Flooded my sump, now what

[Scouter Steve]

I screwed up and left my top off running way to long. Brought my SG down to 1.021. I drained and added my reserve of 1.026 in as soon as I found it. How bad did I screw up. and what now. Should I drain and replace 15-20 gallons per day? This is a 125 with a 40 sump.
Amazing fish and inverts seem OK so far

[aquaman3680]

I would just keep my top off water at a SG that you have your display at. This way you arent doing it to where they go back into shock from a sudden raise in salinity. I don't think you should see a massive loss just keep your eye on things!

Matt

[lcstorc]

I would start using top-off water with salt until it is back in line. I would probably make the top-off pretty salty to speed the process, but don't go to fast.

[Woodstock]

I would raise it quickly over 24hrs. Having it that low is stressful on the corals (the fish can handle it).

[sasquatch]

bin dere done dat, still do lol, good advise from Lynn and Matt, did you go cold all over and yell OH NO! thats what I do, just think of it as if a monsoon hit, lots of rain lol. Steve

[Scouter Steve]

Originally Posted by sasquatch

bin dere done dat, still do lol, good advise from Lynn and Matt, did you go cold all over and yell OH NO! thats what I do, just think of it as if a monsoon hit, lots of rain lol. Steve

Yeah that is what I said "OH NO!" not. So I will mix up some more water at say 1.028? add it slow then take my sump down to normal operating level?

[rDr4g0n]

i did the same thing as you, but not quite as low salinity lol

i had a slow drip (2 drops per second) of ultra salty water into my return pump area overnight. when i woke up, everyone was happy and my salinity was where it needed to be.

be sure your salty water is salty enough. if not itll be too diluted and youll have to do it again. too salty though, and it may shock your system.

[lcstorc]

I would go even saltier than that if using a small amount of water. Remember you are tryiing to raise the salinity of the whole system.

[rDr4g0n]

when i did mine the salinity was so high my hydrometer couldnt read it...

[Scouter Steve]

I got the SG up to just shy of where it was in a couiple hours. Mixed a strong batch heated and stirred real good. Was about 5 gallons going in to my 140-50 gallon system. All seems OK. I will top off next couple days with salt water to get it back where I like it. Shrimp, crabs and snails are moving like normal and no slime on corals. I think I caught it quick enough to prevent damage. No more RO/DI direct to sump for me. If I overflow a bucket no big deal.

[prow]

i would do it fast, sence this just happend. if you raise it quick your corals will not have too adjust and readjust. with a sudden change their defenses are up and they have not been exposed long enough to alter their systems yet. waiting i think would stress them more. at least raise it to 1.023 ASAP. JMO though.

[Scouter Steve]

I did raise it to just below 1.025 by last night. Here is where I will just increase by top off with saltwater. It made me cringe putting all that fresh mixed salt in to raise it. The first batch of water I added had been mixed for about 18 hours to 1.026 so that didn't bother me to much but that last 4-5 gallons of slurry did seem to cloud a bit.

[lcstorc]

That isn't suprising. Have things cleared up now?

[Scouter Steve]

Originally Posted by lcstorc

That isn't suprising. Have things cleared up now?

Yes Lynn things look OK. If nothing else I learned a lesson.

[lcstorc]

I know that feeling. Lots to learn including when not to walk away. We flooded our whole house with ro water once. We had it filling a bucket that was on the floor and went to work with it still running. Came home and water was everywhere. No fun, but at least it was just ro water not salt or the tank.