Cloudy Tank

[DeletedAccount]

My pH was low - as always - 7.6. So, when I got home I added some pH 8.3 by Seachem. Just the recommended dose, no more. This is the same stuff I always use.

But, now I have a VERY cloudy tank. White. Cannot see 2 inches in. Literally. Obviously something got ****ed, but what? Why? What do I do about it?

pH is now 7.7, so no real change


Other than water change (and I started running diatom filter)...

[JimD]

Hows your skimmer acting? Any anemones in there?

[Instar]

Sounds like a calcium precipitation blizzard. If its not that, macro goes asexual with rapid flux in pH/dKh. Whats the alkalinity and what is the Mg at? What does fresh mixed salt water test at for pH with your method?

[DeletedAccount]

I am guessing calcium, too.

It is not macro - not very much at all in that tank (tangs eat it all).
Alk 7.2 KH
Ca has dropped down to 360 ppm
I am still looking for my Mg kit.

I have the cloud mostly gone by running the diatom filter. Nobody seems stressed at all. I just want to be able to avoid this in the future. I hate running the diatom. Takes lots of the clams food out of the tank. I know this happens when the tank is out of whack... I am just missing it.

[DeletedAccount]

My mix up water is always low with the RO/Di water. Around 7.6 pH is all I ever really have to dose on a regular basis.

No one is dead. Not enough snails to impact it even if they all dies at once.

[Instar]

That alk is low but it matches the low pH and that calcium pretty well. No telling what it was before the snow storm happened. Can't test that now as what cause it to "bloom" is gone now. Calcium is fine there for the time being. I wish I could see what you are doing and the set up. How old is the setup? Is it one that I have seen?

[DeletedAccount]

This is the very old, established 120. Nothing has changed recently. We were out of town for 4 days, got back today and added buffer and got the storm.

[NaCl_H2O]

That happened to me once with Seachem 8.3, never figured out what was going on, my PH was low (7.7'ish) at the time. I have used the stuff fairly often, but only once got the calcium storm.

What was your temp after being out of town? Mine was a lttle low when it happened to me & I thought that might have contributed. Does a few degrees of water temp alter the chemistry much?

[Instar]

pH of 7.6 with new water either means your test method is off a little or your salt mix is missing part of the buffer that a good salt should have. What brand are you using? Have you tested Ca/Mg/alk in your fresh salt mix? Mine comes out at 8.0 fresh mixed with RO. Are you using someone's dosing formula other than one you came up with over time?

[GaryP]

Yep, sounds like a blizzard to me too. I admit I've done it by accident in the past. Your alk and calcium always drop afterwards. Its like you hit the point where precipitation occurs and it takes a lot more in the blizzard than what you can normally maintain. The precipitate particles catalyzes an even larger precipitation. Its called "salting." Its basically a snowball effect. Have you ever seen the chemistry experiment where you drop an epsom salt crystal tied onto a string into a saturated magnesium solution? A huge crystal is produced. This is basically what happens in a blizzard. The crystal on a string acts as a catalyst for further precipitation, even to the point where concentrations fall well below saturation levels.

I would check out your pumps. Whenever this has occured to me in the past I have found that there is a large amount of scale build-up in the pump impellor. This can lead to them burning out or at least a significant decrease in performance.

Gary

[DeletedAccount]

I will take my pH probe to school and re-calibrate it. It may be off.

I use Marine Environment Sakt. No one else seems to have this low of pH when they mix it. Honestly, I had not thought of the probe being off. It registers correctly after a few doses of the pH buffer.

I have to calibrate everything tomorrow anyway - before a fun lab we are doing. This will just be one more thing.

Thanks! Off to check the pumps!

[GaryP]

Just for the record, there are 4 things that can cause precipitation of CaCO3.

1. Concentration
2. pH
3. Temperatures
4. Pressure

High concentration and an increase in pressure as you go through the pump impellor is why a blizzard usually starts in the pump and scale formation is most severe there.

Gary