pewter_jean
New member
I don't know what it going on, Need help from some one with experience. Call me.. 618 980-6768. Will explain later.
Help!!!!
- Thread starter pewter_jean
- Start date
pewter_jean
New member
I am going nuts, I don't know what is going on. Made up new water to do water change, It looks white. Get water out of sump, I could get mag back together after cleaning, Got back together, start to fill up the sump. Water looks brown, I mean lake brown, turn mag back on the start tank back up, Tank is white., It is not airbubbles, the water is white. It looks like someone dumped a gallon of milk in it. This is after about 10 or 15minutes. I tested the water before I put it in, salinity 1.025, amonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 0, ph 8.3. temp 77.3.
Brand new batch of RO I made up yesterday, Brand new bucket of salt.
Sailfin is laying on the bottom of the tank, haveing a hard time breathing it looks, I cant do anything. I don't know what to do. I don't know what is wrong.
Brand new batch of RO I made up yesterday, Brand new bucket of salt.
Sailfin is laying on the bottom of the tank, haveing a hard time breathing it looks, I cant do anything. I don't know what to do. I don't know what is wrong.
What is the calcium and alk reading of the tank water...if you still have any of the new waterchange water that isn't in the tank, check it too. It looks like an alk cloud, meaning the alkalinity of the new water was much greater than the tank water and what you are seeing is precipitate. Not sure though, the whole brown water thing is throwing me.
DrBDC
Active member
Appears to be a precipitation event. If the pH is normal do nothing but wait it out.
Did you ever get an ro/di or did you buy the water? Would it be possible you bought already mixed saltwater and added more salt which would throw the ca/alk too high thus a precip. event?
The same can happen with too much limewater (kalkwasser) due to the pH increasing above the 8.5/8.6 mark which then causes the same thing.
If the problem is found that the pH is high you can add 1 ml white distilled vinegar per gallon to drop the pH .3 Double check any readings/tests before going this route.
Did you ever get an ro/di or did you buy the water? Would it be possible you bought already mixed saltwater and added more salt which would throw the ca/alk too high thus a precip. event?
The same can happen with too much limewater (kalkwasser) due to the pH increasing above the 8.5/8.6 mark which then causes the same thing.
If the problem is found that the pH is high you can add 1 ml white distilled vinegar per gallon to drop the pH .3 Double check any readings/tests before going this route.
pewter_jean
New member
I still have some of the new water, I will test them both.
Trottie: The water was clear. I just turned off the sump, took water out, took mag out to clean, Had to drive back to Gateway so Steve could help me get it back together (Just because it has been one of those kind of weekends). Came home, hooked mag back up, filled up sump with new Freshly made Salt water, Turned on pumps, and this is it. After about an hour it is almost the same.
Chelsey: No clam. But I definatly have a beer
Trottie: The water was clear. I just turned off the sump, took water out, took mag out to clean, Had to drive back to Gateway so Steve could help me get it back together (Just because it has been one of those kind of weekends). Came home, hooked mag back up, filled up sump with new Freshly made Salt water, Turned on pumps, and this is it. After about an hour it is almost the same.
Chelsey: No clam. But I definatly have a beer
pewter_jean
New member
I fill my brut can up, and when they are full, I add my salt. put in my powerhead, and let it go, usally for a day. But last night I ran out of salt, I only had enough to get the water up to 1.012. So I had to go go more salt today. Then my refragmeter broke this morning...... Like I said one of those weekends,
chadfarmer
Premium Member
was the make up salt water clear or was it white
do you have a kalk reactor?
do you dose with dosing pumps?
any idea what your alk or calcium is in the tank?
did you not have power ?
do you have a kalk reactor?
do you dose with dosing pumps?
any idea what your alk or calcium is in the tank?
did you not have power ?
pewter_jean
New member
The saltwater in the brut can was clear, I added the extra salt I needed today to get it up to the 1.025, It was a little cloudy white, but that is the way it usally is, then after a while it clears up. When I got back from Gateway the water was still white. Milky white. I didn't really want to use it but I didn't have a choice. The water from the sump was already down the drain. Sump was empty, and the the tank hadn't been running for a little over two hours. So something had to go in. I tested the water in the brut can for salinity, then amonia, nitrites, and nitrates, they were fine so I figured I was worried about nothing.
I had power outages Thursday and Friday, The nitrates had shot up to over 40 on Saturday, that is why I tried so hard to get a waterchange in this weekend.
Just tested the brut container and the tank.
The brut container with my new saltwater tested,
KH/ALK 15.7/5.60, Cal 490,
The tank is now testing at
KH/ALK 8.6/3.09, Cal 440
I realized that is a major difference, I don't know what is going on, All that I added was salt. I don't have a kalk reactor, or dosing pumps, I don't have any Kawalser (sp), just salt.
That 15.7 makes me think I am going to need to get more beer, Am I in for a bad night?
I had power outages Thursday and Friday, The nitrates had shot up to over 40 on Saturday, that is why I tried so hard to get a waterchange in this weekend.
Just tested the brut container and the tank.
The brut container with my new saltwater tested,
KH/ALK 15.7/5.60, Cal 490,
The tank is now testing at
KH/ALK 8.6/3.09, Cal 440
I realized that is a major difference, I don't know what is going on, All that I added was salt. I don't have a kalk reactor, or dosing pumps, I don't have any Kawalser (sp), just salt.
That 15.7 makes me think I am going to need to get more beer, Am I in for a bad night?
pewter_jean
New member
Coral life,
pewter_jean
New member
So are you saying the KH/ALK will go down on its own, level out???
Should I be getting beer or a bullet.
capncapo
New member
It won't completely precip out but it will clear up, your alk will be high for a while but it isn't dangerously high right now, it will work itself out. One reason I use IO is it has proven to be the most consistant salt I have used and it easy to adjust to tank parameters.
Not sure what happened, but I suspect it was a major chemistry difference causing a precipitation event.
A couple things to note:
1) Always age new saltwater for 24hrs minimally and match temperature, SG with a calibrated refractometer, calcium and alkalinity.
2) Have the best RODI unit you can afford and KNOW that your TDS is within normal limits at ALL times....this can be a high quality TDS meter, or a Spectrapure conductivity meter (better).
3) Always add salt to pre-heated RODI slowly and mix very well with a drill and stirring wand on GFCI for safety, or mix with a huge pump to get it dissolved appropriately.
4) Always make sure that the water you make is the same as your tank water, once you get a system this will be easy, but make sure you check it out good the first few times.
5) Make sure you do ALL of the above to avoid future disasters.
A couple things to note:
1) Always age new saltwater for 24hrs minimally and match temperature, SG with a calibrated refractometer, calcium and alkalinity.
2) Have the best RODI unit you can afford and KNOW that your TDS is within normal limits at ALL times....this can be a high quality TDS meter, or a Spectrapure conductivity meter (better).
3) Always add salt to pre-heated RODI slowly and mix very well with a drill and stirring wand on GFCI for safety, or mix with a huge pump to get it dissolved appropriately.
4) Always make sure that the water you make is the same as your tank water, once you get a system this will be easy, but make sure you check it out good the first few times.
5) Make sure you do ALL of the above to avoid future disasters.
The life we have in our tanks is ours to protect...don't skimp on the necessary steps or equipment to make sure you safeguard their livelihood.
FWIW, I think IO is the most consistent salt out there...fads will come and go, but IO has always been pretty consistently used by long-term, respected members...then there is Griss who used coralife back in the days when he had a tank
FWIW, I think IO is the most consistent salt out there...fads will come and go, but IO has always been pretty consistently used by long-term, respected members...then there is Griss who used coralife back in the days when he had a tank
