Ato quick dumped kalk into tank

[SoggyNW]

My ato dumped 2 gallons of kalk into my 40 gallon tank tonight and and the water went cloudy. To pH jumped and I added a little seltzer water to bring it back down.

How big of a concern is this? Do the fish care? How much will this bother the coral?

I have 15 gallons of water currently heating up to mix but it won't be ready for hours yet. Anything I should do in the interim.

 

[Hemmdog]

I don’t use kalk for this reason exactly. Let’s see if anyone else on reef squad can advise.
Sorry this happened to you.

#reefsquad

 

[SoggyNW]

If it were only to water I wouldn't be concerned, my salinity went from 1.026 to 1.025. but I don't understand the reaction that is causing the water to cloud up. What is it doing to my water parameters and what is the best way to counter it.

 

[Charles4400]

Use vinegar to bring down the ph. Your ph is probably extremely high right now. Don't know exact dosage so add some and keep checking ph. And repeat.

 

[SoggyNW]

The pH jumped from 8.2 to 8.8+. I've been adding celtzer water 20ml at a time and I've got it back down to 8.2.

 

[35ppt]

The pH jumped from 8.2 to 8.8+. I've been adding celtzer water 20ml at a time and I've got it back down to 8.2.

You did the right thing. The cloudiness is just calcium carbonate precipitant and should disperse. You could do a WC but if you've got the pH down that's the main concern.

 

[nereefpat]

Yes, the cloudy water is from Ca and alk combining from their high levels and high pH. The effects might not be as bad as you think.

Do you know what previous and current readings for alkalinity are?

A good way to prevent this is to use some kind of dosing system for kalk instead of using the ATO.

 

[mitch91175]

My ato dumped 2 gallons of kalk into my 40 gallon tank tonight and and the water went cloudy. To pH jumped and I added a little seltzer water to bring it back down.

How big of a concern is this? Do the fish care? How much will this bother the coral?

I have 15 gallons of water currently heating up to mix but it won't be ready for hours yet. Anything I should do in the interim.

Dumping that much is a BIG concern. dKH will skyrocket and if you are keeping sensitive corals, they will show affects from this. 2 gallons in a much larger system might be fine, but I'd measure the dKH and not just focus on the pH. Just think this way, you pH jumped from 8.2 to 8.8 (big swing) so just imagine what happened to your dKH/calcium levels.

 

[35ppt]

Dumping that much is a BIG concern. dKH will skyrocket and if you are keeping sensitive corals, they will show affects from this. 2 gallons in a much larger system might be fine, but I'd measure the dKH and not just focus on the pH. Just think this way, you pH jumped from 8.2 to 8.8 (big swing) so just imagine what happened to your dKH/calcium levels.

I agree with this, I didn't mean don't check your other parameters. Obviously you would expect there to be some adjustment needed there. But the big "right now" emergency was the pH. IME the precipitation keeps the parameters from going too out of wack but definitely check and adjust as needed.

 

[SoggyNW]

The foggy water cleared up last night and I was able to test. Both my Hana checker and salifert test are telling me my dkh is down around 5 and calcium is around 470, ph is at 8.3.

Normally I keep dkh at 8.4 ish. Is it safer to bring it back up to that quickly or slowly?

 

[SoggyNW]

Double post

 

[35ppt]

The foggy water cleared up last night and I was able to test. Both my Hana checker and salifert test are telling me my dkh is down around 5 and calcium is around 470, ph is at 8.3.

Normally I keep dkh at 8.4 ish. Is it safer to bring it back up to that quickly or slowly?

Yep, the percip did a number on your dKH. The rule of thumb is no more than 1.4 dKH swing in 24 hours. So you could raise to 6.4 over the course of the day today then tomorrow get it up over 7 then you're at least in the normal range and can raise slower from there. I would let Ca drop to wherever it was before naturally.

/And you're going to want to use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise your dKH, not sodium carbonate (soda ash).

 

[mitch91175]

The foggy water cleared up last night and I was able to test. Both my Hana checker and salifert test are telling me my dkh is down around 5 and calcium is around 470, ph is at 8.3.

Normally I keep dkh at 8.4 ish. Is it safer to bring it back up to that quickly or slowly?

Do it slowly if that is infact correct dKH. No more than 1 dKH per day. Try to do everything slow when you can, too fast can cause issues. Sometimes you can change it quickly depending if it was cause immediately and resolved immediately. But you have to know how you tank will react to either approach. Definitely not a one-size-fits-all type of deal.

You'll learn more about your system for sure as you go through things like this.

 

[mitch91175]

Yep, the percip did a number on your dKh. The rule of thumb is no more than 1.4 dKH swing in 24 hours. So you could raise to 6.4 over the course of the day today then tomorrow get it up over 7 then you're at least in the normal range and can raise slower from there. I would let Ca drop to wherever it was before naturally.

Haha, I usually go by no more than 1dKH but 1.4 increase not much different and should be fine as well.

 

[35ppt]

Haha, I usually go by no more than 1dKH but 1.4 increase not much different and should be fine as well.

No doubt, and I'm sure it depends on what you're keeping of course.

 

[SoggyNW]

Yep, the percip did a number on your dKH. The rule of thumb is no more than 1.4 dKH swing in 24 hours. So you could raise to 6.4 over the course of the day today then tomorrow get it up over 7 then you're at least in the normal range and can raise slower from there. I would let Ca drop to wherever it was before naturally.

/And you're going to want to use sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) to raise your dKH, not sodium carbonate (soda ash).

Do it slowly if that is infact correct dKH. No more than 1 dKH per day. Try to do everything slow when you can, too fast can cause issues. Sometimes you can change it quickly depending if it was cause immediately and resolved immediately. But you have to know how you tank will react to either approach. Definitely not a one-size-fits-all type of deal.

You'll learn more about your system for sure as you go through things like this.

Haha, I usually go by no more than 1dKH but 1.4 increase not much different and should be fine as well.

But having gone from 8.4 to 5 in less than 12 hours would it be safer to try to quickly bring it back up to the 8.4 that everything is used to?

 

[mitch91175]

But having gone from 8.4 to 5 in less than 12 hours would it be safer to try to quickly bring it back up to the 8.4 that everything is used to?

If it is my tank and knowing my tank, I would go back up throughout the day and not all at once, but that just what I'd do for my tank. Your pH will increase too so you still have to space it out throughout the day if your gonna do that.

 

[35ppt]

But having gone from 8.4 to 5 in less than 12 hours would it be safer to try to quickly bring it back up to the 8.4 that everything is used to?

You could get a second opinion from the #reefsquad but I'd go with the 1 - 1.4dKH a day. And like Mitch said, pH is a concern when raising your dKH.

 

[SoggyNW]

If it is my tank and knowing my tank, I would go back up throughout the day and not all at once, but that just what I'd do for my tank. Your pH will increase too so you still have to space it out throughout the day if your gonna do that.

I think that is what I'm going to do. To compound this problem our floors are being replaced tomorrow so I already was planning on taking the tank down tonight and moving everything to a holding tank.

I've mixed up a lot of new water using reef crystals. I think I'm going to start replacing tank water with new water and mixing some old water into new water in the holding tank. I think I can get this done pretty gently.

 

[mitch91175]

I think that is what I'm going to do. To compound this problem our floors are being replaced tomorrow so I already was planning on taking the tank down tonight and moving everything to a holding tank.

I've mixed up a lot of new water using reef crystals. I think I'm going to start replacing tank water with new water and mixing some old water into new water in the holding tank. I think I can get this done pretty gently.

Oh man you have a lot going on all at one. Wish you the best and keep us posted on your success/failure/concerns. Biggest thing to take from this is to realize what the cause and try to mitigate it going forward.