Emergency-Help Please

[slojmn]

Yea, Alk swings are the worst for SPS corals, LPS, softies and zoas are a bit more forgiving. Consistency is important for all corals but those Acros really don't have much range when it comes to alk swings. Time will tell.

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Slojmn - The best thing to do is let your Alkalinity decline slowly. Doing anything drastic at this point will just count as another dramatic change to the tank. Let the tanks stabilize yourself. I have seen corals survive at such dKh. Is it recommended, well of course not. I used to run my old tanks around 12dkh.

Overall, just relax and let whatever happens happen.

 

[Justiful]

Just about everything in the hobby relies on consistency. Too fast is normally not a good thing. I was referring to Alk in my post. Quick Alk swings can be devastating to sps corals. As far as ph goes I never chase ph numbers. Again consistency is key as opposed to "perfect" numbers

Thank you. I am a bit compulsive. Glad I found that out now, just starting out then after I made a mistake.

Yea, Alk swings are the worst for SPS corals, LPS, softies and zoas are a bit more forgiving. Consistency is important for all corals but those Acros really don't have much range when it comes to alk swings. Time will tell.

Thank you guys a lot for the info. I am compulsive and would have quickly done something stupid if my water looked bad. Luckily it is perfect right now because I hired a professional Aquarium service... them telling me not to touch the tank water unless I called them makes a lot more sense now.

 

[jcdeng]

just a thought, if you add more cal to the tank and make it precipitate out with the alk would that lower the alk?

 

[slojmn]

just a thought, if you add more cal to the tank and make it precipitate out with the alk would that lower the alk?

Thanks for responding to my thread and throwing ideas out. I really feel that any attempts at lowering the alk with additives will only create another big swing in parameters to an already stressed out system...even though everything looks fine the damage is happening at a cellular level. Hopefully the acros will get through. I really think letting the tank naturally drift back down over the next week or two is best.

Slojmn - The best thing to do is let your Alkalinity decline slowly. Doing anything drastic at this point will just count as another dramatic change to the tank. Let the tanks stabilize yourself. I have seen corals survive at such dKh. Is it recommended, well of course not. I used to run my old tanks around 12dkh.

Overall, just relax and let whatever happens happen.

Thanks for the last bit of advice...that will be my mantra over the next few months. It's so true, whatever will be will be no matter how stressed I get. I have to just let it be and baby the tank back.

 

[ReefMadScientist]

Thanks for the last bit of advice...that will be my mantra over the next few months. It's so true, whatever will be will be no matter how stressed I get. I have to just let it be and baby the tank back.

You're welcome. As for the RTN'ing, let it be and as soon as your tank is back to normal - just cut off the dead skeleton to stop the RTN'ing from reaching your tips. I saved a few corals this way. My dKH dropped dramatically and I was dealing with the same as you were. Today, over a year later, my original SPS coral that I purchased initially is still here. It is huge now. It has been with me through my RTN issues, low salinity rookie mistakes, etc. etc.

 

[4FordFamily]

I agree, slow correction is your best bet. Sorry

 

[ssdawood]

Hi Alicia

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I think you will be fine. A lot of reefers did run their tank at 12 dkh so 14 won't be so bad.

All said and done you might experience a little stn but that will be easily stopped.

For future please program your doser outlet with ph probe. This will shut down the doser in an event like this. You don't need a mindstream.

Also I agree that at this moment no sudden changes are good and let alk fall on its own slowly.

Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[evolved]

For future please program your doser outlet with ph probe. This will shut down the doser in an event like this.

But only on "auto"; if set manually "on" that wouldn't do anything I'm afraid (like this incident).

Sorry to hear about the incident as well.
Some things will make it through though; it's just a crap shoot as to what.

 

[watchguy123]

Good luck with this. I feel for you and understand what its like to rebuild and be frustrated again.

 

[ssdawood]

But only on "auto"; if set manually "on" that wouldn't do anything I'm afraid (like this incident).

Sorry to hear about the incident as well.
Some things will make it through though; it's just a crap shoot as to what.

You are so right. I never thought about that.

This is so true.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If everything is going to die anyway, and you want a last resort go to gas station or store and get some lemons. Squize a few into the tank. Your alk will go down. No idea how many it will take. As an organic acid though it should be safe, and break down quickly. So no long term effects.

I tested this just now with a lemon I had in fridge. Alk went down in 4oz of salt water from my tank. with 1 tbs of squeezed lemon. You have a test kit, you may have lemon juice in your house, try it yourself. (not sure if juice is same as real lemon)

I should add nitrate will go up... you will get a mini cycle. It might save it though until a water change.

Not a good plan. The drop in alkalinity will only be temporary. As soon as the organic acids are metabolized, the alk will be right back where it started. This is no different than dosing vinegar, which many people do without alkalinity issues.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Oscaror, I just found it at 14 dKH tonight. My plan is to do a small water change tomorrow evening and let it drift down naturally. I figure that is what Randy will suggest and it is what my gut is telling me is best. Better not to add more stress.

Thanks Shep, Alk swings are the WORST, especially something like this, super fast and sudden. I want to hold onto some hope so hearing of folks that have actually had SPS make it through something like this will certainly help the Hope Factor!!!

Yes, at 14 dKH, that's what I'd advise.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Hi. I am new to saltwater life. So are you saying that PH is less important sometimes then how rapidly the PH changes? How do you decide how fast is too fast or too slow? I know it is off topic a bit I am sorry. I wish you the best of luck also slojmn.

pH changes are not very important in general, only the extent of the extremes.

So, for example, a ph that changes daily from 7.9 to 8.3 is likely better for many calcifying organisms than a steady pH 7.7.

 

[slojmn]

Yes, at 14 dKH, that's what I'd advise.

Thanks Randy, that's what I figured all along.

Hi Alicia

Sorry to hear about your mishap. I think you will be fine. A lot of reefers did run their tank at 12 dkh so 14 won't be so bad.

All said and done you might experience a little stn but that will be easily stopped.

For future please program your doser outlet with ph probe. This will shut down the doser in an event like this. You don't need a mindstream.

Also I agree that at this moment no sudden changes are good and let alk fall on its own slowly.

Good luck and keep us informed.

I will definitely keep the thread updated as time goes by. These kind of incidents usually have a lingering effect on the acros. It could be months before I know the full effects. As soon as the tank falls into normal Alk range I'll feel better.

But only on "auto"; if set manually "on" that wouldn't do anything I'm afraid (like this incident).

Sorry to hear about the incident as well.
Some things will make it through though; it's just a crap shoot as to what.

I know which corals I really, really don't want to lose...I'm betting on many of them to make it through!!!

Good luck with this. I feel for you and understand what its like to rebuild and be frustrated again.

Thanks a ton, I appreciate it...such a rookie mistake!!!!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Thanks Randy, that's what I figured all along.

You're welcome.

Good luck!

 

[Opus]

I've gotten mine up to 14 before and didn't lose any of my acros, but my monti's didn't like it and all died but one. My zoas didn't really seem to care that it was so high nor any of lps. I just let it slowly go back down on its own, took about 2 weeks for my tank.

 

[slojmn]

I've gotten mine up to 14 before and didn't lose any of my acros, but my monti's didn't like it and all died but one. My zoas didn't really seem to care that it was so high nor any of lps. I just let it slowly go back down on its own, took about 2 weeks for my tank.

When this happened for you was it a sudden spike? How long did it take before you noticed things starting to STN or show the effects?

 

[jporter17]

Slojmn, sorry to hear of the malfunction.
I had a doser hang in the on state a little over a year ago. The pictures are what my tank looked like in the morning.




It dosed almost a full gallon of Alk into my 150G during the night. I wasn't sure what to do and performed a massive water change since I figured I caught it quickly. I changed over 50G before I could start to see the back of the tank. It was like whole milk. While I lost most of my chalices and some of my acros, I only lost one fish. The acros faired much better than the LPS. It was a long process and I believe my tank is only now starting to make a come back. Hang in there. JP

 

[slojmn]

Slojmn, sorry to hear of the malfunction.
I had a doser hang in the on state a little over a year ago. The pictures are what my tank looked like in the morning.




It dosed almost a full gallon of Alk into my 150G during the night. I wasn't sure what to do and performed a massive water change since I figured I caught it quickly. I changed over 50G before I could start to see the back of the tank. It was like whole milk. While I lost most of my chalices and some of my acros, I only lost one fish. The acros faired much better than the LPS. It was a long process and I believe my tank is only now starting to make a come back. Hang in there. JP

Thanks JP, I didn't get any cloudy issues. There was absolutely no way to know that anything was amiss until I did the Alk test two nights later. I figure it will be a while before I really know the effects. I was just wondering when you started to see the corals begin to fail.