I messed up my water...

whatevva · 01-23-2006, 08:16 PM

That's right, I misread the instructions on the KH test kit and ended up adding too much SuperBuffer KH.

Now I have 90 gallons of water with the KH at about 16. Salinity is at 1.023. The PH is at 8.45 on a new calibrated PinPoint.

I know what the solution is...make new water and dilute it. My question is, can I add this water to the new tank and do it with water changes? Will I be able to add the LS and LR safely?

I feel really dumb..

titanfan · 01-23-2006, 08:35 PM

So is the tank empty right now except water? If you just have a tank of water just do a 100% water change, throw in the rock and sand.. dont forget to get the skimmer going. Most important though now is the time to go buy a big roll of tape.

ChrisPrusha · 01-23-2006, 08:35 PM

What is your calcium level, and pH?

whatevva · 01-23-2006, 09:33 PM

The water is still in the holding tanks. Ph is 8.45. Haven't checked calcium yet. What's the tape for? The tank will be here in the morning. It takes 3.5 days to make all the water.

ScruffyRubicon · 01-23-2006, 09:42 PM

If it's just in a holding tank, let it set for a few days and test again. My past experience with buffer is it we only raise it for a few days.

whatevva · 01-23-2006, 09:48 PM

I may have to use it. I have 100# of LR coming Wed morning. Will the high KH do anything to the LR? I can probably do about a 30% WC by then.

Doug1 · 01-23-2006, 09:56 PM

put a power head in there and circulate it , the CO2 in atmoshere should help bring it down, if nothing else it wont hurt to cycle your LR in it, you will get plenty of acids from dieoff

Wiskey · 01-23-2006, 10:52 PM

I would dump as much as you can and make new water, this will at least dilute the water, and will lower your KH. If you are only curing LR you will probably be ok, but water closer to NSW would ensure more of the life on your LR will survive.

Whiskey

tdwyatt · 01-24-2006, 12:47 AM

Quote:

I would dump as much as you can and make new water, this will at least dilute the water, and will lower your KH. If you are only curing LR you will probably be ok, but water closer to NSW would ensure more of the life on your LR will survive.

Well, this actually would be a bit more than wasteful, as by simply adding enough CaCl2 to bring the Ca++ level up to the low 400's (PPM), the alkalinity will come down to the 10 to 12 dKH range by itself, precipitating the excess alk as CaCO3. Curing live rock generates many excessive quantities of organic acids what will drop your alkalinity anyway, so this may actually be beneficial to the live rock you have coming in. Use one of the Internet Calcium Deficit Calculators to determine how much Ca++ as either CaCl2 or Ca gluconate (preferred) you'll need to add to correct for this excess alkalinity. So long as pH is no higher than 8.5, you are not in danger, and the water column will actually correct itself over time (as Doug suggested, place a PH on the bottom of the tank and point it at the surface to begin the degassing process).

You always need to test for both Calcium and alkalinity when adjusting either levels in the tank, and it is extremely helpful to know salinity, Mg levels, the pH swing during the day, and the water temp to make accurate predictions and judgments on the adequacy of the numbers with respect to calcium and bicarbonate levels.

HTH

three90s&125sump · 01-24-2006, 01:07 AM

May be you could expand on that Tom: salinity ?PPM, Mg 1400?, DKH 13?, calcium 450? and PH 8.1 - 8.4. What are the the actual factors to concider with the various readings in conjuntion with optimal environmental conditions?

tdwyatt · 01-24-2006, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by three90s&125sump

May be you could expand on that Tom: salinity ?PPM, Mg 1400?, DKH 13?, calcium 450? and PH 8.1 - 8.4. What are the the actual factors to concider with the various readings in conjuntion with optimal environmental conditions?

there is no such thing as a brief discussion of this HUGE topic, however, there is a thread in the think tank that discusses this topic:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=30385

three90s&125sump · 01-24-2006, 01:38 AM

Well, I just saw it and i just posted it. i think its funny that I asked that then all of the sudden theres a thread about it. TRT rocks.

three90s&125sump · 01-24-2006, 01:47 AM

Oh thats a different thread. I'm still gonna follow the bi weekly on it.

whatevva · 01-24-2006, 06:20 AM

Funny thing..after sitting overnight, the PH went down to 8.3, KH at 14, but the water is very cloudy

Loverotties · 01-24-2006, 06:58 AM

Water change a BIG one.