grr! KH mess up

Discussion in 'Water Chemistry' started by Dingo, Mar 21, 2010.

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  1. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    Im mixing up a waterchange for later tonight or else tomorrow morning and as usual, my water is only 6 dKh so I add some alk increaser... as im adding, it slips out of my hand! I caught it before the whole container got in the water but still a substantial amount fell into the water :angry:

    So I tested and its about 25... I could add some Ca to lower it but then I am afraid my Ca being introduced in the tank is much higher than usual

    I also dont wanna throw it out because I mix up 20 gallons at a time and let it sit for a few weeks so i can do multiple smaller changes with it
     
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  3. reefmonkey

    reefmonkey Giant Squid

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    D'OH! That sucks..my tub of premix got cross contaminated and started growing algae.
     
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  4. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    add raw ro/di freshwater in the 20g mix. this will lower your dkh, calcium, and salinity.

    raw ro/di should have 0 dkh.. so I would add 6-8 gallons.. should have you down to 11-12dkh..
     
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  5. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    maybe qty (3) 2liter bottle of seltzer water.. but I'd rather do option 1 and add raw ro/di water..
     
  6. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    if you only have a 20g bucket/tub you might want to split the 20g into 2 seperate containers and add 3-4 gallons per 10 gallons.. either way not the end of the world..
     
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  7. Screwtape

    Screwtape Tonozukai Fairy Wrasse

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    You can't use straight RO/DI because that will lower salinity, you could try mixing up a new batch of saltwater in a new container and mixing the two batches of saltwater but be careful that you don't get a bunch of precipitate during this process. If it was me I would probably just dump it rather than deal with it and any potential risks associated with it.

    It's a dollar or two wasted but think of it as paying for a lesson learned. :)

    I would avoid dosing anything from a container that could possibly ruin the whole batch, try and use a scoop or intermediate container for dosing and do not pour or scoop over the container you want to avoid messing up if there's a spill. I think it's just good practice for anything, whether you're making a pot of chili or dosing alk into a bucket of saltwater.
     
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  9. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    as screwtape as stated yes your salinity among other things will drop. but you can add salt to that mix once dkh is in range.. you'll probly end up with 30 gallons but its your call. I myself dont have a ro/di unit, I try to save what water I can because I pay for it.. :(
     
  10. Dingo

    Dingo Giant Squid

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    ill just mix it up to more gallons and add more salt... ahh PITA
     
  11. Night-Rida

    Night-Rida Finback Whale

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    well how did it turn out!

    8)