Dumped a teaspoon of baking soda in......
 

hello fellow reefers, I've been having some alk issues in my system(29 w/80lbs LR w/20gal sump&refuge), and I tested alk yesterday, and it was at 5.4. In desparation and panic I dumped a whole teaspoon of baking soda to the system just after I did a water change; smaller than normal(5gal). Well to get to it my alk is at a whopping 16! I need some advice as to what to do here about this, or if there is even a problem with numbers at this level, and my calcium by the way was at a high 600. Thanks for input.

Water changes solve a lot of problems.

Suggest you post on the Reef Chemistry Forum. Dr Randy can help you out.

Best of luck,

Roy

Dont get too freaked out. Do some small frequent water changes and let it come down on its own. Dosent sound like you added enough to saturate the water and make every thing come out of solutin, which is bad.

Use [url=http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html]this calculator[/URL] to find out how much you should use.

Also, you may want to question the validity of your test kits. It is my understanding that it is virtually impossible to maintain alk = 16dKH (even worse 16 meq :D) AND 600ppm of Ca at the normal pH we run salt tanks at.

Re: Dumped a teaspoon of baking soda in......
 

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by sdr209 [/i]
[B]hello fellow reefers, I've been having some alk issues in my system(29 w/80lbs LR w/20gal sump&refuge), and I tested alk yesterday, and it was at 5.4. ..

...and my calcium by the way was at a high 600. Thanks for input. [/B][/QUOTE]

Using Oceanic Salt by any chance?

how soon after adding the baking soda did you test alk. because you need to what 30 min to an hour to get a fair reading.

Are sure that it wasn't a tablespoon rather than a teaspoon? One teaspoon is the recommedned rate for 25g of water. One teaspoon would not have that great of impact.

I also belive it was a tablespoon otherwise the increase from 5.4 dKh to 16 dKh would have been impossible.
I also think that somehow the testing might be flawed or otherwise abiotic precipitation (snow effect) might have been more likely at those levels.

I had a 50gal tank and would dose 1 teaspoon everyday mixed with a gallon of top off to maintain my alk at 8-11dkh. I've notice when my alk gets down to 5dkh i would upper my dosage to 1 and 1/2 teaspoon to get it up to 8, maybe 9dkh. Double check your test kit or the spoon you are using. getting your alk to jump 11dkh with one teaspoon of baking soda is a little high IMO. let us know how it goes.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by datman422 [/i]
[B]I had a 50gal tank and would dose 1 teaspoon everyday mixed with a gallon of top off to maintain my alk at 8-11dkh. I've notice when my alk gets down to 5dkh i would upper my dosage to 1 and 1/2 teaspoon to get it up to 8, maybe 9dkh. Double check your test kit or the spoon you are using. getting your alk to jump 11dkh with one teaspoon of baking soda is a little high IMO. let us know how it goes. [/B][/QUOTE]

:thumbsup: I agree. Unless you did your test with the baking soda still in suspension, and you took your sample with the free floating particles in it, I don't see how it could possibly jump that much.

Russ

That may be a false high reading. It would take at least 5 to 9 teaspoonfuls of baking soda to get your alk from 5.4 to 15 dKH assuming a 29 to 49gal total water volume.
Remember that a household spoon is not the same as a measuring teaspoon. Did you use a heaping household tablespoon?
BTW that's a lot of LR for a 29gal. Dense TBS?

Get new test kits.
 

Your test kits are not accurate. One teaspoon would not have raised your alk that much. Check out this calculator:
[url]http://www.kademani.com/reefchem.htm[/url]

I suggest reading this article - [url]http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2002/chem.htm[/url]

The calculator that I use is this one - [url]http://www.kademani.com/reefchem.htm[/url]

Vickie

Now, you mention that you did a water change before you added the BS. If this is the case, the new water mix would adjust your alk and with that teaspoon, would most likely made it jump to 16dkh. Give it a day or two, it should be down to 9-11dkh. let us know.

We are figuring that a teaspoon or tablespoon would not cause a dramatic increase in 29 gallons of water. Alas a 29 gallon system with 80pounds of LR will hold more like15-20 gallons max (depending on porousity of rock etc.). So his alk may be that high and his ph way off (low). sounds like oceanic salt and a few water changes will drop that back down.

Datman glad to see you actually Read The Detail of the posting because I did do a Water Change before I added the baking soda and I'm sure thats how that alk shot up like that. I was stressed and sometimes we make some BAD decisions. Well thanks for the input everyone, as of last night I did a test
(using a salifert kit) and it was at about 13. So hopefully it continues to drop. thanks again reefers.

And one other thing, are any of you reefers here using a MAC computer, because thats all that I'm surrounded by and that calculater doesn't seem to work for me.

It worked for me using the Safari browser under OS 10.3.7. It doesn't seem to do anything if you haven't filled in the aquarium volume on the first line, as I failed to do the first time I tried it.

word. glad think are working out now. let us know if more drama arrives. OH. hit me up.

[QUOTE][i]Originally posted by sdr209 [/i]
[B]And one other thing, are any of you reefers here using a MAC computer, because thats all that I'm surrounded by and that calculater doesn't seem to work for me. [/B][/QUOTE]

For your information try the updated version of the calculator. I know it works with IE, Netscape and 'zilla.
This newer version includes more products and also Magnesium suplements and more units of measure.

[url]http://home.comcast.net/~jdieck1/chem_calc3.html[/url]