Emergency

[ClownieandBilly]

I need to do a large water change in an emergency is it safe to use supermarket distilled water??

[Dale W.]

What have you used in the past and how long has it been. Generally speaking I dont like to use distilled water as it is stripped of most everything and the softness is altered quite a bit. You can use the big containers of bottled water though like spring water as long at it does not have to many minerals in it. A good bottled drinking water will work fine.

[ClownieandBilly]

My kalkwasser stirrer has dumped major amount of kalk into system.Can anyone advise on best steps to try and save system.I am at moment making up sea water with bottled water from supermarket as my r/o unit can not go fast enough to do water change.Tank seems covered in white powder ,can anyone HELP!!!

[mogurnda]

I would guess the worst effect is to throw your Ca and alkalinity out of whack. The precipitate is mostly calcium carbonate, which is harmless. My guess is that you pH will be high, your Ca will be high and your alkalinity low. Mg and other metals may have also precipitated. Definitely a big water change is in order, but it will help if you know what actually has gone wrong. What are your pH, Ca, alk, Mg (if you test) and other levels?

[ClownieandBilly]

PH IS OF THE SCALE ON MY TEST KIT IT ONLY GOES UP TO 9
CALC IS A PUZZLING LOW AROUND 360(SAME AS NORMAL)
ALK IS LOW AT 5
Kalk powder seems to be over LR etc any ideas at all to help me?

[OrionGirl]

Use a baster or a gravel vaccum to sweep over the rock and remove it. It's highly caustic, so may kill corals--treat them first.

[mogurnda]

I think the worst is over. Are you sure that it's kalk powder and not precipitated calcium carbonate? I'd bet it's the precipitate and not kalk. If Ca is precipitating, that would explain the low Ca. The hydroxide ion from the kalk is what is keeping your pH so high.

I would think that continued water changes are about the only thing you can do.

[ClownieandBilly]

how much water is safe to change in one go.Tank is 130gal,what do yous recommend??

[mogurnda]

Do you know how much kalk went in?

How much have you done so far?

Maybe I'm wrong, but I would think the stress of excessive water changes is a smaller problem than having the chemistry all out of whack.

If I were dealing with this, I'd probably do a 50% change and then do smaller changes until the pH became closer to normal.

[OrionGirl]

I agree with Dave--I'd do one big one, then a series of smaller ones.

It probably isn't kalk, calcium precipitate. I was just thinking about the kalk paste I've used to dose aiptasia--not the same thing as the additive after processing. Sorry!

[mogurnda]

How did it go? Did the tank and inhabitants make it?

[wastememphis]

hope everything went well!