Higher Thinking Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 (edited) To provide some background to the current situation, I will explain that everything is set up in a temporary situation. I have just moved into a new house and am currently working on setting up a new 180 gallon tank. In the meantime, everything is kept in the sump and Rubbermaid set up. It's about 50 gallons. So at the risk of making myself look like a total idiot, I'm going to go ahead and describe what happened to me last night. I recently filled up a 20 pound co2 container to get ready for my calcium reactor. Well I hooked up the regulator and made sure that everything was looking correct as far as the gauges go. I just coincidentally decided to close the door in my fish tank room last night so I didn't have to hear the gurgling of the noise from the temporary setup. When I went in there this morning I looked at the pH monitor and it read 7.05. There is no way that's accurate, I thought to myself. I immediately broke out the calibration fluid and sure enough it was spot on within a couple hundredths. I look to the co2 container and realized that it was actually dripping moisture from condensation because it was leaking gas. The tank lost so much co2 into that room that it drove my PH that far down. As quickly as I could, I opened the windows, turned the valve on the co2 tank, and got a fan blowing in fresh air from outside. I also added a bit of the two-part alkalinity and calcium supplement which boosts pH level. I didn't check the alkalinity, but I would be interested to know what it is. I am just now on my way home from work and I'm pretty nervous to see the results of what happened. I don't know much of anything that would survive such a crazy pH crash. Before I left to work, I had managed to raise the pH to about 7.55 over an hour and a half. My wife just texted me and told me that it is 7.92 currently. I guess we are going to find out what, if any, corals can withstand a nearly nearly one point pH adjustment in about 12 hours. I have a couple clams, SPS, a few zoas, & a few LPS. Edited September 9, 2015 by Higher Thinking Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheClark Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Dang! Good luck, let us know. I appreciate it when people share these stories. We all learn and its a good reminder that no matter how good we are everyone makes a mistake now and then. So thanks for sharing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted September 9, 2015 Author Share Posted September 9, 2015 Dang! Good luck, let us know. I appreciate it when people share these stories. We all learn and its a good reminder that no matter how good we are everyone makes a mistake now and then. So thanks for sharing. Thanks, I appreciate it! I have been thinking about reaching out to you lately. I moved to Scappoose so I think we're fairly close. All is well right now, but I'll have to wait and see how the next couple days unfold. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PowderBlue Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Dang dude that is terrible! I hope everything makes it through. I think you would be shocked to see what these fish and corals can deal with. Good luck and keep us posted Sent from my SM-G928V using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catfish2 Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Man, that is a bummer. Hope everything is ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Exodus Posted September 9, 2015 Share Posted September 9, 2015 Sorry about that Andrew, just remember we all make stupid mistakes, it's inevitable. I know you care about your livestock and will put the effort into ensuring the best possible outcome at hand, I just hope for best. I know it doesn't fix anything but I'll tell you one of the bone headed things I have done. I used to use my ATO in water changes meaning I would drain water from the tank into an empty bucket, after that I would throw the ATO pump into a freshly mixed bucket of salt and let it fill itself. In one occasion I forgot to take the pump out of the salt bucket and put it back in the fresh and didn't notice for a week as they were both Kent Salt buckets that usually sat on top of each other. My salinty in the 12g took a drastic spike and I had to lower it over the next week dropping it 2-3 points a day! We live an we learn man. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kireek Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 So sorry to read about this.I hope for the best possible outcome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Higher Thinking Posted September 11, 2015 Author Share Posted September 11, 2015 Thanks everyone! Yeah, definitely a continuous learning process. I have a relatively low amount of corals currently due to being in transition, but I was super worried about the clams (especially the big tear drop from Doug's tank). Currently two and a half days passed and I haven't lost anything yet. My alk spiked from 9 to 11.5. I imagine because the animals stopped utilizing calcium carbonate. PH has been pretty stable at 8 ever since. It'll be a miracle if everything can survive the next two months before I get the big tank set up. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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