** HELP NEEDED NOW ** Alk Overdose
- Thread starter Wally.B
- Start date
Wally.B
Active member
New to SPS. Is this really bad? How much Spike can SPS handle.
They look fine now. But probably exposed for about 30 minutes.
I have an empty 35 Gallon Quarentine tank (Same Temp, Same SAL, close ALK).
Corals and rocks could be move into it.
Or is that more risky. Or not necessary. Do another water change later?
They look fine now. But probably exposed for about 30 minutes.
I have an empty 35 Gallon Quarentine tank (Same Temp, Same SAL, close ALK).
Corals and rocks could be move into it.
Or is that more risky. Or not necessary. Do another water change later?
sharkboy99999
New member
Don't take my word on this but I'm pretty sure you should not lower it quickly and should slowly vary slower it .
How are corals responding? 8.5 to 15 is a huge spike. I wouldn't try to bring the alk all the way back down to 8.5 at once. They are probably already stressed from the huge spike I wouldn't keep stressing them with a quick decline as well. Bring it to acceptable range then slowly decrease from there.
Wally.B
Active member
I see no change in Corals at all. This was really short term drop.
This overdose was a Randy's formula ALK Part 1.
(300ml overdose)
Apex shows PH jumped from 8.25 to 9.
Just finished Water change.
Ph has now dropped to 8.71.
ALK has now dropped to 11.3
Preparing water for Sump Water change. Have 5 Gallon of RO, water heating, waiting for more.
This was a short term spike exposure, less than an hour.
This overdose was a Randy's formula ALK Part 1.
(300ml overdose)
Apex shows PH jumped from 8.25 to 9.
Just finished Water change.
Ph has now dropped to 8.71.
ALK has now dropped to 11.3
Preparing water for Sump Water change. Have 5 Gallon of RO, water heating, waiting for more.
This was a short term spike exposure, less than an hour.
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Don't drop it fast. Turn off doser, do a 20% water change. I just had to ramp mine down from 15 as well. Everything is fine, just go slowly. You should drop 1.5 with a 20% change, and the tank should drop 1-1.5 points per 24 hours. Test daily until it's back where you need it
Wally.B
Active member
Did your's go up to 15 in like 10 minutes (like mine did) (if yes, how? why? If willing tell about your accident)
Or did you get to 15 slowly somehow, and were working your way down?
Mine crept up over a week, so not the same as you, but regardless, dropping it quickly is just adding to the problem.
Wally.B
Active member
Update.
Tank has survived for now. All corals look fine. Polyping like always.
Fish acting normally.
Corals kind of look better with the Extra Water changes.
Did the Sump water change this afternoon with a matching Alk 10 dKh.
ONLY CHALLENGE was getting a LOW Alk Salt. Reef Crystal had High alk 14 dKh.
Bought Tropic Marine Pro which mixed to an Alk of 9.8, which was perfect.
If anyone curious here is what the Overdose and Water change looked like on Apex (PH Probe).
The Apex is programmed to shut off dosing if PH goes over 8.35, but when you force the Dosing pump to ON (By Mistake), that condition is ignored.
I've solved this issue so it never happens again.
Thanks to those who provided support.
Tank has survived for now. All corals look fine. Polyping like always.
Fish acting normally.
Corals kind of look better with the Extra Water changes.
Did the Sump water change this afternoon with a matching Alk 10 dKh.
ONLY CHALLENGE was getting a LOW Alk Salt. Reef Crystal had High alk 14 dKh.
Bought Tropic Marine Pro which mixed to an Alk of 9.8, which was perfect.
If anyone curious here is what the Overdose and Water change looked like on Apex (PH Probe).
The Apex is programmed to shut off dosing if PH goes over 8.35, but when you force the Dosing pump to ON (By Mistake), that condition is ignored.
I've solved this issue so it never happens again.
Thanks to those who provided support.
Wally.B
Active member
yippee think I did the right thing.
Note. This is an all SPS FRAG tank. 20+ small frags. They probably had more shock being introduced into my tank coming from stores over last few months.
I know folks have said don't drop the alk fast.
But since I caught the spike quickly and had reservoir of RO water and plenty of heaters to mix salt warm.
The quick return to a lower ALK was possibly fast enough to not allow the corals to expierince any significant stress/soak in absorption.
I also just dropped ALK down enough to get a reading on my test kit. Then I left the tank alone.
Had this been discovered next morning. Things would have been worse. The alk dosing bottle had a half a gallon of dosing mix!!!
I could be wrong dropping the alk so quickly. I will know over next while.
Will post again in week or so. Or if anything goes wrong.
Note. This is an all SPS FRAG tank. 20+ small frags. They probably had more shock being introduced into my tank coming from stores over last few months.
I know folks have said don't drop the alk fast.
But since I caught the spike quickly and had reservoir of RO water and plenty of heaters to mix salt warm.
The quick return to a lower ALK was possibly fast enough to not allow the corals to expierince any significant stress/soak in absorption.
I also just dropped ALK down enough to get a reading on my test kit. Then I left the tank alone.
Had this been discovered next morning. Things would have been worse. The alk dosing bottle had a half a gallon of dosing mix!!!
I could be wrong dropping the alk so quickly. I will know over next while.
Will post again in week or so. Or if anything goes wrong.
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Peter Eichler
New member
When parameters are out of walk I generally feel it's best to correct quickly, though I'm in the minority in the hobby. Also, there's generally nothing wrong with 15 dKH as long as nutrients aren't dangerously low.
