Help! Alk doser got stuck on...

[crustytheclown]

So my digital timer that runs my alk doser got stick on as i was fumbling around in my sump. Good thing it wasnt that full...
But either way alk went from 9.2dkh last night around 9pm to 12.2dkh this afternoon around 2pm. Also the calcium of course plummeted to around 240. Yikes!!!
So what do i do? I feel like any other drastic change right now might worsen the issue. White film on everything. My guess is the calcium precipitated out of the water column. Corals seem ok right now except for my garf bonsai :-( I am scheduled to do my weekly 10% water change tomorrow. I was thinking just keep dosing Calcium until it comes back up to ideal parameters... But what about magnesium? Is that gonna crash next? Whats my next move?
Any pointers would be greatly appreciated!

 

[asn-naso]

I would stop adding alk for a few days, do a water change, and turn your calc doser on 2-3x it's normal period. (after the water change)

 

[crustytheclown]

Ok. Sounds good. Do u think things will be ok? Will i lose th bonsai?

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

I had an Alk spike that wiped out all corals but not fish. I'd do a big time water change, like 50%, and then several smaller days as the days go by....think like 30%, 20%, and then several 15%

 

[Haddonisreef]

Don't change to fast! (Lower alk) Turn off dozers and a few water changes and wala

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

My pH also went crazy, so I had 2 problems to deal with....I'd still recommend a large water change soon, then recheck your params tomorrow and see if they came down.

How big is your system?

 

[Miah2bzy]

My pH also went crazy, so I had 2 problems to deal with....I'd still recommend a large water change soon, then recheck your params tomorrow and see if they came down.

How big is your system?

+ 1 that's what I did when my alk bottomed out and my calc went crazy high. Water changes saved the day.

 

[BrianH]

Slowly make changes like Haddoni and Asn were saying. Your corals have experienced a big fast alk swing up which is stressful. Any quick changes downward will then be doubly stressful. My advice is to slowly bring the parameters back to their normal states. Good luck, my experience with this happening was super stressful on me. I lost about 30% of my sps a year and a half ago from a similar event.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

How are things looking this morning?

I did some more research on other forums and if your pH is largely unaffected then bringing your Alk down slowly is a good course of action. Your high point of 12.2 isn't that far above normal water parameters (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ Randy Holmes Farley says to shoot for Alk between 7 to 11). The more I thought back on my alk spike the more I remembered my pH was unreadable it was so high which is why I was changing water out. If you are coming up on your regular water change routine, I'd go ahead and do one...I may even do a slightly larger than normal one. I saw mention made on other forums that some salt mixes have high Alk levels, which if near your 12 obviously wouldn't help bring down that number at all. I just checked an old bucket of Salinity and it list a lab certified MEQ value of 3.5 which is a dKh of 9.8. But two other brands of salt mixes didn't list its values on the bucket.

 

[crustytheclown]

My tank is a 40gal breeder with 15gal sump. With rock, sand and equipment displacement, i think i have between 45 and 50 gal total.

 

[crustytheclown]

How are things looking this morning?

I did some more research on other forums and if your pH is largely unaffected then bringing your Alk down slowly is a good course of action. Your high point of 12.2 isn't that far above normal water parameters (http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/ Randy Holmes Farley says to shoot for Alk between 7 to 11). The more I thought back on my alk spike the more I remembered my pH was unreadable it was so high which is why I was changing water out. If you are coming up on your regular water change routine, I'd go ahead and do one...I may even do a slightly larger than normal one. I saw mention made on other forums that some salt mixes have high Alk levels, which if near your 12 obviously wouldn't help bring down that number at all. I just checked an old bucket of Salinity and it list a lab certified MEQ value of 3.5 which is a dKh of 9.8. But two other brands of salt mixes didn't list its values on the bucket.

They are lookin ok. Softies are fine. Acans look fine. Lps extended. A few zoas are closed and the fish look fine
Im using instant ocean reef crystal salt.

 

[TheRealChrisBrown]

Your original post said you were going to do a 10% water change today, I'd stick with that (Instant Ocean recommends 25% water changes as necessary on their directions....but they are also in the business of selling you more salt). Continue to test your parameters over the next few days and try to get your Alk, Cal, and Mag back into their happy place.

 

[crustytheclown]

Just did a 7 gallon water change which is normal. Should i worry about any of my pumps and equipment getting gunked up from any of the precipitation?

 

[crustytheclown]

I would stop adding alk for a few days, do a water change, and turn your calc doser on 2-3x it's normal period. (after the water change)

Should i be cautious of bringing up my Calcium too fast?

 

[zombie]

Should i be cautious of bringing up my Calcium too fast?

Stay within reason. BRS recommends not increasing calcium more than 50 ppm per day, so I would definitely limit yourself to 50 ppm per day in 2 - part additions plus whatever amount water changes increases it.