BRS Alkalinity Issues?

[Susan Edwards]

I have been having issues with the alkalinity turning to snow. My calcium got quite high so I blamed that. Tried moving the dosing tubes to a higher flow, tried adding to display. Always turned to snow. Even now with my ca at 450 the liquid alk turns to snow. Today I added some alk to high flow in my observation tank and it did the same thing.

I'm wondering if this is just a) Normal? b) bad alk mix

2 tanks. Is it the alk mixture? Do I need to switch brands? If I do, do I need to also switch the ca and mg?

I'm using the BRS alk/ca/mg

Better brands to use (if I should try that route)?

 

[T-J]

Perhaps it's your calcium precipitating out of your water?
Is the sand on the bottom of your tank turning to solid clumps?
What's your current Alk level?

 

[Susan Edwards]

Perhaps it's your calcium precipitating out of your water?
Is the sand on the bottom of your tank turning to solid clumps?
What's your current Alk level?

I rake the sand every week or 2 and blast with turkey baster and haven't noticed any issues. Current alk is 8.4 and CA is 470. I dose 2 hrs apart into my 1st chamber--each is set to dose every 4 hrs. The fact that it is also doing this to a 2nd tank raises my concerns that it m ight be product? A month ago in that 2nd tank alk was 7.8 and ca 450 (only 1 fish in there and a pc of gsp).

For the big tank I'm dosing
alk 49 ml
ca 42 ml might take that down 3-4 ml as I like ca under 450
mg 30 ml

small tank just gets some added when I think of it!

Current numbers
alk 8.4 It varies up to 8.8 or 9 via trident
ca 470
mg 1498
NO3 .8 yesterday (did not dose all of the nyos zero yesterday and feed heavier)
po4 .02 yesterday (dosing neophos & Powdered coral food)

I do have some algae that is probably taking up some of the no3 and po4

Fish and corals look good. Have had some great growth

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It is normal for a high pH supplement to temporarily precipitate a cloud of magnesium hydroxide when it hits the water. There is only a concern if it is not mixed back in to dissolve before continuing to precipitate to something that won’t redissolve: calcium carbonate.

 

[Susan Edwards]

It is normal for a high pH supplement to temporarily precipitate a cloud of magnesium hydroxide when it hits the water. There is only a concern if it is not mixed back in to dissolve before continuing to precipitate to something that won’t redissolve: calcium carbonate.

So the alk I dose is a high ph supplement? Is it the magnesium I dose the problem or having mag at 1500? Mag on the half hour every hour. Should I put it on a timer to dose maybe an hour after the alk doses. Looking for a solution. Unless it is just not a big deal if my sand bed is okay.

Also, I've been using the diy snow when I clean glass or rake sand. Per Sunnx's article but that shouldn't affect anything? I don't notice any change to my parameters after I dose nor has anyone else mentioned a problem. Plus, my tank has been doing this for a long while, long before I started using the diy snow

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

It’s not true that the diy snow impacts nothing. It might initiate precipitation of calcium carbonate as the fresh surfaces act as seed crystals, especially at high alk and pH. But that doesn’t mean it is happening to a problematic level in your tsnk

However, I am not thinking you have any issues at all. Yes, alk made from sodium carbonate is a high pH supplement and cloudiness where dosed is normal regardless of magnesium level.

The only time to be concerned is if it doesn’t dissolve back in.

This is normal:
What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

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Figure 3. The transient cloud of magnesium hydroxide that forms when high pH additives are added. In this case, the alkalinity portion of B-ionic was added to a fairly still portion of one of my reef aquaria.​