Dumbest mistake

[A;exr54]

I think I qualify for one of the dumbest mistakes ever.

I was calibrating a new DOS to use as an auto water changer.
I had the calibration off a bit so on the first change it dumped more water then it filled, then the ATO kicked in to top off.
Salt was just a bit low.

Late that night I decided to go ahead and dump in a bit of salt directly to the refugium, which I’ve done for many years without any issues.

The salt was just ordered a few days prior. And earlier in the day my wife told me my salt came in.

So half asleep I go and dump in a few cup loads of the “salt”.
A few seconds later I realize the texture is wrong.
I just dumped in a few cups of boric acid powder!!

And by then it was too late. There was no way to remove it.

This was about a month ago.

Since then ive done at least a dozen water changes. And for the first week what I noticed was my anemones looked deflated, all coraline algae turned white and flaked off, and if there was any algae - it was totally gone now.

Week later the anemones started looking better.

A couple weeks later, all my parameters are out of wack. Phosphates are through the roof. Alk is so low it’s unreadable.
Magnesium is extremely high, I get 1600 but that’s as high as the kit goes.
Not sure about calcium but seems to also be sky high - around 600.

Somehow anemones are still ok with no die off. All fish are good.
I am experiencing some bleaching now while trying to get the parameters back in order.
It’s turning out to be pretty difficult.

I can’t explain how dumb I felt when I noticed I just dumped pure boric acid powder in the aquarium, and not a little of it.

 

[Dread Pirate Dave]

That sucks - hope things level out soon. Lots of water changes perhaps. (while awake)

 

[smitten with ocean life]

what a bummer. glad your stuff seems like its pulling through though.

 

[Miami Reef]

We all make mistakes. What do you normally use Boric Acid for?

 

[A;exr54]

We all make mistakes. What do you normally use Boric Acid for?

Insect exterminator

 

[Court_Appointed_Hypeman]

Trusting a heater.

Lost 3 beautiful fish to a heater swinging 8 degrees... never again will I not use a heater controller to at least tighten the swing.

 

[Jimbo327]

Turning OFF my DOS doser via my APEX to do some maintenance. Then turning it back ON instead of AUTO, and going to bed. Work up to an empty alkalinity container in the morning.

 

[VintageReefer]

Dumbest mistake I ever made was walking in a LFS one day and buying my first coral. That decision has cost me thousands

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I think I qualify for one of the dumbest mistakes ever.

I was calibrating a new DOS to use as an auto water changer.
I had the calibration off a bit so on the first change it dumped more water then it filled, then the ATO kicked in to top off.
Salt was just a bit low.

Late that night I decided to go ahead and dump in a bit of salt directly to the refugium, which I’ve done for many years without any issues.

The salt was just ordered a few days prior. And earlier in the day my wife told me my salt came in.

So half asleep I go and dump in a few cup loads of the “salt”.
A few seconds later I realize the texture is wrong.
I just dumped in a few cups of boric acid powder!!

And by then it was too late. There was no way to remove it.

This was about a month ago.

Since then ive done at least a dozen water changes. And for the first week what I noticed was my anemones looked deflated, all coraline algae turned white and flaked off, and if there was any algae - it was totally gone now.

Week later the anemones started looking better.

A couple weeks later, all my parameters are out of wack. Phosphates are through the roof. Alk is so low it’s unreadable.
Magnesium is extremely high, I get 1600 but that’s as high as the kit goes.
Not sure about calcium but seems to also be sky high - around 600.

Somehow anemones are still ok with no die off. All fish are good.
I am experiencing some bleaching now while trying to get the parameters back in order.
It’s turning out to be pretty difficult.

I can’t explain how dumb I felt when I noticed I just dumped pure boric acid powder in the aquarium, and not a little of it.

At least your anemones and fish are still doing good!

 

[A;exr54]

At least your anemones and fish are still doing good!

Fish are fine. I haven't had any anemones die yet, but they do not look healthy.
Somehow they seem even worse off now after a month.
They recovered and now it seems its affecting them again.

I haven't been able to get my parameters back to normal yet. My trident wont work because levels are out of range.
The coraline die off caused a spoke of phosphate/nitrate. Now PO4 is at .17 and NO3 is at 28.
And this is after running a phosban reactor for about a week.

Last time i checked Alk it was at 6.8. Calcium in not sure i need to recheck, same with magnesium. But last time i checked they were out of range of the hanna testers. Too high.

I am having a really hard time getting my params back to normal.
I have been dosing only alk. Even tried some sodium bicarbonate. I did notice some new caraline algae growth on the glass, so thats a good sign.
But at the same time i also started getting red slime algae on the sand bed, which i've never had before.

 

[EricR]

I think you win but my most recent (of many) dumb mistakes from a few days ago:
Dumped a bunch of Trisodium Phosphate instead of Sodium Bisulfate into my new saltwater mix.
Bottles look similar but I always have them in specific places so didn't even pay attention.
Should've noticed when weighing that there was way more (volume-wise) than normal, but was in a hurry.

*I use Sodium Bisulfate in new saltwater for low alkalinity to fight off ever increasing alk in my DT with small water changes

 

[A;exr54]

I think you win but my most recent (of many) dumb mistakes from a few days ago:
Dumped a bunch of Trisodium Phosphate instead of Sodium Bisulfate into my new saltwater mix.
Bottles look similar but I always have them in specific places so didn't even pay attention.
Should've noticed when weighing that there was way more (volume-wise) than normal, but was in a hurry.

*I use Sodium Bisulfate in new saltwater for low alkalinity to fight off ever increasing alk in my DT with small water changes

I honestly wish I didn’t win. Not something to be proud of.
Been doing this for over 3 decades. Ive never done something so dumb.

 

[Hrosik123]

My dumbest was getting married but she tells me I’m happy so who am I to argue

 

[Hrosik123]

My dumbest was getting married but she tells me I’m happy so who am I to argue

 

[A;exr54]

My dumbest was getting married but she tells me I’m happy so who am I to argue

Sounds like you got bigger problems than a reef tank. Sorry bud

 

[A;exr54]

My levels are insane.
Just ran another test.
Magnesium 1210
Alk 20 (highest the hanna tester goes)
Calcium 200 (lowest hanna tester goes)
Nitrate 26.4
Phosphate .21 (phosban reactor continuously running now)

How anything is still alive idk.

Besides having the phosban reactor running continuously i'm also doing constant water changes.
Dosing 0 Alk and dosing 30mL calcium daily.
Have an ozone generator running as well.

I typically do automated water changes, 15g at a time on a 125g aquarium. Using another DOS.
Now im just dumping water using the DOS without adding - letting the ATO fill up with RODI as needed, and watching salt levels closely if it gets too low, for me to add as needed.

This is the worst my tank has looked in over 10 years

 

[A;exr54]

My maxxima clam is a goner.
Noticed some dead snails. Which can attribute to the spike in phosphates. Which before this disaster was regularly at about 0.02.
I have a bunch of RBTA's and some rock anemones.
The RBTA's aren't dead yet, but look to be just clinging on to life. The rock anemones look unphased.
Huge finger leather (about 40 fingers) looks bleached and closed.
Toadstools look unphased. One large white, and a baby green.
Zoas seem to be fine.
Several monit's are goners.
Ricordias are bleaching.
All fish seem unphased

 

[A;exr54]

Just tested alk again and now its at 9.5
Either im testing badly or my tank is going nuts

 

[feelingfishy]

Thinking that I did not need to dose on my first tank. It went well for a while until the Coraline started growing, then it all went to hell.

This is not the dumbest thing I have done, but it’s one I think is appropriate for this thread.

 

[A;exr54]

Thinking that I did not need to dose on my first tank. It went well for a while until the Coraline started growing, then it all went to hell.

This is not the dumbest thing I have done, but it’s one I think is appropriate for this thread.

I would chalk this up to experience more than anything.
A mistake would have been over dosing by accident, or dosing the wrong thing by accident, etc..