All For Reef Overdose ALKALINITY 17.7dkh!

[Jesse571]

75 gallon mixed reef heavy with a lot of LPS corals and a few fish. 3 years old. My son dosed All For Reef early this morning when I wasn't home (don't ask me why he did or how much) but I noticed at dinnertime a couple of my Hammer' heads looked like they were bailing on me. Nitrates 5ppm and phosphate 0.03 so that was fine. Checked my alkalinity and it was 17.7!!! Retested, made sure everything was clean and accurate and tested again with pretty much the same high numbers. All tests done with Hanna checkers. I did a 15 gallon water change tonight and tested and now alk is down to 14.3. What can I do to get it down or do I just ride it out? Of course no more dosing. Thanks for you time with this.

 

[Spare time]

Don't panic. It isn't going to cause any big issues. Really the only thing I would imagine is possibly precipitation but since all for reef doesn't spike pH, it should be relatively harmless (though not something you want long term). You can just ride it out from there. Some salts go up to 13KH (Reef Crystals) so you aren't that far off from high alk salts

 

[TangerineSpeedo]

In my opinion it should be fine, you can do another water change if you want. Red Sea Brand likes to have their water at 11.5 DKH. Your Hammers were probably more in shock from the change in DKH, and not the level.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

You can reduce alk in the display in any of several ways (water changes, adding an acid of some sort), but i agree that waiting it out is a good plan.

 

[Jesse571]

75 gallon mixed reef heavy with a lot of LPS corals and a few fish. 3 years old. My son dosed All For Reef early this morning when I wasn't home (don't ask me why he did or how much) but I noticed at dinnertime a couple of my Hammer' heads looked like they were bailing on me. Nitrates 5ppm and phosphate 0.03 so that was fine. Checked my alkalinity and it was 17.7!!! Retested, made sure everything was clean and accurate and tested again with pretty much the same high numbers. All tests done with Hanna checkers. I did a 15 gallon water change tonight and tested and now alk is down to 14.3. What can I do to get it down or do I just ride it out? Of course no more dosing. Thanks for you time with this.

Phew!...thank you!

 

[Jesse571]

You can reduce alk in the display in any of several ways (water changes, adding an acid of some sort), but i agree that waiting it out is a good plan.

I have white vinegar but don't know how much to dose for 75 gallons? Thanks for your help!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I have white vinegar but don't know how much to dose for 75 gallons? Thanks for your help!

Vinegar won't work. It has to be a mineral acid, such as muriatic acid, sulfuric acid, or sodium bisulfate.
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[Jesse571]

Vinegar won't work. It has to be a mineral acid, such as muriatic acid, sulfuric acid, or sodium bisulfate.
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Thank you