help - is anyone out there! My tank turned white

[sillygoose]

I fed my fish about an hour ago - all looked well. Just before that, I had added some 8.4 buffer - nothing out of the ordinary. I just walked into the room and my tank has turned milky white. The first thing I thought of was pH but it is 8.2. I'm going to check all the parameters but I'm freaking out. Has this happened to anyone else? No chemical have been used around the house - nothing new...

 

[Akimbo]

http://www.algone.com/cloudywater.php

That should help you out

 

[Sir Romey]

did you test your water before you added the buffer?

 

[Sir Romey]

dosing a & b I get a small white cloud but it doesn't stay very long.

 

[sillygoose]

I'll check that link - thanks

Here's the specifics


pH 8.2
Carbonate 13-14
Ca 340 mg/L
NH4 0
NO2 0
NO3 20 mg/L - higher than I like but not terribly unusual for this tank
PO4 0 -0.25 - hard to tell
salinity 1.0245

I also checked the refugium. The cloudiness did not start there.

 

[sillygoose]

Akimbo - the link was dead. Is it correct?

 

[Akimbo]

Fixed.

I accidentally put a \ in it heres a good one

http://www.algone.com/cloudywater.php

 

[PRDubois]

Did you also just do a water change? Buffer can cause calc to fall out.

 

[sillygoose]

Huh - that's interesting. Our last change was last Saturday. We didn't do a change tonight but we did add about 4 gal RO into our 90 gal - which of course lowered salinity. But that doesn't usually cause any overt reactions. I'm thinking this must be chemical because it happened so fast. Some links suggest that a bacterial bloom can cause milky water, but this was almost (less than 30-45 mins) instant. Plus, my water is not high nutrient. It may be my imagination - or wishful thinking- but it may look a little clearer in the last half hour. Now, I'm afraid to go to bed for fear of what I'll see in the morning.

 

[PRDubois]

Someone last week had the same issue when they mixed thier SW and added the buffer to in within 30 min. Sencis was that the salt mix had not all disolved and the buffer made the calc drop out.

Can also happen if you just add to much calc when dosing.

 

[SWSaltwater]

Alk is a bit high, might be the issue, should clear up. Try to keep the hardness in the 8-10 range. Up to 12 is fine but coloration won't be as nice.

 

[sillygoose]

Thanks for the input. My tank is beautiful today - woke up to a clear tank. I'm going to keep a closer eye on carbonate. Whew.