Disaster!

D

DeanneL

Membership Expired
I left DH in charge of the tank while I went camping. He mistakenly poured almost a gallon of ALK mixture (water and baking soda) into my 55 gallon tank, instead of the fresh ro/di water I left nearby. I rushed home, found a milky-white water and the alkalinity reading that was off the chart. AFter a couple of 50% water changes, we lost 3 fish *sniff* and finally got the alk reading to 2.97 (8.3 KH).

Here's my question: there is white powder covering the rocks in the tank. It kinda looks like it has snowed in there. Will my snails clean this off? If I use the turkey baster to blow it off the rocks, will it just raise my alk level again?

TIA!!!

Lesson learned: mark your home-brewed calcium and alkalinity containers very clearly!
 
You've got calcium carbonate precipitation, most likely. Depending on the ionic balance in your tank, it may or may not get dissolved. You should be able to knock it of into the sand and ignore it.

What's your ph now? Ca?
 
I just tested...

PH: 8.1
Ca: 470
KH: 5.8
alk: 2.06 in meq/L

Now the alk seems low. ??? I tested with salifert tests, btw.
 
Yup, once you hit supersaturation / precipitation, it'll cascade until it reaches equilibrium again.

Usually, it leaves your ca / alk a little low, but your water changes may have caused it to equalize before the levels dropped too far.

Give it a few hours and retest to be sure, though.
 
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