Help!! Added too much alk

[GenoZ]

I have a major problem. I had my water tested today and was told the alk was low. I added the alk but must have added too much at one time. Now the water is super cloudy (Photo attached). I even did 2 large water changes and it didn’t help. I took out all of the fish and some of the coral and have them in a 5 gallon bucket. What should I do to rectify this situation? Should I remove all of the water and start over?

 

[gbroadbridge]

What was the

I have a major problem. I had my water tested today and was told the alk was low. I added the alk but must have added too much at one time. Now the water is super cloudy (Photo attached). I even did 2 large water changes and it didn’t help. I took out all of the fish and some of the coral and have them in a 5 gallon bucket. What should I do to rectify this situation? Should I remove all of the water and start over?

What was the Alk, what did you add, and what is the Alk now?

 

[Lavey29]

Did you add calcium with the alk? What is your current alk number? Do a few water changes. What alk supplement did you use?

 

[GenoZ]

I added calcium and then the alk. I used sachem reef fusion 1&2. I went by the calculator attached. It was at 107 before I added 4oz of alk. The calculator said that 16 was needed so I thought 4 would be safe. I have everything basically taken out and in buckets. Should I totally drain it and atart from scratch or just add new water. I have half of the water already out.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I added calcium and then the alk. I used sachem reef fusion 1&2. I went by the calculator attached. It was at 107 before I added 4oz of alk. The calculator said that 16 was needed so I thought 4 would be safe. I have everything basically taken out and in buckets. Should I totally drain it and atart from scratch or just add new water. I have half of the water already out.

You appear to have used the calculator incorrectly.

I believe your measurement is in ppm not dKh so it should have looked like this.



Can you measure the Alk at the moment?

edit: It's good that you have taken the animals out of the tank.

 

[Dom]

Did you add calcium with the alk? What is your current alk number? Do a few water changes. What alk supplement did you use?

It looks like Red Sea Foundation A + B were mixed together and dumped in the tank.

 

[George03]

I find that calculator is off by double for the red sea liquid products. I take the adjustment and go by one half, which just makes sense to go slow. and the alk is usually dKh.

 

[GenoZ]

I can’t measure it there’s only about 6 inches of water left in thank. I am going to replace it. My only question is whether I should replace the sand or not. When I took out the rocks out a lot of stuff went into the water. Now it is cloudy and brown.

 

[gbroadbridge]

I can’t measure it there’s only about 6 inches of water left in thank. I am going to replace it. My only question is whether I should replace the sand or not. When I took out the rocks out a lot of stuff went into the water. Now it is cloudy and brown.

If you're replacing the water the substrate will be fine.

 

[Lavey29]

It looks like Red Sea Foundation A + B were mixed together and dumped in the tank.

Yes followed by massive precipitation.

 

[Lavey29]

I added calcium and then the alk. I used sachem reef fusion 1&2. I went by the calculator attached. It was at 107 before I added 4oz of alk. The calculator said that 16 was needed so I thought 4 would be safe. I have everything basically taken out and in buckets. Should I totally drain it and atart from scratch or just add new water. I have half of the water already out.

You can't add alk and cal together. Need minimum of 30 minutes separation or you get cloudy precipitation and hard sand.

 

[gbroadbridge]

You can't add alk and cal together. Need minimum of 30 minutes separation or you get cloudy precipitation and hard sand.

Not to mention that the OP was trying to increase Alk from 6 dkh to 10 dkh which required 30ml of product, but unfortunately they apparently dosed 4 times that amount.

I'm not sure what level the Alk would have risen to before it went nuts.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I find that calculator is off by double for the red sea liquid products. I take the adjustment and go by one half, which just makes sense to go slow. and the alk is usually dKh.

Which products and calculator exactly?

Red Sea has and has had a number of different alk products that may have different potency.

The Reef Chemistry calculator lists the name as Red Sea Foundation B, and the Reef Chemistry Calculator

https://reef.diesyst.com/chemcalc/chem_calc3.html
gives exactly the potency that Red Sea claims it has:

https://redseafish.com/reef-care-program/foundation-elements/kh-alkalinity-supplement/
Liquid supplement: 1ml will raise the Alk level of 100 liters (25 gal) by 0.036 meq/l (0.1dKH)