White film on coralline

If you scrub your live rock inside the tank, and the white film on the coralline gets flaked of and stirred in the water, what effect can you expect on the water parameters.

1. ca. goes up and dkhº and mg. goes down.
2. ca. and MG. goes up and dkhº goes down.
3. mg. and dkhº goes up and ca. goes down.
4. ca. and dkhº goes up and mg. goes down.
5. all three elements go up.
6. none of the above.

I was kind of curious of what other reefers think, so decided to ask on a poll, and please explain briefly if applicable!

 

I would have to say that nothing happens to the paras. Luna

 

OOOOOO. Chemistry test. Hmmmmm. Don't know.

 

OK, I'll say #2. The white stuff is calcium carbonate and Magnesium. So concentration of these two thangs increased, which causes a subsequent drop in alk.

Just a guess.

My next question would be....Does this have an effect on pH (even miniscule) and which way would that go, if it indeed changed?

 

I'll see pharmrjohn has a very good answer to my question and so was luna, does anyone else agree with them? I really like to know what is this reaction to this action.
thanks!

 

6. None of the Above. I agree with Luna.

The coralline you flaked of the rock doesn't change the chemistry of the aquarium. It was in the water to begin with, so you're effectively scraping it off the rock, and onto the sand. It's like spray-painting a wall, and then asking the question, "If I were to scrape the dried paint off the wall, would the air once again smell like spray paint." The answer is no. You didn't put any paint into the air. You just took it off the wall.

Now if you flaked it off that rock, collected it and poured it into a friend's aquarium, it might have a different effect. My opinion is that the amount is trivial, and still probably would not make any difference.

So when the poster above states that "the concentration of these two things increased" I disagree. It was just scraped off a rock. The concentration of that matter is unchanged in said tank.

Also it wouldn't affect the pH. It's the other way around. pH can effect the amount of calcium carbonate in solution in the water. The pH would would act to change the bioavailability of the calcium carbonate--the same principle upon which a calcium reactor works. As the pH decreased, the calcium carbonate would become more abundant "in solution."

Put another way, it's similar to talking about chemical changes and physical changes. If you remember from chemistry in grade school-- If you take a piece of paper and tear it, or crumble it, that's a physical change. It's still paper. If you light that paper on fire, it turns to ash, which is a different mollecule alltogether. That's a chemical change. Scraping that coralline off the rock merely transports it from the rock to the sand--the change is purely physical (didn't Rod Stewart once say that?) Now, if you put that ground coralline into a test tube full of vinegar and shake, that calcium carbonate will go into solution, that is a chemical change.

 

O.K. Heres my Super advanced hi tech multi dimentional aquatic take on the situation...
I disagree with everyone here... I think if you did that ,what would happen is the water would take on a white milky look to it slightly resembling a milkshake .... then..................................................................................................................
I WOULD COME OVER TO YOUR HOUSE AND DRINK ALL YOUR TANK WATER ALL UP BECAUSE I REALLY LOVE MILKSHAKES , SWALLOW IT WHILE RUNNING OUT THE DOOR SCREAMING ..I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE !!! I DRINK YOUR MILKSHAKE !!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA I DRINK IT ALL UP !!! THEN YOUD HAVE NO TANK WATER ANYMORE AND YOU WOULD PROBABLY GET MAD AT ME AND BEAT ME UP...
But thats just my opinion... some may not agree...

 

you would also get dehydrated from the high salt intake and make yourself seriously ill.

 

But it would still be funny to see. ;D

 

It will not make the water look milky, just your normal debris getting around!