Floating White Flakes

[mmedeiros2]

I set up a 10 Gal. tank so I could get my feet wet before setting up a 75 gal. It has been running for about 8 weeks now and things are starting to happen. I have only some idea of things that should happen in salt water from what I have read. The tank has an Aqua Clear 300 w/ bio-media, 1 lb. of live rock, 1/4 in. of live sand, 2 hermitt crabs, and no skimmer. The live rock was cured when purchased. The aragonite sand was not live when purchased. I feed the crabs a shrimp pellet every 3 days or so.
After about 8 weeks things are starting to happen. My NH3 and nitrite have never gone past zero. PH=8.2. Nitrate is between 30 and 10 ppm with water changes. Phosphate=0. Silicate=1ppm.
the live rock seems to be doing good. It came w/ coraline on it and it seems to be growing more. It is now starting to grow a little green alge on it. The sand is starting to turn slight darkish in some areas. I have noticed a couple of pods crawling around. Two days ago I hooked up a small 170 gph power head w/ the flow pointing up at the surface. Today there is tons of what looks like white flakes flying around. I cleaned the filter and it does not seem to be comming from there. There was some white stuff on the rock when I purchased it and there seems to be less now, I think. Is it die off from the rock mabey? I moved the sand around a little 2 days ago and the flakes were not there. I'm thinking the extra current from the power head might of pushed it from the rock.??? 2 days ago I blew off the rock and not much came up. Also, is it normal for the sand to start to turn dark? It looks like carbon dust on the sand in areas, but it is not carbon dust.
I now this setup is hack, but I am using it as a learning curve for when I go foward. Thanks for any of your knowledge.

 

[brians4671]

where are you getting your water? im guessing you mix it yourself. some times i find flakes from when my mixed water sits for more than a day before adding it to the tank.

 

[mmedeiros2]

Instant Ocean Mix. It sat for 2 days. Has never happened before with water changes. The only difference is the salt is clumping a little on top from the humidity. It is kept in the 5 gal. bucket it came in. There were no flakes in the water when I added it.

 

[brians4671]

just a guess. it builds up on the bottom of the mixing container from previous mixings. well make sure you rinse your mixing container that was my only assumtion.

 

[mmedeiros2]

I rinse the bucket when done. There was no biuld up. Thanks

 

[mmedeiros2]

I just thought of somethimg that I did this morning. I mixed a third teaspoon of Seachem Marine Buffer in a glass of water and added it to the tank. The mix was very cloudy when it poured it in. Mabey because it was not fully disolved, it caused the white flakes.

 

[mmedeiros2]

This might be my answer. I coppied it from the Seachem website FAQ'S
Marine Buffer â"žÂ¢ Support
Q: When I added Marine Bufferâ"žÂ¢ to my tank I got a very light, white, fluffy precipitate, what should I do?
A: This is a temporary magnesium carbonate precipitate. No need to worry, it will redissolve in half an hour or so. Sometimes this can form if your magnesium is on the high side.