pH WAY high! HELP

[Kdocimo90]

Well last night I filled up my ATO with the last bit of RODI water, and this morning the ENTIRE tank is blue.

My pH is around 9.5 and I dont have much water made. I just got an order of fish in as well so I'm temp acclimating them as I speak.

Should I just drain 1/2 the water right now?
Run a diatom filter?????

Help!

[serpentman]

How are you testing, Liquid test or electronic meter?

Did you add Kalk to the RO water? I am not sure why it would be blue.

[Kdocimo90]

It was Kalk in my ATO water..

It's just completely blue because of my lights I guess.

The pH now is around 9.25...


This freaking reefkeeper ATO is terrible.

[landlord]

How many gallons of Kalkwasser went into the tank?

Was the ATO stuck in the "On" position

[Kdocimo90]

it wasnt stuck on. I have it hooked up as "Auto". I followed the instrcutions as well.

It works perfectly, except when im not watching >.<

About 12-13g's were probably added.

[JeF4y]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-01/rhf/index.php#6

Find a way to induce Carbon Dioxide. Vinegar, breathing into the skimmer, etc. Read this, it may help...

[landlord]

Is the pH slowly drifting downwards, if so, I would say the majority of the damage has been done (alk spike). If not you can start pulling and replacing but replacing half the water might not bring it down too much either.

I am pre feeling your pain for ya. I done that before and had a 8 hour stint of 10+ pH. It was not pretty in the weeks that followed.

[Kdocimo90]

The pH is slowly heading downwards.

is the anything I can be doing? I'm making more water as we speak (but of course my RODI is only 50g per day >.<)

[landlord]

While you wait maybe test your Alk for a reference mark.

The pH will probably drop before you can make enough water.

[JeF4y]

I'm no chemist or marine biologist, but isn't a dramatic shock downward JUST as bad as the spike? Personally, I'd try to calm down and take a few hours and do some reading to make sure I'm doing the right thing. Just me though..

[Kdocimo90]

To be honest theres really nothing I'm doing. It's just slowing going down. All I did was take some water out as it was about to overflow.

[Kdocimo90]

should i keep things circulation and have the return pumps on and filter socks in the sump?

Or should i let the DT water sit?

[elecbzerk]

What kind of ATO do you have? Is it on a Reefkeeper controller? I have mine on an RKE controller, if you have the same controller it should not be programmed Auto.

[Kdocimo90]

it is on a reef keeper controller.

What should it be programmed as?

I have it set to .50 and turn on when low. Then I have the pump set up to SW.A, AUTO

[Kdocimo90]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15721435#post15721435 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Kdocimo90
should i keep things circulation and have the return pumps on and filter socks in the sump?

Or should i let the DT water sit?

Also, should I have the skimmer running or no?

Also, the pH now has been at a steady 9.25 and no real drop.
Should I just drain 1/4 or 1/3 of the tank?


Edit: pH not at ~9.20

[Kdocimo90]

Update:
Tank is clearing up a little bit. Corals, clams and fish seem fine. I do see the what looks like the Kalk dust on the rocks.


Can anyone help with my questions????

[JeF4y]

Personally I'd shut off the skimmer as it's adding fresh air which will help keep the pH up.

[Kdocimo90]

Yeah I've kept the skimmer off... Ok thanks Jef4y.

Update.
Tank much clearer now
pH ~9.15

[elecbzerk]

Why the heteresis .5? that field should be blank. You have the device as a switch right? Did it flow too much water? On when low is good. What kind of pump are you using? Also, the channel it plugs into makes a difference. I had mine plugged into a solid state channel and it needed to be on a relay channel because it was flowing too much. If you top off pump is on ch 2 or 3 try moving it to 1 or 4.

[Kdocimo90]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15721683#post15721683 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by elecbzerk
Why the heteresis .5? that field should be blank. You have the device as a switch right? Did it flow too much water? On when low is good. What kind of pump are you using? Also, the channel it plugs into makes a difference. I had mine plugged into a solid state channel and it needed to be on a relay channel because it was flowing too much. If you top off pump is on ch 2 or 3 try moving it to 1 or 4.

Its on ch 3 :eek:

Ok so I just want the ATO pump to turn ON when the water level is too low. Can you tell me exactly how/what my settings shoujld look like?

[Kdocimo90]

pH is dropping at about .01 every minute or 2

[elecbzerk]

Device: 02:SWA..............This can be any ON/OFF device (i.e. switches and channels)
ON when: Low................Determines which state of the device starts the channel/Timer

I found this on the DA support forum, I think mine is the same but I'll verify when I get home to check my programming. What kind of pump do you use for you TO water?

[Kdocimo90]

I'm using some little maxi jet. I forget which one.

[elecbzerk]

I use an aqualifter, but I'll bet if you switch it to ch 1 or 4 you will not have an issue anymore. Mine did the same thing and would still pump water even when the LED was off for that channel, when I switched it to ch 4 it stopped.

[Kdocimo90]

What an annoying thing. Thanks for letting me know elec.

Everything is hectic, and of course this had to happen on the day that I got a bunch of fish in.


Update:
pH at around 9.0
Tank very clear now (not completely normal yet though)

All fish and coral in the tank seem perfectly fine
New fish are acclimating alright and look very healthy.


Wish me luck guys. (thats all I asked for last night and look what happened this morning >.<)

[landlord]

Good Luck!

:)

[Kdocimo90]

Thanks. I'm sure gonna need it.

[downhillbiker]

I have gone through some major pH swings, and the best thing you can do is let it come down naturally. Randy Holmes-Farley suggested to me, to reduce the pH with CO2, either breathing into skimmer or soda water until pH was below 9.0, then just let it come down naturally. I had a pH swing from 9.4 and then overdosed CO2 in skimmer to 6.8, and it was not good, but even then most stuff survived. Things will work out for you.

[Kdocimo90]

Right now the pH is at around 8.95.

Should I do anything as dosing with CO2? Or should I keep letting it naturally go down.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15721982#post15721982 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by downhillbiker
but even then most stuff survived. Things will work out for you.

That's good to hear. Thanks.

[sks4613]

Best of luck. Things seem to happen that way some time.