EMERGENCY! I think I just nuked my tank

[Z0RN]

I just dosed 30 ml of alk supplement accidentally when I was intending to dose magnesium… this just happened 10 minutes ago. It’s a 20 gallon tank. Im pretty sure I’m f*cked, but is there anything I can do to reduce alkalinity?? I’m done with the hobby if everything dies on me.

 

[Katrina71]

I'd probably start with a water change

 

[Brandont21]

Water change. 10 gallons can be switched in a heart beat

 

[gbroadbridge]

I just dosed 30 ml of alk supplement accidentally when I was intending to dose magnesium… this just happened 10 minutes ago. It’s a 20 gallon tank. Im pretty sure I’m f*cked, but is there anything I can do to reduce alkalinity?? I’m done with the hobby if everything dies on me.

Which Alk supplement?

Did you see any precipitation (snow or cloudiness) in the tank?

Have you measured the Alkalinity?

 

[Z0RN]

Which Alk supplement?

Did you see any precipitation (snow or cloudiness) in the tank?

Have you measured the Alkalinity?

Red Sea liquid supplement. I’m currently doing a water change with the 3 gallon of saltwater I have in hand

 

[gbroadbridge]

Red Sea liquid supplement. I’m currently doing a water change with the 3 gallon of saltwater I have in hand

In that case it will increase Alk in a 20 gal tank by around 1dKh, and there is no need to panic or do anything at all.

 

[Z0RN]

In that case it will increase Alk in a 20 gal tank by around 1dKh, and there is no need to panic or do anything at all.

My Alk is currently at 13.1 and usually run it around 8.5. I’m currently making a 5 gallon batch of saltwater to do another water change with.

 

[AydenLincoln]

Large water change and carbon! Continue to test and wait/perform daily water changes until it goes down.

 

[I never finish anythi]

My Alk is currently at 13.1 and usually run it around 8.5. I’m currently making a 5 gallon batch of saltwater to do another water change with.

If it's only going to go up by 1dkh just leave it now . 3 gallon water change be ok.

 

[gbroadbridge]

My Alk is currently at 13.1 and usually run it around 8.5. I’m currently making a 5 gallon batch of saltwater to do another water change with.

It would take ~170ml of the Red Sea Alk supplement to raise the Alk by 4.5dKh (from 8.5 to 13) in a 20 gal tank.

In any event, a water change will do no harm

 

[Z0RN]

This is the stuff I used. Anyways I just did a 5 gallon water change and my Alk is now at 11.2 dkh. It’s still 2.5 dkh higher than before the overdose. I’ll probably leave it for the night now and maybe do another water change in the morning.

 

[rtparty]

Don’t do anything else. You’ll just make the problem worse. The tank will be fine. I’ve watched hundreds of people spike their alkalinity over the years and few, if any, have a problem

 

[Z0RN]

Don’t do anything else. You’ll just make the problem worse. The tank will be fine. I’ve watched hundreds of people spike their alkalinity over the years and few, if any, have a problem

I hope you’re right.

 

[VintageReefer]

It’s high because it was just added. Give it a day and test again

I normally run 7 - 7.5 and accidentally spiked to 10 this week. Not a big deal everything is fine. I will just wait longer between dosing and let it slowly and naturally fall back to notmlam

 

[Z0RN]

It’s high because it was just added. Give it a day and test again

I normally run 7 - 7.5 and accidentally spiked to 10 this week. Not a big deal everything is fine. I will just wait longer between dosing and let it slowly and naturally fall back to notmlam

Huh. I was under the impression Alk swings were a bigger deal for corals. That’s good to hear. Maybe I’ll let it come down naturally instead of more water changes, so that I don’t spike it again from 11 back down to 8.5ish.

 

[VintageReefer]

Huh. I was under the impression Alk swings were a bigger deal for corals. That’s good to hear. Maybe I’ll let it come down naturally instead of more water changes, so that I don’t spike it again from 11 back down to 8.5ish.

i do not keep sps coral which is the kind most sensitive to alkalinity swings so maybe that’s why I have no ill effect.

Regardless, I add too much all for reef, and it continues to release approx 24 hours after dosing, and realize I somehow spiked and was shocked to see I was at 10dkh. My tank naturally consumes about .5 dkh a day, so I will just wait and test daily to make sure it is returning to normal, Then resume once I am around 7

 

[bakbay]

My SPS-dominant 150g tank jumped by 3dKH and it’s fine. The last thing you want to do is reducing it by 3dKh in a day/two. Just let things settle on its own, doing WCs will help.

It should be ok - just make small changes and not make the situation worse.

 

[SPR1968]

Don’t panic, you should be fine, either do a water change or just let it drop back down again.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

This is the stuff I used. Anyways I just did a 5 gallon water change and my Alk is now at 11.2 dkh. It’s still 2.5 dkh higher than before the overdose. I’ll probably leave it for the night now and maybe do another water change in the morning.

From the math standpoint:

Red Sea's KH/Alkalinity | Foundation B -Balanced Coral Skeleton formation

How much KH/Alkalinity to supplement? Check out our new MyRecipe™ Wizard, which recommends the optimal Alkalinity level that is best for your

redseafish.com

Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH)

Thus, 30 mL in 20 gallons will raise alk by about 3.8 dKH.

I agree that at 11 dKH, I'd just let it fall on its own.

 

[gbroadbridge]

From the math standpoint:

Red Sea's KH/Alkalinity | Foundation B -Balanced Coral Skeleton formation

How much KH/Alkalinity to supplement? Check out our new MyRecipe™ Wizard, which recommends the optimal Alkalinity level that is best for your

redseafish.com

Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH)

Thus, 30 mL in 20 gallons will raise alk by about 3.8 dKH.

I agree that at 11 dKH, I'd just let it fall on its own.

Ha, I assumed that the powder mixed to a 'stock solution' following the Red Sea instructions would be the same strength as the pre-prepared bottle.

Something learned.