• Why not take a moment to introduce yourself to our members?

pdnyc69

acan and zoa master
Location
yonkers ny
Rating - 100%
55   0   0
I noticed a white haze on my live rock and glass this morning. Some of my zoas were open some not. I tested my water. Nitrates 5 phos -1 alk 3.5 CALCIUM 750. O don't know my magnesium level. Test kit ran out. Any ideas? Thanks Pete
 

juiceguy

Advanced Reefer
Location
brooklyn
Rating - 100%
41   0   0
hey pete your alk should be between 8-10 but your calcium is way off, that should be between 380-450. that is why you are getting white residue.
 

SevTT

Advanced Reefer
Location
Suffolk County
Rating - 100%
8   0   0
I noticed a white haze on my live rock and glass this morning. Some of my zoas were open some not. I tested my water. Nitrates 5 phos -1 alk 3.5 CALCIUM 750. O don't know my magnesium level. Test kit ran out. Any ideas? Thanks Pete

It sounds like a lot of kalk got dumped in. You -can't- have dissolved Ca of 750 in seawater that'll support life -- it being that high means that that white clouding is really fine particles -- precipitate -- of calcium carbonate.

It should clear out within a day or two, and not cause too much of a problem. Run your skimmer wet, it'll pull out some of the precipitate, and you could put a filter sock with polyfloss on your overflow's return to help clear it a bit faster. If you have a diatom filter, that'll clear it too.
 

NYreefNoob

Skimmer Freak
Location
poughquag, ny
Rating - 99.4%
168   1   0
It sounds like a lot of kalk got dumped in. You -can't- have dissolved Ca of 750 in seawater that'll support life -- it being that high means that that white clouding is really fine particles -- precipitate -- of calcium carbonate

this is what crashed my tank
 

SevTT

Advanced Reefer
Location
Suffolk County
Rating - 100%
8   0   0
this is what crashed my tank

It's actually the pH spike that likely caused the crash, not the Ca. Ca+ can't really get above about 450-500 in seawater with any kind of rational magnesium & aeration levels. It (almost) immediately precipitates out into calcium carbonate. That's the same stuff your sandbed and corals are made out of; it's not a problem except it may foul some delicate critters' gills. However, it -does- foul most test kits that test for pH/Ca+/Alk.

Hrm. A large amount of Calcium Carbonate precipitation could also drastically lower CO2 levels for a short time, too, but I wonder if that has any contributing effect.
 

Sponsor Reefs

We're a FREE website, and we exist because of hobbyists like YOU who help us run this community.

Click here to sponsor $10:


Top