15.3 Alkalinity

[Ariahsart]

I need help, I ended up accidentally overdosing with seachem marine buffer. The reason I used this was because for the past week or so my PH has stayed at 7.8 and my room gets hot throughout the day because of how my room is designed, and my corals, my hammer especially started to look funny. So, I dosed the buffer, I have a 14 gallon tank and when I retested my PH was good but my alkalinity shot to high heaven.

I did do a water change, 25% and added new water. I use reef crystals and retested each hour and saw it come down from not being detectable to 15.3. Is there anything else I can do? I'm really concerned and mad at myself for accidently dumping too much because I couldn't find a dosage for a 14 gallon. I literally took pinches of the buffer and added my tank water and when I saw my PH was at 8.3 I checked KH and it was undetectable.

I have 6 corals 2 clowns, two turbo snails, 4 blue claw hermits, a scarlet hermit, and a neon blue goby and RBTA, I don't want them to end up dying.

What else aside from water changes can I do? I did research and saw a few things. Can I use distilled white vinegar? I'm not sure if people have tried that, or is that not going to do anything, is there a product I can get that is reef safe?

 

[TiggerMillions]

If you dont have any sensitive corals, you can safely drop ur alk by 1 every day by water change.

 

[Ariahsart]

If you dont have any sensitive corals, you can safely drop ur alk by 1 every day by water change.

Oh okay, I have one pulsing xenia, three candy cane coral, one mushroom Ricordea, and a hammer coral.

 

[WWC Verified Sponsor]

Those are hardy Corals so they will do fine with you doing multiple water changes. If you have any other questions please feel free to reach out

 

[TiggerMillions]

But, if you just overdosed it now, you actually should drop it more immediately. I believe reef crystal runs pretty high on alk already (12), so I think 14. 5 is a reasonable start if you just overdosed it now.

Oh okay, I have one pulsing xenia, three candy cane coral, one mushroom Ricordea, and a hammer coral.

 

[Ariahsart]

Those are hardy Corals so they will do fine with you doing multiple water changes. If you have any other questions please feel free to reach out

Thank you so much for the help I really appreciate it

 

[Ariahsart]

But, if you just overdosed it now, you actually should drop it more immediately.

I did this yesterday

 

[TiggerMillions]

Oh... Then 1 a day is fine.

 

[Ariahsart]

Kk, I'll be doing that today.

 

[SPR1968]

I need help, I ended up accidentally overdosing with seachem marine buffer. The reason I used this was because for the past week or so my PH has stayed at 7.8 and my room gets hot throughout the day because of how my room is designed, and my corals, my hammer especially started to look funny. So, I dosed the buffer, I have a 14 gallon tank and when I retested my PH was good but my alkalinity shot to high heaven.

I did do a water change, 25% and added new water. I use reef crystals and retested each hour and saw it come down from not being detectable to 15.3. Is there anything else I can do? I'm really concerned and mad at myself for accidently dumping too much because I couldn't find a dosage for a 14 gallon. I literally took pinches of the buffer and added my tank water and when I saw my PH was at 8.3 I checked KH and it was undetectable.

I have 6 corals 2 clowns, two turbo snails, 4 blue claw hermits, a scarlet hermit, and a neon blue goby and RBTA, I don't want them to end up dying.

What else aside from water changes can I do? I did research and saw a few things. Can I use distilled white vinegar? I'm not sure if people have tried that, or is that not going to do anything, is there a product I can get that is reef safe?

I would just let it drop down naturally, or if alkalinity usage is very low do a few water changes as you have, to bring it back in line. I wouldn’t go adding anything else.

I wouldn’t start messing around with pH as you can cause serious problems as you’ve found.

You have to remember test error margins as well. The pH in both my systems runs anywhere from 7.7 to 8.1, well according to an Apex probe. Unless your corals are having problems just leave it well alone.

 

[Ariahsart]

I would just let it drop down naturally, or if alkalinity usage is very low do a few water changes as you have, to bring it back in line. I wouldn’t go adding anything else.

I wouldn’t start messing around with pH as you can cause serious problems as you’ve found.

You have to remember test error margins as well. The pH in both my systems runs anywhere from 7.7 to 8.1, well according to an Apex probe. Unless your corals are having problems just leave it well alone.

Yeah, that was lesson learned for me, I just get concern because of the fact my room gets so hot couple with my 100 w lights on my tank. I'm going to just do the water Agitation, and fan on to keep it stable 24/7

 

[Karen00]

Is the temp in your tank remaining stable? Swings in temp also cause changes in salinity which isn't ideal and if I remember correctly ph decreases as temp increases. I ask because you mention your room getting really hot.

 

[Ariahsart]

Is the temp in your tank remaining stable? Swings in temp also cause changes in salinity which isn't ideal and if I remember correctly ph decreases as temp increases. I ask because you mention your room getting really hot.

I believe so, I keep it at 78°, since summer hit my room has gotten hot so I put up a black sheet to keep heat out. I only see my light to my heater come on twice so far and that's it.

 

[Karen00]

I believe so, I keep it at 78°, since summer hit my room has gotten hot so I put up a black sheet to keep heat out. I only see my light to my heater come on twice so far and that's it.

You should make sure you actually check the temperature of the tank throughout the day. Don't rely on what you see the heater doing. It could be temp swings that are causing problems with your ph readings (and salinity).

 

[Ariahsart]

You should make sure you actually check the temperature of the tank throughout the day. Don't rely on what you see the heater doing. It could be temp swings that are causing problems with your ph readings (and salinity).

Oh I see, I'll have to get a digital one to read it then. I have a regular one but I think I need that too

 

[Karen00]

Oh I see, I'll have to get a digital one to read it then. I have a regular one but I think I need that too

Just chart it through the day for a couple days to make sure it's stable. A degree either way won't do much bit if you see the temp go up when your room starts to heat up then that could be the problem. At minimum you need to rule out temperature as playing a part in your low pH reading.

 

[Ariahsart]

Just chart it through the day for a couple days to make sure it's stable. A degree either way won't do much bit if you see the temp go up when your room starts to heat up then that could be the problem. At minimum you need to rule out temperature as playing a part in your low pH reading.

Okay, I'll do that