Another Doser mistake Alkalinity spike

[Ocelaris]

So I woke up around 4:30am with the Apex going off that the pH was flatlining at 8.5. Of course I knew what happened, the reeftronics Apex dosing calculator was offline yesterday, and I had adjusted my calcium/alkalinity oscillation function manually to add another 5mL (I probably goofed the entry doing it from my phone). I probably ended up adding around 460mL over 7 hours, where as normal dose is 130mL over 24 hours.

So I did a water change completed by 5am, and now waiting for new water to stabilize so I can do another water change before having to go off to work.

So I was searching past alkalinity spike threads, and I didn't really see a "this is what you should do", so I wanted to compile something for people in the future:

Things to do:
Water changes
Check Alk/Calcium/Magnesium frequently until stabilizes
Check equipment (heaters etc... for precpitation)
Turn down lights for a day or two
Find a deity to pray to, if not already chosen

Things not to do:
Dose Acid (or if you can calculate fairly accurately how much was dosed, is that worth considering?)


Anything else I'm missing? Thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If the pH is 8.5, there's no reason to do anything due to high pH, since it is fine. I only recommend adding acid above pH 8.6.

Is the tank water cloudy with precipitate?

I'd measure the alkalinity and see how high it actually is.

 

[Ocelaris]

I ran 4 alkalinity tests until I had to go to work. The first was before the water change, and was past the red sea test max (15). After the water change it's dropped to around 14. I normally run my alkalinity at 11, so basically added 2.5 days extra sodium carbonate solution which is 3 dkh. If I had started at 7 dkh, I'd be a little more worried, but when I left everything looked fine, no precipitation to see (but of course it was somewhat dark except for the refugium light and room lights).

Calcium was steady at 450 and magnesium at 1420 which is my normal readings for the past month or so. I keep 8+ nitrates (past regular red sea range) and 0.04+ phosphates (0.03 yesterday).
PH is normally between 8.1 and 8.3.

The pH now is 8.4 and dropping, but I get a 0.3 bump every day with the lights, so if pH gets over 8.5 I'll shut off the lights. I have only 2 of 6 bulbs set to go on, and that usually isn't enough to add a significant pH bump.

I mixed up new salt (instant ocean) into the 30 gallon brute can, but the salinity hadn't stabilized so I added a skimmer pump to aerate the water. Unfortunately I had to leave before I could get another change in this morning, so I'll see how we're doing tonight. Usually water changes have no noticeable effect on my alkalinity or calcium, so I'm hoping the tank's buffering capacity to kick in and/or precipitate out the extra alkalinity.

Thanks all for the help! I need to see if the reeftronic people would be willing to share the code for that calculator! I live by that thing, and with the Apex syntax being so cranky, I know why people put out for the dos now!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If you are normally at 11 and are at 14 dKH now, I wouldn't do anything more but watch.

If you really want to drive the alk down faster, you can drop it in the new water change water with acid.

 

[Ocelaris]

Thanks, I'm down to 8.2 now. Is there some easy to follow formula for volume of acetic acid at standard grocery store strength (5%?) to drop say oh, 1 dKH?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks, I'm down to 8.2 now. Is there some easy to follow formula for volume of acetic acid at standard grocery store strength (5%?) to drop say oh, 1 dKH?

Vinegar will not drop alkalinity. The alk comes back when the vinegar (acetate) is metabolized.

You must use muriatic or sulfuric acid. I can give a recipe, but I'd only do it in new salt water due the the very low pH before you blow off the excess CO2 (or in a big emergency).

 

[Ocelaris]

Thanks, I think I'm going to skip any more drastic measures as everything is looking unusually good. I've done 2 water changes in the past 4 days and did new carbon as well. PH is doing well within normal parameters at 8.12 and I'll do some more testing tonight to see how things are progressing and if I have to descale anything like the uv which is especially prone to it.

The lps especially are fat and happy, but I did feed them last night. All the sps are basically the same.

I know the thing to do right now is to not do water changes, and I get the logic, but my tank loves the crud out of water changes. Thanks everyone for the help!

 

[Ocelaris]

Finally figured out my problem, somehow I changed

OSC 030:00/004:56/025:04 Then ON

To

OSC 030:00/004:56/025:04 Then OFF

So it was running the entire time except for 5 minutes per hour. No idea how that happened, but I blame auto correct.

I did another water change and before the water change the Alkalinity was down to 12, so I'm going back to the regular schedule.

Thanks all! And I'll update if there are any issues in a few days or so.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Sounds good.

Happy Reefing.