How's This For A Mistake?...Alk Overdose

[MMAX]

I'll never admit how it happened although I should have known better. Anyway I almost s___ a brick when my tank became so cloudy I could hardly see anything. I was fearing the worst but began to feel a bit better after looking up some others overdose mishaps on line. From what I could see through the murky water, everyone seemed fine. Checked this morning and the water was a bit clearer. After scrubbing my glass and blasting off the rocks with a turkey baster tonight alls good. My fish are all ok and my corals have never looked better. Just have to get my Ca levels back in check. Just be careful of what you're adding and how much.

[reefermadness]

Alk overdose is one of the worst things for an SPS system anyway.

[FragIt Dan]

I accidentally spiked my Mg 800ppm in one dose in my sps tank, nothing seemed to mind very much except my sanity . I also almost melted the bottom of a bucket out the first time I bought anhydrous Mg. I remember my chem prof telling me to add chemicals to water, not water to chemicals, but i didn't listen! Do you mind telling us how high you think you dkh got and how much you raised it? I'm kinda curious what you got away with, assuming you haven't lost any corals.


FragIt Dan

[MMAX]

Originally Posted by FragIt Dan

I accidentally spiked my Mg 800ppm in one dose in my sps tank, nothing seemed to mind very much except my sanity . I also almost melted the bottom of a bucket out the first time I bought anhydrous Mg. I remember my chem prof telling me to add chemicals to water, not water to chemicals, but i didn't listen! Do you mind telling us how high you think you dkh got and how much you raised it? I'm kinda curious what you got away with, assuming you haven't lost any corals.


FragIt Dan

Like I said, all the corals seemed to love it--even the SPS. Started out at 5dkH, when I checked last night it was 16.8.

[christyf5]

Wow thats quite a hike! Glad to hear everything is ok. I've increased my alk by a wide margin (not as much as your spike though) without any problems. Mostly I've just gone up by 3 or 4dkh though.

[Lance]

Yowza! That's a huge swing. Can't believe the corals were okay.

[spawn]

Originally Posted by Lance

Yowza! That's a huge swing. Can't believe the corals were okay.

The damage if any, can & may still show up over the next few days-week, depending on how fast it comes back down.

[MMAX]

Things slowly coming back to normal--alk 13.2, Ca 350. Looking like I might be in the clear. If I am, I'll consider myself extremely lucky.

[PoonTang]

Now run your Cal up to about 460 and that will balance the 2 out. Then just simply sit back and let them come back down naturally.