Muriatic Acid and Tank With Fish

naterealbig · Jul 23, 2023

Need to lower the Alk in my display from 11.3 to around 8.0 with a batch of corals needing to be dispositioned by Monday evening.

I know the rule is not to add acid directly to tank with organisms. Is there a rate however, at which i could add the acid that would not ruin the tanks pH or the inhabitants by Monday evening?

Thank you!

KrisReef · Jul 23, 2023

naterealbig said:
Need to lower the Alk in my display from 11.3 to around 8.0 with a batch of corals needing to be dispositioned by Monday evening.

I know the rule is not to add acid directly to tank with organisms. Is there a rate however, at which i could add the acid that would not ruin the tanks pH or the inhabitants by Monday evening?

Thank you!

I’ve done that before in a store system that had an alk doser go rogue and raised the kh well above 11, 17 if I recall correctly? It was a crazy thing to do but it did bring out the kH down quickly. I think there was some losses but it was hard to say if it was the extreme upside or the quick turnaround that caused those losses? I would not recommend it over a large water change and I think most people will caution against it .

Garf · Jul 23, 2023

naterealbig said:
Need to lower the Alk in my display from 11.3 to around 8.0 with a batch of corals needing to be dispositioned by Monday evening.

I know the rule is not to add acid directly to tank with organisms. Is there a rate however, at which i could add the acid that would not ruin the tanks pH or the inhabitants by Monday evening?

Thank you!

It’ll definitely mess with your pH. I’ve done it to correct a calcium hydroxide mistake but that was to reduce Alk and pH, added drop wise to a heavily aerated part of the sump. Randy has a formula on here somewhere regarding how much acid it takes to drop the Alk in a certain volume of tank water. Is a water change with low Alk new saltwater not an option?