agreed. pH would drop a teeny bit, and you'd have a bigger alk prob.

 

[pixelpixi]

This article suggests adding calcium until calcium and alk are in proportion relative to each other, then letting the levels naturally come back down. As you add calcium, a lot of the calcium and alk will probably precipitate out, leaving you with high but not crazy high levels.

http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

I just feel so stupid... sigh.. i put my tank at risk.. its stressful

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

Thanks.. I am reading and looking at what to do..For water changes I will do a 25..10 and 5 percent.. Its is the 135 gallon with an 80 gallon sump. I am hoping that it is big enough to minimize the damage from the alkalinity.. ><

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

Thanks pixelpixi thats the article i was reading earlier.. when I was asking about adding calcium... maybe I should add it as I do the water changes.. I am worried that the 50 % will restart the water age/ have to cycle again and that may hurt the livestock and corals no?

 

[pixelpixi]

[quote author=Pianotips link=topic=5436.msg67546#msg67546 date=1228631793]
Thanks pixelpixi thats the article i was reading earlier.. when I was asking about adding calcium... maybe I should add it as I do the water changes.. I am worried that the 50 % will restart the water age/ have to cycle again and that may hurt the livestock and corals no?
[/quote]

Nitrifying bacteria live primarily on the surface of your rocks and sand, not floating around in the water. Granted, the freshly mixed water will have different things in it than the existing water does, and any rapid change in water parameters is stressful, but it won't cause your tank to cycle again.

Do like norm says: water changes to get back within reason. After that, add calcium until you're back into "Zone 1." And do everything slowly, of course.

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

OK did a huge water change
Specs are:
Calcium 340
mag 875
Alk 6 meq
ph 8.5
should i just add calcium at this point?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

Ca is not too bad at 340 for short term.

I would do another water change and get the alk down to 4 meq.

Then bring up the Mg first.

Then bring up the Ca.

With low Mg like that, your Ca will be harder to raise if you don't correct Mg first.

 

[Pianotips@hotmail.com]

that makes alot of sense... ok another water change is in order then ! ...

 

[A_Lee]

just curious ... how come when Mg levels are low, Ca lvls are hard to raise? How do those two ions interact?

 

[Mr. Ugly]

I should look it up, but off the top of my head, Mg is incorporated into the calcium carbonate crystal structure. It takes a spot that Ca normally would take, and inhibits crystallization.

With low Mg and high Ca, alk, and pH, you can get more abiotic crystallization of calcium carbonate. You see that happen when a tank OD's on kalk... the snowstorm.

I'm not super certain on the mechanisms involved, but I'll go as far to say that Mg, Ca, and alk are all interdependent with respect to biotic and abiotic formation of the carbonate.