Panic Time! Need Help!

[Stray32]

I don't have any idea what happened, but my Calc is at 650 and my Alk is at 15!!!!

That probably explains my birdsnest disaster.

What do I do guys? Big water change? Buffer? Need help!

 

[Paul_N]

I would do a water change.

 

[MikeD88]

Try doing a water change with lower salinity... because if you put .25 .26 ish water in it will still have high calcium.

 

[benny z]

smallish daily water changes. remember - it took a while to get to those numbers... you don't want to drastically change it.

 

[benny z]

Try doing a water change with lower salinity... because if you put .25 .26 ish water in it will still have high calcium.

depends on what salt he's using, though i'm not aware of any salts that have higher than nsw calc.

op - what salt do you use?

 

[benny z]

also - stop whatever dosing method you are using... 2-part, carx, kalk... let the numbers fall naturally.

 

[Paul_N]

I think he uses Red Sea Coral Pro so that will be good since it has Ca 490 Alk 7

 

[Stray32]

also - stop whatever dosing method you are using... 2-part, carx, kalk... let the numbers fall naturally.

That's the thing, dosing was for Alk only, I dosed slowly over a few weeks to bring it from 7-11, testing along the way. I did a 20% water change on Saturday, and now my numbers are crazy.

I will be using Red Sea Coral Pro salt for the water change. What ratio of salt to water should I use, and how big of a water change should I do?

 

[benny z]

mix your salt to whatever you run typically.

test the first fresh batch you make to verify your calc kit isn't bad, or that you've got a bad batch of salt. if you have a reefer friend, have them test your water, too.

 

[benny z]

ps - panic not!

breath deeply, have a beer, and chill.

far better to be this direction than the opposite.

 

[Paul_N]

I agree don't panic. The calc isn't that much of an issue. The main thing is to bring the ALK down.

 

[Stray32]

"Panic" was more of a way to get you guys to read this and help me more than a reaction lol. I was just a bit surprised they were so high, not sure what could have caused it...

 

[benny z]

it's cool... worst thing you can do in this hobby is panic and over-react. ...unless of course you come home to an empty tank!

i'd just like to take this opportunity to give a shout out to tropic marin.

this commercial brought to you by yours truly.

cheers!
- ben

 

[Paul_N]

How many water changes have you done with that new bucket of salt. Just a thought if this happened around the time you started to use it.

*could be a bad bucket. Better test it like Benny said

 

[Stray32]

Haven't opened it yet actually, I used up what I had left from a small bag of salt I bought a few weeks ago to hole me over until I got the bucket.

 

[JR's Reef]

What is the salinity of the tank? If its on the high side I would start droping it down some with fresh water that way you are taking everything down and not adding anything back then let it come down the rest on its own. Having high ALK also may drive PH down so watch your PH

 

[110reef]

Please check your mag also. Low mag will cause the alk and cal numbers to get out of whack.

 

[ReeferRob]

Please check your mag also. Low mag will cause the alk and cal numbers to get out of whack.

+10 to that one this has been my experience also.

 

[cay85]

mix your salt to whatever you run typically.

test the first fresh batch you make to verify your calc kit isn't bad, or that you've got a bad batch of salt. if you have a reefer friend, have them test your water, too.

+1 on the test kit make sure that is right. i'm not sure if you could get a number that high.
+1 on the mag. test.-chris

 

[Stray32]

Guess I should check my Mag, I am guessing it is off. I have the Mag from the Two-Part left, I can use it if needed.