JSB
Usually Confused
As I have added a lot to my tank over the last couple of months, including clams and a lot of SPS, I have spent the last couple of weeks fine-tuning my Ca/Alk/Mag dosing so it is just right. This included making micro-adjustments to my dosing pumps as well as measured bulk doses of Ca/Alk.
So this morning, I sat down to test the water again, as I have most Sunday mornings, and every other day for the past two weeks. Today was going to be the day that the tests proved I had everything spot on. Mag was good. Ca was good. Alk, however jumped from 8.2 dKh to 11.7 in two days! Wait, that can't be. I probably screwed the test up! Let me test again. The next test showed some number off the chart which would have been in excess of 13 dKh! Oh crap! Is my dosing pump just constantly running or something?
I know from experience that hi Alk while doing carbon dosing (in my case a bio-pellet reactor) can burn some things up. So I am very concerned about the potential damage that I have caused. I am thinking massive water changes or some other reactive cure, hoping that I am not too late.
Then I had a thought. I usually use a specimen container to get several ounces of water to take to my lab (read kitchen table) for testing. This morning, the specimen container I usually use was not readily in sight, so I grabbed the closest vessel, being a dosing cup, one that I had recently dosed alk into the tank with. So I grabbed a clean syringe and took the sample straight from the tank. 8.2 dKh, just as I expected it to be. Phew! I was so close to going into damage control mode, when there was no issue. It appears that the minute amounts of dry soda ash left in the dosing cup were dissolving into the test sample.
So I relearned a lesson. Make certain that you have a problem, and if at all possible find out the root cause of the problem, before you start fixing things. Massive water changes would have only added unnecessary stress to my livestock, and wasted time and money.
So this morning, I sat down to test the water again, as I have most Sunday mornings, and every other day for the past two weeks. Today was going to be the day that the tests proved I had everything spot on. Mag was good. Ca was good. Alk, however jumped from 8.2 dKh to 11.7 in two days! Wait, that can't be. I probably screwed the test up! Let me test again. The next test showed some number off the chart which would have been in excess of 13 dKh! Oh crap! Is my dosing pump just constantly running or something?
I know from experience that hi Alk while doing carbon dosing (in my case a bio-pellet reactor) can burn some things up. So I am very concerned about the potential damage that I have caused. I am thinking massive water changes or some other reactive cure, hoping that I am not too late.
Then I had a thought. I usually use a specimen container to get several ounces of water to take to my lab (read kitchen table) for testing. This morning, the specimen container I usually use was not readily in sight, so I grabbed the closest vessel, being a dosing cup, one that I had recently dosed alk into the tank with. So I grabbed a clean syringe and took the sample straight from the tank. 8.2 dKh, just as I expected it to be. Phew! I was so close to going into damage control mode, when there was no issue. It appears that the minute amounts of dry soda ash left in the dosing cup were dissolving into the test sample.
So I relearned a lesson. Make certain that you have a problem, and if at all possible find out the root cause of the problem, before you start fixing things. Massive water changes would have only added unnecessary stress to my livestock, and wasted time and money.
