Sky rocketed PH

[rishma]

Really sorry. I would have thought you were in the clear.

 

[fushi]

Just for those keeping up - Sadly, I’m starting to see signs of stress now in 3 pieces. So so sadly, my favorite piece that has colored up, phenomenon PE and has just started to really take off (my blue and green tenuous).

Sorry to hear that. I think the best options are to just keep parameters steady where they currently are or start cutting and moving pieces to another stable tank.

When it happened to me, I lost the majority of my acros (about 20-30). The montis and some LPS survived. The few acros that weren’t incrusted that I moved to another tank only partially peeled, and I was able to save a couple.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I had to remove the blue tenuous today. It was 60% peeled. I cut the tips off and put them in my frag tank. The green lps has receded more also. I see a new coral frag I have had in place for a while that is now showing a small white spot, that perhaps is a bleach mark. Which, this frag has been in its location for 7 months and has been in 1200 par this entire time. I’m guessing maybe the nutrient spike side effect may now also be causing some issues. Other than this. No new issues observed. Consumption took a massive step backwards today. The system (I do controlled dosing) only allowed for 38 mil of CA out of the 450mill baseline (+\- 50%). Alkalinity was 300 mil. CA, DKH and PH are very stable again. PH is now floating between 8.25 and 8.35. My co2 scrubbing material is purple and my CARX is running in like hyperdrive, 6.4ph at 120 mil a minute.

Unfortunately my new CARX gets here next week and until I get my consumption back up to where it was, I don’t think I am going to hook it up yet. I think I will be making way too many adjustments as the system gets back to normal. The new CARX runs on 3/8th line with a high pressure feed pump and it holds 75 pounds of media in the main chamber. So, it’s going to take me a minute to get use to it.

For those that this has happened too. How long did it take for your take to return to its prior state?

 

[rishma]

I’ve always had an interest in automated testing (I don’t own one) but I just cannot see myself turning over the dosing control. Wildly swinging demand is hard for me to get my head around. I have seen demand decline when I stress the corals. And then slowly return to normal. This intuitively makes sense to me. It seems like your demand is fluctuating which doesn’t immediately make sense to me. But then, I’ve never had an automatic tester so I don’t really know what happens between my manual tests. I guess I’m just skeptical of things that i don’t understand.

 

[Miami Reef]

I don’t think I would let an automated tester adjust dosages for me without consent.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I’ve always had an interest in automated testing (I don’t own one) but I just cannot see myself turning over the dosing control. Wildly swinging demand is hard for me to get my head around. I have seen demand decline when I stress the corals. And then slowly return to normal. This intuitively makes sense to me. It seems like your demand is fluctuating which doesn’t immediately make sense to me. But then, I’ve never had an automatic tester so I don’t really know what happens between my manual tests. I guess I’m just skeptical of things that i don’t understand.

I’ve been doing apex based controlled dosing for a long while now. I like it. I hate Focustronic controlled dosing via the Alkatronic. That’s for another post.

Im going to have to do a full system recalibration tonight. I’ve got a few things happening that I don’t understand either. I dropped 20k mil of kalk last night. My kalk’s PH is low, 12.1, but my PH in my system last night went from 8.25 to 7.9. I’ve got it set to dos 80 mil of sodium hydroxide from 10:30 to 1:30. If dripping that during my photo period does correct my PH, then I will really be stumped.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I do know that my co2 media for my skimmer is spent.

 

[rishma]

I feel I have a complex system due to the need to automate things because I am away for over a month a time…but I think yours is NASA by comparison.

 

[fushi]

I’ve always had an interest in automated testing (I don’t own one) but I just cannot see myself turning over the dosing control. .....

I don’t think I would let an automated tester adjust dosages for me without consent.

So I recommend not letting anything control your dosing, no matter how much propaganda a company shells out about it being safe, redundant, and tested.

My Experience with Alkatronic Automated Dosing

No matter how much the sales staff believe it's safe, the coders are still people who make mistakes.

With that said, I like automated testing; it’s great to have more data when making decisions about your tank. Just make your changes to dosing, etc., independent of falible machines.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

So I recommend not letting anything control your dosing, no matter how much propaganda a company shells out about it being safe, redundant, and tested.

My Experience with Alkatronic Automated Dosing

No matter how much the sales staff believe it's safe, the coders are still people who make mistakes.

With that said, I like automated testing; it’s great to have more data when making decisions about your tank. Just make your changes to dosing, etc., independent of falible machines.

Yeah, I have a Alkatronic, Mastertronic and a Dosetronic. I think Focustronic is some of the worst made reefing stuff out there, period. It’s a joke. I’m in the middle of a pretty dispute with them right now. My Alakatronic is dead. My Dosetronic can’t be used until I have them code it to be a pro and my MT basically is a good Po4 tester. I’ve been patiently waiting for their resolution. But, my patience is just about out. I’m going to post a vlog about this poop show soon. Sorry, you said a dirty word. But, I also would never have used their controlled dosing. Countless stories like yours. The technology that drives the controlled aspect is way different with Neptune when compared to Focuscraptronic. I’ve come to enjoy the controlled dosing. Been using it for about 2 years now that I think about it.

Dosing is coming up. CA saw 360mil and Alk saw 780mil. DKH dropped .3 while dosing and CA was dead flat. Currently no additional corals are rtn’ing. PH hit 8.35. I’m going to put fresh CO2 media in it and see how the next 24 goes.

 

[fushi]

Yeah, I have a Alkatronic, Mastertronic and a Dosetronic. I think Focustronic is some of the worst made reefing stuff out there, period. It’s a joke. I’m in the middle of a pretty dispute with them right now. My Alakatronic is dead. My Dosetronic can’t be used until I have them code it to be a pro and my MT basically is a good Po4 tester. I’ve been patiently waiting for their resolution. But, my patience is just about out. I’m going to post a vlog about this poop show soon. Sorry, you said a dirty word. But, I also would never have used their controlled dosing. Countless stories like yours. The technology that drives the controlled aspect is way different with Neptune when compared to Focuscraptronic. I’ve come to enjoy the controlled dosing. Been using it for about 2 years now that I think about it.

Dosing is coming up. CA saw 360mil and Alk saw 780mil. DKH dropped .3 while dosing and CA was dead flat. Currently no additional corals are rtn’ing. PH hit 8.35. I’m going to put fresh CO2 media in it and see how the next 24 goes.

I also have a Mastertronic, Dosetronic, and Alktronic Pro. Top of the list as the worst, most expensive reefing equipment I have purchased. The Mastertronic always has an air leak in a dosing pump or syringe, the Alktronic killed my tank, and now won’t hold an accurate reading. I want to sell them and buy something else but it doesn't feel right passing on the problems to someone else. I also don’t know of an accurate phosphate tester as all I hear is bad things about the Trident NP phosphate accuracy.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

I also have a Mastertronic, Dosetronic, and Alktronic Pro. Top of the list as the worst, most expensive reefing equipment I have purchased. The Mastertronic always has an air leak in a dosing pump or syringe, the Alktronic killed my tank, and now won’t hold an accurate reading. I want to sell them and buy something else but it doesn't feel right passing on the problems to someone else. I also don’t know of an accurate phosphate tester as all I hear is bad things about the Trident NP phosphate accuracy.

I’m with you about passing on this Focustronic garbage. IF they don’t approve an RMA for me, I’m going to post a video about my dealings with them, share my emails with Eric and then be, what I think, is the first person to take a baseball bat to their Focustronic gear on camera. I’ve never been so disgusted by a purchase, a vendor and their overall service. I mean, when your technical writer for instructions is also your lead service tech who also happens to be a volunteer, there is something wrong with that business model.

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Btw… tank held 8.25 PH over night. No new coral issues. DKH is holding at 9.3. If consumption remains the same or continues to increase to prior amounts, I possibly may have turned the corner. I’m torn on taking the S hydroxide off but, I prefer not to go through this again.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

One way to ensure relatively safe dosing of sodium hydroxide is to dilute it to the point where the dosing pump is running most of the time. That way, no event can dose massive amounts. That is often done with kalkwasser, which would then carry the same risk level.

 

[Jari]

Since it is again vacations season and we left the apartment I knew I had to do something about the "high pH vacation syndrome".

I found that an XL CO2 bag (used in green rooms) purchaced from a local plant shop keeps the tank pH from rising above 8.6 while we are away. I keep the bag in the kitchen, not directly next to the tank. Might not work for really big apartments, or you will need a few more of these bags :D

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

Its nice to feel like that tank is nearly back to normal. It’s great to see my PH 8.4+ at 2am.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

What exactly is that bag doing?

 

[WhatCouldGoWrong71]

What exactly is that bag doing?

If that were a big enough garbage bag, that’s where my Focustronic gear is going to wind up.

 

[UncommonSense]

What exactly is that bag doing?

It’s a bag of mycelium spores in an organic substrate!

when activated; the mycelium grows, consuming the substrate, and releasing CO2!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s a bag of mycelium spores in an organic substrate!

when activated; the mycelium grows, consuming the substrate, and releasing CO2!

Ok, I can see how that could boost room CO2 but ordinary aeration can also limit pH rise. :)