Help.. Overdosed kH buffer

[berv]

Hello everyone, I accidentally overdosed my tank with kH buffer, the precipitate is covering my glass, sand, rocks, I believe it's already a goner and I would have to start again, any suggestions on how to remove and probably salvage what I have aside from water changes? Thanks!

[The Propagator]

Make up a lot of fresh SW make up water, bring it to tank temp, remove your coral and place it in said bucket. Then do a massive water change in your aquarium to clear it up.

After its cleared better then it is now place your inhabitants back in the tank and be prepared for a small cycle. Your alkalinity and calium will be way out of whack for a while. Specifically your alkalinity. It will drop like a rock through out the rebuilding process of the nitrogen cycle.

How did you dose so much so as to get precipitate from alkalinity buffer any way?

Did you use powder form and place it directly in your tank with out mixing it with top off water or what? Getting precipitate via alkalinity buffer is actually a pretty hard thing to do LOL !

[berv]

Propagator..was too concerned about pH.. don't ask how, what I did was stupid. I lost 12 snails, 9 hermits, 2 crabs which basically are the only inhabitants. I was just making the water as ideal as possible after my cycle (my pH kept dropping to 7.5). How do I actually clear the precipitate after a water change, they stick to the rocks, sand and glass and is very hard to remove. Thanks Propagator!

[The Propagator]

Well like I said I need to know what you dosed and how you dosed it 1st.

[berv]

I used the Reef Pure pH buffer as well as the marine kH buffer, I think I used 4x the recommended dose(duh...duh..duh), changed the water, added water with the pH and kH buffer, since pH kept dropping, repeated the same process. Btw, I used the powder form, mixed it with new water before adding it into the tank...

[The Propagator]

Most PH buffers will also raise your alkalinity.

 

How many gallons of water are we talking about there?

[bdare]

Water changes really won't help. Do you know what your Ph and Alk are at now? What is your Mg at? Mg will help prevent precipitation.

 

As long as your Ph is OK you should be able to ride it out.

 

Ben

[The Propagator]

It will to rid the tank of precipitate won't it ?

[bdare]

It will to rid the tank of precipitate won't it ?

 

It would be my first inclination as well, but here's what Randy says you should do:

 

The following important points should help in dealing with a limewater overdose:

 

1. Don't panic! These overdoses do not usually cause a tank to crash.

 

2. The primary concern is pH. If the pH is 8.6 or lower, you need not do anything. If the pH is above 8.6, then reducing the pH is the priority. Direct addition of vinegar or soda water is a good way to accomplish this goal. Either one mL of distilled white vinegar, or six mL of soda water, per gallon of tank water will give an initial pH drop of about 0.3 pH units. Add either to a high flow area that is away from organisms (e.g., a sump).

 

3. Do not bother to measure calcium or alkalinity while the tank is cloudy. The solid calcium carbonate particles will dissolve in an alkalinity test, and all of the carbonate in them will be counted as if it were in solution and part of "alkalinity." The same may happen to some extent with calcium tests. Wait until the water clears, and at that point, alkalinity is more likely to be low than high. Calcium will likely be mostly unchanged.

 

4. The particles themselves will typically settle out and disappear from view over a period of 1-4 days. They do not appear to cause long term detrimental effects to tank organisms.

 

5. Water changes are not necessarily beneficial or needed in response to a limewater overdose.

 

Granted that's for a limewater overdose, but the end result "precip" is the same...

 

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2005-07/rhf/index.php

[The Propagator]

Very good to know !

 

Hey you are good for something !

[bdare]

Very good to know !

 

Hey you are good for something !

 

It helps that I've loaded all of Randy's articles into my own personal database with references. I've also got 90% memorized word for word.

 

[The Propagator]

I have NO DOUBT you actually do Ben.

[berv]

Prop, Ben, thank you so much for your help. The precipitate actually sticks to the glass, rocks and it's kinda hard to remove.... I think I will just start over again, didn't have much livestock, only CUC. It's 28 gal btw..

[The Propagator]

Sounds like its worth starting over if your at square one any ways.

Just rinse it all off real good in tank water.

[berv]

I am starting over, just wondering what I can use to get the precipitate off the glass. It's kinda tough and won't come off when I scrub it with water. Really appreciate the help Prop and Ben!

[The Propagator]

Hey your welcome...thats what we are here for. Pretty soon we will be asking you questions our selves

 

I would drain it down then wipe her out with a rag. You may want to get cracking at it though as alkaline precipitate can etch the glass if its left on to long.

[HecticDialectics]

I'd imagine regular old vinegar would help remove it from the glass if ya don't want to scrap at it.

[berv]

Thanks Hecticdialectics, will take that into consideration. I am just afraid that the vinegar might seep into the sandbed.

[The Propagator]

I wouldn't imagine it has crusted yet. But it will if you don't get hopping on it soon though !

[berv]

It actually started to crust... changed 90% water last night in the hopes of diluting the buffer and maybe making it easier for me to scrub it out.

I thought everything was dead. My nassarius snails are still alive for now, but the turbos, crabs are goners.

 

Correction: Hermits are still miraculously alive..

 

It's so hard to remove the precipitate on the glass, vinegar should work, but what will the overall effect be on the organisms that still thrive?

 

P.S. Been using old credit cards to scrape the precipitate off, highly inefficient though.

 

Thanks guys!

[berv]

Ok, for future reference, if anybody did overdose on the kH and/or pH buffers and have precipitate on glass, try an algae scraper(steel razor for glass aquariums, dunno about acrylic), works like a charm, no need for chemicals, just scrape it!