Kalk incident and quick pH reduction

firefish2020 · #1 12/21/2007, 12:05 PM

Ok we have all seen it happen and if you have not, just give it time. You come in to see your prize reef obscured by a thick white cloud of effluent. You quickly check the kalk reactor or your ATO "OH no I should have gotten an Osmolator." You think think to yourself, but oops it's too late now, so what do you do? You check the pH If your lucky it's not to bad and you can just wait it out after a small water change. If not you go to the next step.

Step 1. Inject Co2. Yeh most of us don't have Co2 Bottles lying around so what can you do?

Step2. Go to you local store and buy as many Seltzer water bottles they have. I suggest about 9 bottles to lower a 120 from a pH of 10.5 to 8.5 in about a 2 hour span.
NO DON"T LOWER THE PH TO QUICK THINGS WILL DIE BLA BLA BLA
As long as the pH is above 10 things are dying so it makes little difference if the pH drops fast or not. After hitting 8.5 you in the clear, well not clear as the tank will be cloudy for a few days.

Step 3. Shake a bottle place under water in the tank and gently unscrew the cap use this as a valve to release a small amount of Co2 do this till your pH is at 8.5.

How do I know this works? Simple I did it a few times and learned from the mistake.

ALTERNATE IDEA: NOTE THIS IS THEORETICAL ONLY AND I ASSUME NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGES INCURRED IF YOU ARE STUPID ENOUGH TO TRY IT.

Now many of you have see the whole mentos cola trick on the internet and on the tube I'm sure. Well after watching the Mythbusters episode where they investigated that trick I got another idea. Seems mentos forces a "rapid release of Co2 in the cola." Keep in mind there is much more Co2 released in this reaction. So the question is. Could we use this gas to lower our pH? I'm no scientist so I leave that to the real chemists to discuss I only throw it out there because it seems to me that IF;
We regulate the gas flow with a pressure valve and use a check valve to insure no cola goes into the tank then theoretically I think it could be a faster means to end a pH incident.

Fortunately those days are likely far behind me now I hope LOL.

Altpers0na · #2 12/21/2007, 12:46 PM

i would think the mentos would be a simple test...

just take a simple gallon of your water, maybe post water change water... find its ph, drop a mento , wait till its gone... and retest the ph...

i dont have ph testing stuff or else i would do it..

fishmon · #3 12/21/2007, 06:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Altpers0na
i would think the mentos would be a simple test...

just take a simple gallon of your water, maybe post water change water... find its ph, drop a mento , wait till its gone... and retest the ph...

i dont have ph testing stuff or else i would do it..

I don't think that is what he means

You prolly don't either cause you have a very odd.....yet funny sense of humor.

Ron you mean get more bang for your buck out of a bottle of soda right??

Altpers0na · #4 12/21/2007, 06:45 PM

ya ya, i get the funny..

fishmon · #5 12/21/2007, 08:04 PM

The main reason I did that was to clear it up for the people who don't know you.

package · #6 12/21/2007, 08:59 PM

Can you use white vinegar in a similar way?

firefish2020 · #7 12/21/2007, 09:08 PM

You can but you risk feeding a bacteria bloom with it from what I'm told. Yep you get more bang from a single bottle as opposed to 9. Just a theory.

Peyton · #8 12/22/2007, 12:54 PM

How does a PH change effect saltwater tanks? In freshwater I can create a ph swing of more than a full point (7.6 - 6.6 or lower) in a few hours with no effects on the fish/plants/inverts. Is Kalk a source of calcium? If so that would be the most harmful I would think (a GH/KH swing).

Sorry, I really know little about SW. Just curious.

Also the reaction between the mentos and cola happens so fast it would be difficult to control properly.

phljess · #9 01/01/2008, 10:50 PM

pH is much more of a problem than an over abundance of calcium which will just end up binding with carbonates to create calcium carbonate in a reef tank. If there is a kalk incident it is going to drive pH much higher than just 1 point, try about 2 to 2.5 within a few minutes,which is a REAL problem if not corrected. All of us who have kalk reactors have had this issue at one time or another, the best way I know to remedy this situation is to not let it happen in the first place. This means buying a way to control pH in your tank ie, a pH controller or a multi-controller. That is what I did and I have not had any more problems with kalk since, knock on wood.