Doser failed overnight

[silverarrow]

My DOS doser dumped all the alk solution in my tank (about half a liter) overnight. Didn't change any of the settings recently. Walked up to the tank and saw the tank was white out and I could hear the dos pump still going. Sigh...time to clean up this mess. Tank is mostly sps . I'm not even sure where to start but I'm mixing up some saltwater now.

 

[Lionfish Lair]

I don't know what to say. That's horrible. :-(

 

[rock_lobster]

omg thats terrible. I will never run a dosing pump just for that risk. I run only peristaltic 24 hour pumps for 10 years now without one problem.

 

[joseserrano]

what kind of doser?

 

[mcarroll]

That blows. Had a similar outcome for different reasons before....everything in the system gets coated with a thin layer of CaCO3. If you can, I think I'd do a 100% water change asap. Otherwise the effects will linger.....at least in my experience.

I hope you figure out what happened!

 

[mcarroll]

My DOS doser

@rock_lobster @joseserrano
DOS = Neptune Aquatics' peristaltic dual-pump set.

 

[Paul Balli]

Sorry to read about your problem..talk about a crappy way to start the day. Good luck..

 

[hybridazn]

I've had this happen a couple times

I would not recommenddoing a WC right away, the dkh in your tank is already high and your sps are stressed from the spike. If you do a WC and dramatically lower it that is just another swing they will be going thru and isn't good. The water will clear in about a day and everything will be covered, after the tank clears take a baster and clean off the corals. The rocks will clear on their own. Check dkh after that and wait until it settles where you want it and then start dosing again to keep it stable.

 

[rock_lobster]

@rock_lobster @joseserrano
DOS = Neptune Aquatics' peristaltic dual-pump set.

Oh I see, I run mine 24hr at a very low .5ml per minute so it is impossible to overdose. But I use the ismatec lab grade dosers.

 

[silverarrow]

I've had this happen a couple times

I would not recommenddoing a WC right away, the dkh in your tank is already high and your sps are stressed from the spike. If you do a WC and dramatically lower it that is just another swing they will be going thru and isn't good. The water will clear in about a day and everything will be covered, after the tank clears take a baster and clean off the corals. The rocks will clear on their own. Check dkh after that and wait until it settles where you want it and then start dosing again to keep it stable.

Yeah - I'm concerned about another alk spike as well. I'm planning to change out 50% now and wait a couple hours and change another 50% and continue doing that until the alk level is back to normal.

 

[Walt71100]

I'm very sorry to see that, it looks serious. So the rest of us are aware of the specific problem, was the doser controlled by a tank controller, or running from its own internal control timer?

 

[luke33]

That stinks! I've had this happen twice, the worst thing to do is panic. I keep my tanks around 8.5 and each time this happened it was to high to even register. What I did each time is pull the water down to 12 as quickly as you can, then just let it be until it falls slowly back to 8.5.......or whatever you had your tank at. Each time this worked without a loss.....of course I was nervous as heck! But you do want to act quickly imo as sps do not get use or adjust to alk that high. Good luck!

 

[silverarrow]

I'm very sorry to see that, it looks serious. So the rest of us are aware of the specific problem, was the doser controlled by a tank controller, or running from its own internal control timer?

Yes - it was hooked up to the apex controller. The doser have been working fine for over a year and all of sudden this happens. I'll have to figure out why it failed before I feel comfortable putting it back online again.

That stinks! I've had this happen twice, the worst thing to do is panic. I keep my tanks around 8.5 and each time this happened it was to high to even register. What I did each time is pull the water down to 12 as quickly as you can, then just let it be until it falls slowly back to 8.5.......or whatever you had your tank at. Each time this worked without a loss.....of course I was nervous as heck! But you do want to act quickly imo as sps do not get use or adjust to alk that high. Good luck!

The alk measured 240ppm on the Hannah meter. I normally keep it at around 140ppm. I've already change out 30-40% off the water - will continue the water change tomorrow morning. My RODI can't make water fast enough to keep up with the water changes

 

[go29]

sorry to hear about that man.... did you by chance have any "fail safes" programmed into apex fusion? Im just curious as I run a dos and set up so that if pH raises above a certain value it cuts the power to the dos altogether.

I realize this doesn't help now and am truly sorry for the tank disaster, hopefully you can save some of the coral !

 

[Bpb]

Yikes. And that's supposed to be one of the top dosing pumps on the market

 

[silverarrow]

sorry to hear about that man.... did you by chance have any "fail safes" programmed into apex fusion? Im just curious as I run a dos and set up so that if pH raises above a certain value it cuts the power to the dos altogether.

I realize this doesn't help now and am truly sorry for the tank disaster, hopefully you can save some of the coral !

Thanks for the "fail safe" suggestion. I will definitely include the pH ceiling value on the program line going forward.

The tank cleared up a bit now. After the 30-40% water change, alk is now at 138ppm which is close enough to the target value of 140ppm. My sps slimed up quite a bit but I think they will pull through.

 

[aaron23]

I agree with above poster did you set the alk doser to turn off if pH hits a certain threshold?

 

[silverarrow]

I agree with above poster did you set the alk doser to turn off if pH hits a certain threshold?

Unfortunately, I did not but will definitely incorporate it going forward

 

[SJ-reefer]

Happened to me once, luck for me I was home and heard it. Now my neptune shuts off the doser if the ph hits 8.45

 

[luke33]

The alk measured 240ppm on the Hannah meter. I normally keep it at around 140ppm. I've already change out 30-40% off the water - will continue the water change tomorrow morning. My RODI can't make water fast enough to keep up with the water changes

Ok, good to know. In your case I wouldn't be super concerned. When i have had this happen i went from 150ppm to 300+. Your only moving from 7.5ish to 12.7ish which is a huge jump, but its like moving an sps from your tank to someone else's tank with higher alk. Now just keep your parameters consistent and like you mentioned above i think they will pull through. Totally sucks to have this happen though!