Crashed my tank

[macperry]

Well everyone...here is what not to do. I was having a serious low pH problem, so I started dripping Kalkwasser every day for the last week. Then I read this nifty little article about making the Kalkwasser even more potent by mixing it with white vinegar (about 25ml) before adding the RODI water. The pH would go from 7.8 in the morning to 8.4 by the end of the Kalk drip a couple of hours later. I get up this morning and decide to do my usual Sunday 25% water change. Out goes the old water...which was maxed out on Calc and Alk due to all the Kalkwasser....and in goes the new LFS premixed, tested, used for the last year water. Now the "fun" begins. A large snowstorm developes, my BTA stings everything in sight, my 2 Ocellaris hide under a rock, my 3 Chromis start gasping on the bottom of the sand and are dead wihin 2 minutes, my Pseudochromis hides in his cave, my sand sifting Goby hides in her cave, and my Pacific Cleaner Shrimp is just standing there staring at me. It is 3 hours later now, and everyone has come out of hiding (except the Chromis....but we won't talk about that now). I tested all my water params, and everything is "good"...Calc-400 Alk-9.8dKh Salinity-1.023 Temp-80F and pH-8.0 (and of course slowly drifting down again).

Now the big question: Did the anemone truly freak out due to the rapid change in water chemistry and "sting the tank".....thereby killing the Chromis, or was it the chemistry that killed the Chromis?

Now the lessons: Less is more...don't "chase" water parameters, use Kalkwasser with caution, and make sure the water you are replacing "matches" the water you removed.

OK everyone......Flame Away.

Hobby Experience: 30 yrs FW/8 mos SW
Current Tanks: 12g Nano
Interests: Mustangs,airplanes, the ocean, aquariums

[montanabay]

I know part of the fun of reef tanks is the "chemistry" aspects of the controlled envrionment, but I think we over do it many times. I would stay away from additatives of any sort and make sure you have RO/DI water that is ~6.9-7.2ph let your saltwater mix for at least 6hrs, if not overnight before making the water change. With a 12g tank and 25% water changes weekly you shouldn't have to add anthing unless your base water is out of wack, and if it is get better water.

Josh

[macperry]

motanabay: You are definitely right...no more chemistry experiments. My RODI water pH tests at 7.0, and the salt water tests at 8.2.....both of which are purchased at my LFS for the past year. I just wish I could find something that would stabilize the pH at 8.2 between water changes. It always ends up drifting down to about 7.8 a day after a change.

[montanabay]

haha, also remember what happens when you mix baking soda (Kalk) and vinger in 4th grade science class? BOOM, lots of CO2 released very rapidly, which could dissolve into your water, bomb the ph (CO2 is acidic and displaces 02) and rock the socks off your fish and ane with the large 25% change, causing the fish stress and ane craziness.

[montanabay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9037010#post9037010 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by macperry
motanabay: You are definitely right...no more chemistry experiments. My RODI water pH tests at 7.0, and the salt water tests at 8.2.....both of which are purchased at my LFS for the past year. I just wish I could find something that would stabilize the pH at 8.2 between water changes. It always ends up drifting down to about 7.8 a day after a change.

Are you getting enough gas exchange? O2 will help keep your pH higher, try that new skimmer guard for jbj's, that will give you way more aerition.

[macperry]

montanabay: I have the AquaPod 12g, so the JBJ mod won't change anything. I have a MJ900 in place of the stock output POS pump that came with the tank. I also added a MiniJet 606 with a HydorFlo in the opposite corner to boost flow. My skimmer is a Sapphire Aquatics, and seems to do a pretty good job.....although it is still in the break in phase. Don't know what else to do...I have heard that getting outside air into the tank helps raise pH....but I can't figure out a way to do that.

[montanabay]

get one of those cheap airpump and stones they sell for goldfish tanks and run the airline into one of the back chambers. You could probably get a rather big one, but it might also introduce microbubbles to your tank.....

also, are you BB, LR, SSB, DSB? Do you have any type of agagonite base? Is it quality? Good live sand that is agagonite based will stablize your tank towards a base range.

[flipteg]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9037014#post9037014 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by montanabay
haha, also remember what happens when you mix baking soda (Kalk) and vinger in 4th grade science class? BOOM, lots of CO2 released very rapidly, which could dissolve into your water, bomb the ph (CO2 is acidic and displaces 02) and rock the socks off your fish and ane with the large 25% change, causing the fish stress and ane craziness.

kalkwasser is calcium hydroxide, not baking soda...

[montanabay]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9037268#post9037268 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by flipteg
kalkwasser is calcium hydroxide, not baking soda...

sorry about that, didn't mean to imply it was baking soda (sodium bicarbonate), but rather it is also a medium base compound that reacts violantly with acids (vinegar).

[smketyr]

Basically, when you are dosing kalk it is to bring up what is depleted from the salt mix. The more potent kalk is for systems that eat up calcium, SPS dominant tank.

Remember a nano is different beast. Continue to expirement, otherwise it is not a hobby and becomes a job. I try lots of things, not all good. My goal is for my tank is to have growth and color. HTH

Tom

[Doglover_50]

In hindsight, using a product specifically designed to increase PH (I don't recall the exact names, but the PH buffers, etc...--I have one by Kent but never have to use it) is probably safer. As noted above, Kalk is for calcium replenishing. I have a 12g nano and a 70g display--I have major difficulty keeping my calcium up in the big tank (that has 4 clams), but not much problem in my nano, which has softies and 2 LPS. As smketyr noted, different issues for different tanks. Another example: SPS tanks need bigtime water flow--softies and LPS not as much.

[macperry]

My sand base is 3" of what was marketed as Fiji Live sand. It is now almost a year old, and might be losing some of it's buffering capability. Any advice on if I should start replacing the old sand with some new stuff? This would probably cause a mini cycle, which is probably not a very good idea right now. The B-Ionic doesn't seem to work as a buffer anymore either...it raises the pH rather quickly, and then it drops right back down again in a few hours. Has anyone used one of those targeted pH buffers that have actually worked, and if so which one? I might try the airstone in one of the back chambers, but I figure my skimmer pretty much does the same thing. Ideas anyone?