kalk OVERLOAD >>>>HELP!

Surgeonfish1 · 10/22/2006, 04:49 PM

I @$$ed up big time.

I was hoping to raise my alk a little so I decreased the stir time between my reactor and the topoff - SO

My kalk reactor ran for about 15 minutes stirring the kalk and then my topoff kicked on almost immediately and dumped a couple gallons of water into the tank.

It is a mixed reef, all of the corals are expelling and 1 bartlett anthias was dead in the front of the tank.

I changed the carbon, I changed the filter floss (kalk covered), I cranked up the skimmer to wet skim.

It has looked like a snow storm in there now for nearly 2 hours.

irishrose302 · 10/22/2006, 05:09 PM

I have heard that dumping vinager in will drop the kalk. Have not had to use it though. Go to www.michiganreefers.com they have a link on there about it.

irishrose302 · 10/22/2006, 05:10 PM

Huge Water Changes.

Surgeonfish1 · 10/22/2006, 06:05 PM

^^

Craig Lambert · 10/22/2006, 07:25 PM

DO NOT ADD VINEGAR TO THE TANK! Vinegar is used to lower pH which has probably already declined do to an overdose of Calcium chipping away at your Alk. Do some water changes instead.

cristhiam · 10/22/2006, 07:32 PM

Post in the chemistry forum actually your ph probably is very high. PH on fresh kalk it's about 12.

Craig Lambert · 10/22/2006, 07:33 PM

Yes, but "dumping Vinegar" isn't something to mess with. 1 ml of vinegar per gallon will lower pH by .3 immediatly.

Nabber86 · 10/22/2006, 07:34 PM

I think Surgeonfish is talking about a "kalc" reactor, not a "calcium" reactor.

An overdose from a calcium reactor isnt as bad as an overdose of kalk. (you might get a snowstorm, but that is more of an asthetic thing.)

If it is indeed a kalk reactor, then add vinegar (or some other acid) carefully to lower the pH from the kalk overdose. Use a pH meter to carefully monitor the acid addition so you dont overdo it.

Surgeonfish1 · 10/22/2006, 07:45 PM

It was kalk, it happened about 5 p.m.

At this time I have only done a 30g water change, just changed yesterday so I did not have a mix together yet at temperature.

I have changed the floss twice it catches a lot. I have changed the carbon twice and I have been wet skimming big time. My 4 year old purple tang seems as though it is a zombie. The tank is much clearer now although still white tinted.

LPS seem to be taking it hard, 1 large blue acro is going white (NICE!). Shrimp, crabs, snails seem to be OK. Have not seen my Powder blue.

I have been turkey basting the SPS and LPS - does it matter?

I have not checked parameters, figure it will just make me sick.

Nabber86 · 10/22/2006, 08:10 PM

The best thing you can do is check the pH and then adjust as needed with vinegar. The water change helps a lot too. Changing the floss and carbon wont do much for a high pH, but it cant hurt anything either.

Good luck. I have done the same thing before (overdose kalk), however, I was lucky. Just a few really P*ssed off corals. Nothing dead. The funniest thing about the whole situation is that I did not have any regular vinegar in the house when I overdosed the kalk. I had to use Sushi-grade rice vinegar.

Surgeonfish1 · 10/22/2006, 08:22 PM

I am so pi$$ed that I can not stand it. Just added new equipment several small SPS, everything was going too good.

My largest colonies all seem to have taken it the hardest except for the montipora, they seem to be fine.

I have seen 5 of 10 fish the larger acros and millis seems to have got zapped. I am curious as to whether or not a single limb will live on some of them. I could not even start to guess how many hundreds of $ I am watching melt away - this sucks.

Surgeonfish1 · 10/22/2006, 08:32 PM

Nice, just found my PBT - he is not a gonner but looks like he got pinned under a rock, too big to flush but sure is not going to make it..........as it lays on it's side on the bottom, waiting for me to put him out of his misery.

I almost wish I had of just had a power outage and lost the entire thing as opposed to watching it go piece by piece.

HippieSmell · 10/22/2006, 08:34 PM

Sorry man. Just save what you can and take deep breaths.

steve the plumb · 10/23/2006, 09:57 AM

you can also try muriatic acid but you have to use a very small amount.I had a kalk disaster aswell invest in a ph controller.I lost $3000 worth of livestock.The vinegar will help along with lots of skimming and carbon but once the damage is done its hard to reverse.If you have a friend you can give him some of your acros since those are the most sensitive corals.Don't do to much of a water change and check ammonia levels due to die off.

jimbo045 · 10/23/2006, 11:49 AM

I got swithed to that 16oz. PurpleUp, instead of those Kalk things!

Fuegofish777 · 10/23/2006, 12:13 PM

i did a small overdose about a month ago. all my sps slimed over and cast awasy some sort of membrane, but all except one survived. LPS i thought were gone for sure, but recoverd in time. my softies were closed for a few days. Just keep your head up, i think more will make it through than you think. just keep up the water changes.

Fuegofish777 · 10/23/2006, 12:14 PM

my fish all reacted they way yours are sounding too, but they all pulled through.

Bred · 10/23/2006, 01:29 PM

My two cents, which may be worth much less than that:

pH values are not, on their own, lethal, it's the osmotic shock caused by excessive changes in water chemistry that kills things.
Following one massive change to the water (the addition of too much kalk) with another equally massive change (the addition of an acid to "neutralize" the effects of the kalk) is going to compound the trouble. And while the lowereing effect on pH gives the semblance of a return to normal, the fact is there has still been a massive change in TDS which is wreaking havoc on cell membranes throughout the tank.

Physical removal of the kalk (by water change and by mechanical filtration, as you are already doing) is the only way I know to address the real problem... Keep at it and best of luck!

jimwat · 10/23/2006, 02:22 PM

I had a similar problem with a kalk overdose. Luckily for me the overdose was mostly isolated to my sump, so I did not loose any livestock. I was able to correct the pH in the sump with water changes and a little vinegar. I did find that you need to be very careful lowering the pH. My experience was that the pH drop came quite quickly (in the sump) which I am sure would have NOT have been good for the animals in the main tank.

Maybe turning off the lights might bring the pH down a little.

Good Luck

kevin gu3 · 10/23/2006, 03:09 PM

I had a similar problem, my stirrer kept going the whole night. Lost all but one fish and about 1/3 of my coral. I would not recommend adding acid; just aerate the water to add CO2.

To speed things up I unhooked my CO2 line from the calcium reactor and dumped it into the skimmer input to raise the level there. That dropped the pH back down to normal in about 9 hours.

steve the plumb · 10/23/2006, 03:21 PM

I was iffy about the acid it wasn't a large amount.I forget the amount.You can ask on the reef chemistry forum.For me it was to late it all happened while I was on vacation so it was at least 3 days of kalk water curculating in the tank half my fish and most corals were dead.Then the die off polluted the tank

10/22/2006, 04:49 PM	#1
Surgeonfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: OH Posts: 24	kalk OVERLOAD >>>>HELP! I @$$ed up big time. I was hoping to raise my alk a little so I decreased the stir time between my reactor and the topoff - SO My kalk reactor ran for about 15 minutes stirring the kalk and then my topoff kicked on almost immediately and dumped a couple gallons of water into the tank. It is a mixed reef, all of the corals are expelling and 1 bartlett anthias was dead in the front of the tank. I changed the carbon, I changed the filter floss (kalk covered), I cranked up the skimmer to wet skim. It has looked like a snow storm in there now for nearly 2 hours.

10/22/2006, 07:25 PM	#5
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	DO NOT ADD VINEGAR TO THE TANK! Vinegar is used to lower pH which has probably already declined do to an overdose of Calcium chipping away at your Alk. Do some water changes instead. __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic

10/22/2006, 07:32 PM	#6
cristhiam Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Groveland, FL Posts: 3,099	Post in the chemistry forum actually your ph probably is very high. PH on fresh kalk it's about 12. __________________ 2 yellows tail damsels, yellow watchman goby, tail spot blennie, purple pseudocromis, starry blennie, 2 clowns, 1 black clown, mandarine & Yellow tang Current Tank Info: 125 AGA, 3 40W 6500K, 3 110W URI Actinics, running on 2 IceCaps 660, CSS125

10/22/2006, 07:33 PM	#7
Craig Lambert Premium Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Portland, OR Posts: 2,897	Yes, but "dumping Vinegar" isn't something to mess with. 1 ml of vinegar per gallon will lower pH by .3 immediatly. __________________ "Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will spend all day in a boat drinking beer." Current Tank Info: 75G Tank, 29G Sump, 100lbs LR, AquaC EV-180, Iwaki MD-20RT return Tunze nano streams 4X54 t-5/Icecap Ballast & SLR's 2x110 vho actinic

10/22/2006, 08:34 PM	#13
HippieSmell Occupy Reef Central Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Orbiting Posts: 4,141	Sorry man. Just save what you can and take deep breaths. __________________ Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like bananas. Current Tank Info: 78"x36"x27" acrylic, 6 Orphek Atlantik V3+ Compacts, MRC Orca Pro II w/washdown, CalcFeeder Pro AC3, Emperor Aquatics 80w UV, 80/20 aluminum stand, Vortech MP60's, Theiling Rollermat, GHL Profilux 3.1T EX, Kessil H380

10/22/2006, 05:09 PM	#2
irishrose302 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Raleigh, North Carolina Posts: 147	I have heard that dumping vinager in will drop the kalk. Have not had to use it though. Go to www.michiganreefers.com they have a link on there about it.

10/22/2006, 05:10 PM	#3
irishrose302 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Raleigh, North Carolina Posts: 147	Huge Water Changes.

10/22/2006, 06:05 PM	#4
Surgeonfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: OH Posts: 24	^^

10/22/2006, 07:34 PM	#8
Nabber86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stalewater Kansas Posts: 408	I think Surgeonfish is talking about a "kalc" reactor, not a "calcium" reactor. An overdose from a calcium reactor isnt as bad as an overdose of kalk. (you might get a snowstorm, but that is more of an asthetic thing.) If it is indeed a kalk reactor, then add vinegar (or some other acid) carefully to lower the pH from the kalk overdose. Use a pH meter to carefully monitor the acid addition so you dont overdo it.

10/22/2006, 07:45 PM	#9
Surgeonfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: OH Posts: 24	It was kalk, it happened about 5 p.m. At this time I have only done a 30g water change, just changed yesterday so I did not have a mix together yet at temperature. I have changed the floss twice it catches a lot. I have changed the carbon twice and I have been wet skimming big time. My 4 year old purple tang seems as though it is a zombie. The tank is much clearer now although still white tinted. LPS seem to be taking it hard, 1 large blue acro is going white (NICE!). Shrimp, crabs, snails seem to be OK. Have not seen my Powder blue. I have been turkey basting the SPS and LPS - does it matter? I have not checked parameters, figure it will just make me sick.

10/22/2006, 08:10 PM	#10
Nabber86 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Stalewater Kansas Posts: 408	The best thing you can do is check the pH and then adjust as needed with vinegar. The water change helps a lot too. Changing the floss and carbon wont do much for a high pH, but it cant hurt anything either. Good luck. I have done the same thing before (overdose kalk), however, I was lucky. Just a few really P*ssed off corals. Nothing dead. The funniest thing about the whole situation is that I did not have any regular vinegar in the house when I overdosed the kalk. I had to use Sushi-grade rice vinegar.

10/22/2006, 08:22 PM	#11
Surgeonfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: OH Posts: 24	I am so pi$$ed that I can not stand it. Just added new equipment several small SPS, everything was going too good. My largest colonies all seem to have taken it the hardest except for the montipora, they seem to be fine. I have seen 5 of 10 fish the larger acros and millis seems to have got zapped. I am curious as to whether or not a single limb will live on some of them. I could not even start to guess how many hundreds of $ I am watching melt away - this sucks.

10/22/2006, 08:32 PM	#12
Surgeonfish1 Registered Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: OH Posts: 24	Nice, just found my PBT - he is not a gonner but looks like he got pinned under a rock, too big to flush but sure is not going to make it..........as it lays on it's side on the bottom, waiting for me to put him out of his misery. I almost wish I had of just had a power outage and lost the entire thing as opposed to watching it go piece by piece.

10/23/2006, 09:57 AM	#14
steve the plumb Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 3,664	you can also try muriatic acid but you have to use a very small amount.I had a kalk disaster aswell invest in a ph controller.I lost $3000 worth of livestock.The vinegar will help along with lots of skimming and carbon but once the damage is done its hard to reverse.If you have a friend you can give him some of your acros since those are the most sensitive corals.Don't do to much of a water change and check ammonia levels due to die off.

10/23/2006, 11:49 AM	#15
jimbo045 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Aiea, HI. Posts: 1,788	I got swithed to that 16oz. PurpleUp, instead of those Kalk things!

10/23/2006, 12:13 PM	#16
Fuegofish777 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: S. California Posts: 1,191	i did a small overdose about a month ago. all my sps slimed over and cast awasy some sort of membrane, but all except one survived. LPS i thought were gone for sure, but recoverd in time. my softies were closed for a few days. Just keep your head up, i think more will make it through than you think. just keep up the water changes.

10/23/2006, 12:14 PM	#17
Fuegofish777 Registered Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: S. California Posts: 1,191	my fish all reacted they way yours are sounding too, but they all pulled through.

10/23/2006, 01:29 PM	#18
Bred Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 16	My two cents, which may be worth much less than that: pH values are not, on their own, lethal, it's the osmotic shock caused by excessive changes in water chemistry that kills things. Following one massive change to the water (the addition of too much kalk) with another equally massive change (the addition of an acid to "neutralize" the effects of the kalk) is going to compound the trouble. And while the lowereing effect on pH gives the semblance of a return to normal, the fact is there has still been a massive change in TDS which is wreaking havoc on cell membranes throughout the tank. Physical removal of the kalk (by water change and by mechanical filtration, as you are already doing) is the only way I know to address the real problem... Keep at it and best of luck!

10/23/2006, 02:22 PM	#19
jimwat Premium Member Join Date: Apr 2003 Location: South Florida Posts: 1,270	I had a similar problem with a kalk overdose. Luckily for me the overdose was mostly isolated to my sump, so I did not loose any livestock. I was able to correct the pH in the sump with water changes and a little vinegar. I did find that you need to be very careful lowering the pH. My experience was that the pH drop came quite quickly (in the sump) which I am sure would have NOT have been good for the animals in the main tank. Maybe turning off the lights might bring the pH down a little. Good Luck __________________ "Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day and drink beer." Current Tank Info: 65 gal with 192w PC 10k, 192w VHO actinic, Blue-Moon LED, Tunze 6060 on WavySea, AquaController 3. 20gal sump, Natureef CDECX-1, Phosban Reactor, Remora, Kalk Drip, Ozone.

10/23/2006, 03:09 PM	#20
kevin gu3 Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Whitmore Lk, MI Posts: 732	I had a similar problem, my stirrer kept going the whole night. Lost all but one fish and about 1/3 of my coral. I would not recommend adding acid; just aerate the water to add CO2. To speed things up I unhooked my CO2 line from the calcium reactor and dumped it into the skimmer input to raise the level there. That dropped the pH back down to normal in about 9 hours. __________________ Divert all money to life support. Your wallet will be assimilated. Resistance is futile. Current Tank Info: 90g reef, 29g anemone exile tank

10/23/2006, 03:21 PM	#21
steve the plumb Moved On Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 3,664	I was iffy about the acid it wasn't a large amount.I forget the amount.You can ask on the reef chemistry forum.For me it was to late it all happened while I was on vacation so it was at least 3 days of kalk water curculating in the tank half my fish and most corals were dead.Then the die off polluted the tank