Houston we have a problem

[Socalx45]

So my Alk this morning was 5.9. I wanted to add some baking soda. Did some research. Baked 2 1/4 cups of baking soda then mixed that with a gallon of ro/di water. I added less then a quart to the tank and was going to test later. Well here is my tank now. I tested and my Alk is off the charts. Did I just kill everything? [emoji26]
And my tank looks like this

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[heathlindner25]

You added a quart of the solution? Two capfuls off of the gallon jug will raise my 40 breeder .5 dkh.
Holy cow! I'll let the pros chime in , but maybe vinegar?

 

[Socalx45]

It's a 125g tank with 50g sump but yeah I think I just F'd everything up

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[mpyers]

I would start doing a 100% water change immediately.

 

[mpyers]

Even if you have to use tap water.

 

[Socalx45]

Well I had to leave for an hour. I'm sick to my stomach. I had some zoas. 1 frag of sps 2 clowns 2 pajamas and a yellow tang.

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[mpyers]

It's got to be the worst feeling. I feel for you. Cross your fingers it precipitates out. I don't know if that's possible. But maybe.

 

[ssick92]

Unfortunately I don't think there is a great chance of anything making it through that, but start water changes immediately and see if you can salvage anything. SPS is definitely a goner, zoas most likely a goner too. Fish are generally pretty hearty in regards to alk swings, but it looks like they are literally in a cloud of precipitation so it would be doubtful... :sad2:

If anything good comes from this, it is at least a lesson unfortunately learned the hard way. Things need to be taken VERY SLOWLY in reef tanks. Your corals would probably have been alright if you gradually raised your alk back to normal, rather than trying to raise it all at once. Even if you had only raised it back to 7-8 (like you probably meant to), you still would have lost your SPS because they can't tolerate sharp swings like that.

Hindsight is always 20/20... Learn from this mistake and hope for the best.

 

[Socalx45]

Ok so I guess I didn't read the part on adding very small amounts. What is the dosage Calc for the gallon I mixed up.

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[ssick92]

Ok so I guess I didn't read the part on adding very small amounts. What is the dosage Calc for the gallon I mixed up.

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You essentially just mixed up a homemade solution of 2-part. A rule of thumb for a safe amount of 2 part to add is about .25-.5ml per gallon per day, but this obviously depends on the concentration of your solution and the stocking of your tank.

Where did you get the recipe from? Did they not indicate the recommended dosage?

 

[Flippers4pups]

http://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chemcalc.html

Always follow a dosing calculator. Dose no more than 1 dkh a day. 25% total water change ASAP and run some GAC. Hope your tank makes it.

 

[Socalx45]

Well just got home it's been 3.5 hours. I take it its not instant death but fish are still swimming. My chaeto in my fuse is white...looks like it snowed.

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[neiltus]

I would start making water and plan on some decent sized changes.

Good that some of your stock looks ok...

 

[Socalx45]

My filter sock was completely chalked up so I replaced that. I rinsed my chaeto ball with ro/di water. I had 30g of Ro/di for my ato so I mixed a quick batch of SW. Doing a 25% water change now. I'm just hoping this softens the blow just a little bit

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[ssick92]

Looks like you might have lucked out and most of it precipitated out before it affected your livestock much. Your zoa's actually look stoked But still do significant water changes and change all your filters.

Glad you didn't lose everything! At least it doesn't appear so...

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[mpyers]

I would still probably do more than 25%. Siphon out all the "snow"

 

[1jwampler]

Glad to see your livestock looks good. I would recommend that no matter what you add to your tank for the 1st time you consider 2 simple rules.
1.) Never add anything you can't test for.
2.) Add significantly less than you think you need and test, both chemically and visually.

In this case you got lucky twice. Once in that you could immediately see the addition created a problem and second that the problem didn't wipe out your livestock.

There are many things you could add like iodine that could wipe out everything with no immediate change to your water clarity or probe reading if you have probe(s).

Also remember that if everything is healthy prior to any change (meaning your not fixing something like this that you induced), a slow change will be much better for everything. Since a closed ecosystem that has to be both chemically and biologically balanced, it's highly likely that adding something to fix something will impact or break something else. There are lots of posts on how ALK relates to calcium and magnesium that would help you understand what else you could break while attempting to rapidly fix an ALK issue. By going slow and testing everything you can while making changes you can more often than not avert one positive change creating one or more negative changes.


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[Sinn Sage]

HOLY BABY JESUS ON CRUTCHES!!!!!!

Well, we know what you will be doing this weekend.

Water changes.

But before you post another 'Forest Gump In Space', please check water temp/salinity on the new water before you pour all that water in.

 

[Socalx45]

I don't think I'm out of the woods yet but everything still looks good this morning. I will do another water change tonight when I get home from work. I know it was a stupid move and a valuable lesson learned. Thank you for the words of encouragement and advise. I was afraid to ask for help because of the reaction I might get.

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[hkgar]

Your pumps may very well be in trouble also. When you get the dKh under control check the propellers and impellers for precip and clean if needed. Your sand my also have turned to a solid and need to be replaced.