[reggiepe]

Today while I was not around my tank, my 8yr old decide he was going to be like dad and do the daily maintenance to the reef. Much to my dismay he seems to have dumped half of a 1litre container of Marine buffer in the tank. I have repalced all mechanical filtration as it was clogged with the white dust. I tested the PH and it is dead on 8.3, but I am concerned for after the lights go off and what kind of fallout will occur from this. I was going to do a large water change but I found out that he had dumped some of the buffer into the 20 gal of R/O water that I had stored. I am making new water now for a water change but it will be tomorrow at best. I am seeing no ill effects from this....yet. Anyone have any tips?


thanks
Rich

[Reefland]

How did this work out?

[reggiepe]

From what I was able to see this morning before leaving for work (lights were not on yet) I had a slight powdery residue on everything. I am assuming that this is the Marine Buffer itself or possibly calcium or magnesium snow. Don't know for sure.....but I would guess that the balance in that tank is thrown all out of whack. I am goiing to do a 20 gallon change this evening to alleviate some issues, but would like some more recommendations of what to watch for and what implications this may have caused. I had a very stern discussion with my son last evening as to what he can or can't do. I love the fact that he is interested at that early of an age, but it scares me to death for what damage he could have done.

thanks for any and all responses,

Rich

[Poseidon]

I think you will be ok, test for the ALK levels, and do another water change.

[BubbaWPB]

My educated guess is that your calcium may have dropped a bit. You may want to check that... however, get the alkalinity down toward normal-ish levels (at least down below 5 mEq/L) before supplementing calcium, or you'll just have a snowstorm. Good luck!

[reggiepe]

I checked the alkalinity, and it was way up. I did a water change, and will do another one this evening. The only thing that I see efected is my coralline algae. It seems to have a washed out appearance. Hopefully that will be the only ill effects. Is there a method other than water changes to bring the alkalinity back into check?


thanks
Rich

[Poseidon]

Water changes would be the cheapest way. You can test your Ca, if it is low then add the supplement, and it will precipitate out the extra Alk. It will NOT raise the Ca levels though. See why this gets expensive? I would stick with water changes.

[jasutton]

am i wrong in believing that DI water is moderately acidic (pH of 2-3) without salt? i did some testing in a lab i was working at in college and found this to be true. You could bring down the alk by adding a little DI water without salt...ofcoarse you have to monitor the sp. grav. But i think that you could accomplish 1-2 point drop in alk without too much variability in your sp. grav. Just a thought

good luck! My girlfriend did almost the same thing, but she is 25!! At least your son has the excuse of age :/

[BubbaWPB]

When DI water is acidic, it is usually a sign of dissolved carbon dioxide (carbonic acid)... you'd just be adding more carbonate.

[reggiepe]

I am assuming that you mean just DO and not RO/DI...... The new water that I make from my RO/DI unit has a PH of 9.0 or a little above. If you mean RO/DI then I have a serious issue I wasn't even aware of.

Update on the inhabitants.....the coralline seemed to be the only thing that was Ill effected. My Xenia isn't standing as tall as it had been, still pulsing though. I believe as I bring down the concentrations these will fall back into play.

Thanks everyone for the assist. I was afraid at first that all would be lost and would need to go to square one. For now, my son's duties have been reduced to the evening feedings of my clownfish pair in another aquarium.


Thanks again

Rich

[reggiepe]

I mean DI not DO....Duh!

[BubbaWPB]

Originally Posted by reggiepe

I am assuming that you mean just DO and not RO/DI...... The new water that I make from my RO/DI unit has a PH of 9.0 or a little above. If you mean RO/DI then I have a serious issue I wasn't even aware of.

Rich, we're just talking scientific heads showing off some of the chemistry we paid thousands of dollars to learn and never use (well rarely except on this forum) ...

If you're using RO/DI water to make your seawater, you'll be just fine. Any disolved carbon dioxide is negligible compared to the salt mix anyway.

[reggiepe]

Ok, great...wasn't able to see if you were wearing your hobby hat or your scientist hat.

Thanks
Rich