tank snowing, what did i do wrong?

why was it cloudy do you think?

 

You have to let it settle over time

J

 

I just started dosing kalk as my 2 part solution was no longer able to keep my parems up alone. From everything I have read I know people do dose kalk through their ATO but I dont trust it...I would rather be responsible for checking levels daily and adjusting as needed.

What I did is simply buy a dosing jug. I mix it up in the morning (I use 1 tsp right now...I have a 135g with 8 clams and SPS) I shake it up and let it sit ALL day. After the lights go out for a couple hours I drip it about 1-2 per second and leave it over night.

It sounds like you had a calcium snow storm...and there is nothing you can do until it has played its course. Just let it sit until the cloudyness is gone, then do water changes. Retest everything and go from there

 

it cleared up in about a hour, i mixed another batch and the top of the bucket looks the same as the top of my tank did this morning, like a white slime is on the top of the water? what am i doing wrong, every one says it should be clear fluid on top, whats up? and my tank was not cloudy it just had white slime chunks floating around the tank till my overflow picked it all up...

 

Let the kalk mixture sit all day. The heavier kalk will fall to the bottom of the solution and your top water will be clear. When you first mix it up it will be very murky

How much flow do you have in your tank? Is there powerheads and are there ripples in the top of the water....

 

there is still a haze on top of the the new mix i mixed up yesterday, the tank is a 72 bow, my return pump is a Rio 2100 and i also have 2# 3 korilias and 2# 1 korilias, i have good surface aggitation i think?

 

Thats thick haze was the Calcium Carbonate starting to form and getting ready to fall out of solution as it interacted with the air at the waters surface . That caused a higher Ph . Then by adding that power head up wards you just created more of a issue with the air to water interface ad gas exchange . Like boom you pulled the trigger and did not realize the gun was loaded .

With any thing holding the mixture unless you keep it sealed then CO'2 will enter the mixture and cause this mix to become lower in Ph and again when you aerated it that suddenly rose up and Ph just jumped in the mixture and then the Tanks water . The best way is to make a mix let it set for a few days covered to allow the Kalk to bind with P04's and settle out to the bottom . Pour off the top liquid that should be at a Ph of 14 or so if totally saturated and simple drip a gallon of it nightly into your system.. I see guys who beat me down that CO2 and Kalk interface makes no difference as some water god somewhere said so.. It does I have seen Kalk totally saturated and 14 Ph to set open to air and the Ph would drop to 11 then it was aerated and boom what you saw..

How do you monitor Ph liquid test kits ? if so then you really do not know where the Ph is running a 1/2 way good guess at best and then again the time of day that you use the test kits and the fact that you said it was this morning ( this morning when lights came on the top of the tank had a thick white film on it) the Ph was at its lowest of the day and you just created a huge jump in Ph.. and again this caused the issue with the Calcium carbonates covering the entire system ):

You say you have good surface aggitation but what is the totaly dissolved Oxygen content of the saltwater in the aquarium ? And that haze on top of the new batch should never be disturbed unless needed as that surface scab is simple natures way to keep the Lime water from mixing with CO2 at the waters surface .. Have you ever simple used calcium chloride or thought about a Ca reactor ? I have never ever had a system Ii could not maintain with the use of the Ca. Chloride .. I just got tired and went to reactors many yrs ago from being lazy and more forgetful with my old age If you are dosing Kalk you have to have a Ph monitor if you do not already use one . As for mixing the kalk not in a bucket 2 tbs spoons of powder to the gallon and colder the water the better and stir it very slowly keeping the water from mixing wit air and cover the bucket and let it settle and form that film and never mix that again ever! then use just the clear liquid and toss the settlement/sediment of the mix out never use that again..

 

wow thanks for the info Tangster, maybe i should not use kalk? what is calcium chloride and where to get it and how to use it?

 

allot of people buy from this website, I bought the 2 part solution(cal and alk and mag) they also give you full instructions.
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