Alk Spike - CaRX Malfunction - Advice?

pisanoal · 08/21/2018, 07:57 AM

Short Story - I had an alk spike from around 8 to an 11 presumably overnight. There is potential that happened slowly while I was on vacation last week, but I had a CaRX malfunction after working on it last night and alk was 11 this morning. This was the first test since before vacation so not entirely sure when the spike happened. Everything looked good before I messed with the reactor, no signs of alk spike yet. Yes, I double checked the reading with another kit.

My question is, do any of you have any advice on minimizing stress/losses?
I've shut my reactor off for now, I don't plan on doing any water changes, and i'll just let alk fall naturally. How many days should I take to lower it (or how much dkh per day is safe)? I dose phos and nitrate, so I added a little this morning to try to make sure i'm not nutrient deficient. I'm considering turning my lights down for the next several days. Good idea? Any other advice, let me know. Thanks.

Details of the story if you care -

So I got back from vacation a couple days ago, and before I left I ordered one of the new Kamoer continuous duty peristaltic pumps for my CaRX since I was having trouble controlling my reactor effluent and was having to check/flush it daily. Naturally, I was excited to hook it up when I got home. So last night, I installed the pump, and of course what I expected to take 30 minutes took 3 hours due to an air leak on the recirc pump that had to be fixed. I finally got it all set up, calibrated the pump and set the drip rate to where it had been running.

I woke up this morning, tested the alk and it was at 11. I looked at my reactor pH and it was a 1.5. I'm not sure if that was accurate, because my media wasn't mush, but either way my CO2 solenoid had obviously stuck open because the CO2 was still going. Tank pH was still around 8.3 so I don't think I had too bad of a pH swing If at all.

Alex Costa · 08/21/2018, 09:38 AM

I think the best to do right now is....nothing.
If you already fixed the solenoid problem, there's nothing much to do.
Maybe to tune the CARX to operate a little down for some days, to bring alk back to something around 8 again.
11 isn't an ultra high value.....but the spike can make some sps STN/RTN...time will tell.

pisanoal · 08/21/2018, 10:01 AM

Thanks for the reply. I haven't fixed the solenoid yet. Found it this morning before work. I have an extra and ill change it out when I get home. Reactor is off for now.

I was planning on leaving the reactor off, but I like your idea of tuning it down to drop alk slower.

Don't worry about lights?

jda · 08/23/2018, 10:18 AM

Are the corals even stressed? If not, then just wait for it to go back down, but be ready to start again when it does. Depending on your load, this could be quick and has maybe happened already.

Alk of 11 should not really harm acros unless you are running true ULNS (like ZeoVit) or they are otherwise stressed from so-so lighting or unstable other stuff. People used to run awesome acropora tanks with 11 alk all of the time.

Alex Costa · 08/23/2018, 10:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by pisanoal

Don't worry about lights?

Leds?
Tune it a little down can be a good call.

pisanoal · 08/23/2018, 06:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alex Costa

Leds?
Tune it a little down can be a good call.

6x5ft T5s with LED supplementation. I unplugged one set of bulbs for a couple days.

Everything looks really good so far so I'm thinking it happened over the week and not overnight.

Thanks for the responses, I'm not out of the woods yet, but its looking like I dodged a bullet.

08/21/2018, 07:57 AM	#1
pisanoal Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 705	Alk Spike - CaRX Malfunction - Advice? Short Story - I had an alk spike from around 8 to an 11 presumably overnight. There is potential that happened slowly while I was on vacation last week, but I had a CaRX malfunction after working on it last night and alk was 11 this morning. This was the first test since before vacation so not entirely sure when the spike happened. Everything looked good before I messed with the reactor, no signs of alk spike yet. Yes, I double checked the reading with another kit. My question is, do any of you have any advice on minimizing stress/losses? I've shut my reactor off for now, I don't plan on doing any water changes, and i'll just let alk fall naturally. How many days should I take to lower it (or how much dkh per day is safe)? I dose phos and nitrate, so I added a little this morning to try to make sure i'm not nutrient deficient. I'm considering turning my lights down for the next several days. Good idea? Any other advice, let me know. Thanks. Details of the story if you care - So I got back from vacation a couple days ago, and before I left I ordered one of the new Kamoer continuous duty peristaltic pumps for my CaRX since I was having trouble controlling my reactor effluent and was having to check/flush it daily. Naturally, I was excited to hook it up when I got home. So last night, I installed the pump, and of course what I expected to take 30 minutes took 3 hours due to an air leak on the recirc pump that had to be fixed. I finally got it all set up, calibrated the pump and set the drip rate to where it had been running. I woke up this morning, tested the alk and it was at 11. I looked at my reactor pH and it was a 1.5. I'm not sure if that was accurate, because my media wasn't mush, but either way my CO2 solenoid had obviously stuck open because the CO2 was still going. Tank pH was still around 8.3 so I don't think I had too bad of a pH swing If at all.

08/21/2018, 09:38 AM	#2
Alex Costa Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Itupeva - SP - Brasil Posts: 673	I think the best to do right now is....nothing. If you already fixed the solenoid problem, there's nothing much to do. Maybe to tune the CARX to operate a little down for some days, to bring alk back to something around 8 again. 11 isn't an ultra high value.....but the spike can make some sps STN/RTN...time will tell. __________________ https://www.flickr.com/photos/49229306@N02/ http://reefkeeping.com/joomla/index.php/current-issue/article/153-tank-of-the-month Current Tank Info: http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2596707

08/21/2018, 10:01 AM	#3
pisanoal Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2014 Posts: 705	Thanks for the reply. I haven't fixed the solenoid yet. Found it this morning before work. I have an extra and ill change it out when I get home. Reactor is off for now. I was planning on leaving the reactor off, but I like your idea of tuning it down to drop alk slower. Don't worry about lights?

08/23/2018, 10:18 AM	#4
jda Dogmatic Dinosaur Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Boulder, CO Posts: 6,256	Are the corals even stressed? If not, then just wait for it to go back down, but be ready to start again when it does. Depending on your load, this could be quick and has maybe happened already. Alk of 11 should not really harm acros unless you are running true ULNS (like ZeoVit) or they are otherwise stressed from so-so lighting or unstable other stuff. People used to run awesome acropora tanks with 11 alk all of the time.