Started a "snowstorm" whoops! (1 Viewer)

[jamesw]

Well, I was topping up my tank last night and added about a gallon of milky kalkwasser by accident (When you have a 2 year old, you get distracted easily). Doh!

That isn't a big deal in my tank because I have 200g+ of water, but when you are already saturated w/ Ca/Alkalinity it starts a precipitation snowstorm!

Well in no time flat, you couldn't see 2" in my tank! It all settled out in about 4 hrs (beautiful snow covered Alps in my tank now) and I hope the skimmer will eventually remove it. Good thing I was also in the process of mixing up 100g of water for a w.c.

Has this happened to anyone else? Might be an interesting topic for discussion.

Cheers
James

 

[Llama]

I haven't started my kalk dosing yet. Give it time though, and I'm sure I'll join you on the alps. hehehehe

 

[flexrac]

never did that, but i get cloudy water all the time.
reason being, i usually mix my salt mix for water changes then dump it in. even if i mix it the night before and use a power head, it's not clear by the time i do my change.

 

[crvz]

Ive done it years ago. It was a 58 gallon tank, and I didnt have much in it at that time. I don't remember having any losses. Keep us posted!

 

[tdmiata]

Main pitfAll of kalk dosing..too easy for accident to happen when u r distracted..happens to me few years back, think I lost a few sps frags..good luck to you..

 

[tdmiata]

Main pitfAll of kalk dosing..too easy for accident to happen when u r distracted..happens to me few years back, think I lost a few sps frags..good luck to you..

 

[jamesw]

Felix:

If you synthetic seawater doesn't turn clear then you are probably using a bad salt mix or one that has gone bad. That shouldn't happen.

Cheers
James

 

[Llama]

Funny you mention that James. I started out using IO and my water was always clear once mixed. Then I took part in the Reef Crystals group by on here a while back. Since using Reef Crystals I have noticed that the water doesn't mix as well. The water stays a little cloudy and I have also noticed a little cyano popping up in the corner of my DT. Sucks!!!

 

[tdmiata]

Well in no time flat, you couldn't see 2" in my tank! It all settled out in about 4 hrs (beautiful snow covered Alps in my tank now) and I hope the skimmer will eventually remove it.

The snow effect is really cool looking though..I remember I had to constantly using a powerhead to blow the precipatation of the rocks and corals..Also, your skimmer will produce a thick looking sludge..

 

[tdmiata]

Main pitfAll of kalk dosing..too easy for accident to happen when u r distracted..happens to me few years back, think I lost a few sps frags..good luck to you..

 

[flexrac]

I am using oceanic. while i do take time to fill my 5-5gal buckets of ro water, i never take the time to make a salt mix, till it's time to do a water change. that will change soon though. either way nothing gets hurt.

 

[AquaNerd]

be careful james. don (aka skeeter76) did this to his tank a couple of years ago and wiped out everything if i'm not mistaken. just keep an eye on that alk reading.

 

[Guest]

Didn't this happen to fishcraze recently and cause him major losses?

 

[jdeveaux]

Oh yes I've definitely had my fair share of such accidents... Here is one of my stories.

http://www.marshreef.com/modules.php?name=Forums&file=viewtopic&t=46431&highlight=aiptasia

I would blow the snow off any corals. I didn't get all of it when it fell in my tank and I wound up with a few dead bleached spots on my caps and lost a couple of gorgeous mushrooms.

 

[jamesw]

Well it's been a couple of days and everything is fine. It cleared up within about 4 hrs and I cranked up the CO2 on my reactor to get the pH down and the Alk/Ca back up. Problem solved - but note to self - pay attention next time!

I would NOT ever let this dissuade anyone from using Kalkwasser btw - just use it thoughtfully. For example, I never put enough powder in my reactor to do REAL damage. And I fun from a reservoir THROUGH the reactor and trigger it using a float switch. So if the switch does get stuck/jammed, there is a limited amount of Kalk that can go into the tank.

I also happen to have 100+ gallons of water mixed up for a W/C but haven't done it yet. I'll do that tonight.

I'm not sure why having a snowstorm would kill anything though. Why would that be? Sure, my corals and clams were irritated but not any more than if the sand got stirred up.

Cheers
James

 

[Guest]

I'm not sure that it is the precipitated calcium carbonate that causes the problem, but probably the pH spike.