Is muriactic acid my only option?

[Gern]

So I just tested my kh via drops and got a Kh reading of 16.. I was going to use vinegar but I found thats a bandaid.. I am extreamly familier with muriatic acid, but is that actually even safe for the tank? I just lost two clownfish and want to make sure it is right before adding more..

 

[joseserrano]

Large water change

 

[taricha]

before I went down the road of adding acid, I would question if that extreme dKH value is real. No salt mix will mix up to that. Did you add a lot of alkalinity? how are you testing? etc.
A large water change will be the answer, but knowing how it happened seems more important first.

 

[madweazl]

I'd definitely get a sanity check from a different test kit before taking action. As for safe, I can only comment that I used it for years to lower the alkalinity of freshly mixed water prior to water changes in an acropora dominated tank without observable issue. I wouldn't add it directly to the tank unless there were no living occupants (the pH will plummet).

 

[Gern]

Im using the api master reef kit, ro buddy water system.. seems dkh starts at 8 before adding salt, then at 14 after adding salt

 

[AquaBiomics]

This suggests either a very large testing error or a very large problem with your RODI system.

The alkalinity of RODI is approximately zero.

Don't add HCl to the tank directly if there are living things inside, the pH will cause problems. I'd do large water changes with 7 dkh seawater.

 

[Gern]

I may be on to something here.. I tested water coming from the rodi.. indeed it tested 1

Then I tested rodi water sitting in a distilled water jug, which I have been using to move it and it tested 8.. could the jug be causing this?

 

[Brett S]

It’s also worth noting that while an alkalinity is 16 is very high and I would be worried about any corals you have in the tank, it is very unlikely to have affected your fish. I don’t believe that your clownfish died because of high alkalinity. I would be looking at other things to find the cause of their death.

 

[Gern]

No coral just yet, it will in time though.

The clownfish had ich (I think they came home with it) but I did get it off both of them and examined them mulitple times a day, and never saw it come back, but I am also a noob right now.

The second one that died I had about .75 ammonia and 40 (35?) Ppm nitrates when I tested, but it couldn't have been that way long (a day?) .. and the first to die, those readings were all 0.

Now I had them right at 10 days before the second passed.. so I assume I have 3 possible causes?

 

[Brett S]

No coral just yet, it will in time though.

The clownfish had ich (I think they came home with it) but I did get it off both of them and examined them mulitple times a day, and never saw it come back, but I am also a noob right now.

The second one that died I had about .75 ammonia and 40 (35?) Ppm nitrates when I tested, but it couldn't have been that way long (a day?) .. and the first to die, those readings were all 0.

Now I had them right at 10 days before the second passed.. so I assume I have 3 possible causes?

Ich will definitely kill fish. .75ppm ammonia will also kill fish. Those are the reasons your fish died. Not high alkalinity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Im using the api master reef kit, ro buddy water system.. seems dkh starts at 8 before adding salt, then at 14 after adding salt

That’s the problem. You should not use water with any alk in it.

 

[George81]

before I went down the road of adding acid, I would question if that extreme dKH value is real. No salt mix will mix up to that. Did you add a lot of alkalinity? how are you testing? etc.
A large water change will be the answer, but knowing how it happened seems more important first.

I had a bucket of Kent marine that was mixing at 14dkh. I complained to the lfs and their response was “ oh, it’s a reef salt”. salt options are Limited around me but I was able to find fritz blue box. I used the Kent for mixing water On my fish qt. Haven’t bought Kent since..over a year now