Precipitate Question

[LeoLionFish]

I have finally figured out why my water wasnt crystal clear. I believe that the tiny particles floating around in my DT is calcium precipitate from my Kalk reactor. I dont why it is doing this. I run my Kalk from my ATO. I add my kalk to the reactor and it is stirred when the ATO kicks in. How do I alleviate this problem and second how do I get rid of the suspended precipitate in my DT??


Travis D.
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[Dowtish]

Is it possible that air is getting into the reactor? And how many tablespoons are in the reactor?

 

[LeoLionFish]

I dose 2 tbsp every other week directly into the reactor. I am pretty certain there is no air in the system.


Travis D.
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[Dowtish]

Well maybe its just the simple fact that you dont have hardly anything in the tank to absorb it yet. I didnt start to dose 2 part until about 5-6 months in. My water changes kept my levels where they needed to be. so I'm not really certain what dosing kalk will do when the tank is that new and there isnt much demand on your calcium and alk. I am talking out my butt here btw:neutral:....just thought running through my head.

What exactly got you wanting to dose kalk from the beginning?

 

[LeoLionFish]

My pH was dropping off at night and wanted to keep it stable 24 hrs a day. I thought Kalk would be good to fix this issue and wanted to grow coralline faster by raising my calcium. Should I stop dosing??


Travis D.
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[Dowtish]

I don't really know if you should or not. I would post this same question in the reef chemistry forum and see what you find out from folks that have more knowledge and experience with dosing kalk.

 

[Dowtish]

this is a great read, but scroll down to the "What Else Does Limewater Do In An Aquarium? Raise pH Whether You Want It To Or Not" section.

What Your Grandmother Never Told You About Lime by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.comou might have spiked your ph too high. And without a decent ph probe you arent really gonna know how much

 

[pickupman66]

PH fluctuation within a few tenths (8.1 to 7.8) over a 24 hour period is perfectly fine. So long as you don't go from for example 8.1 to 7.8 in a matter of an hour or let it get below 7.7. My tank has run from the 7.8 range for weeks at a time with good alkalinity as well as now it is 8.1 and fluctuated +- 0.15 either side daily. I have rock steady alkalinity at 8.2dkh due to calcium reactor.

Don't swear the daily ebb and flow of the PH. It will naturally drop a bit at night due to the inhabitants not processing co2 into o2 nearly as much.

 

[gmoney243]

What substrate do you use? Maybe use crushed coral to help buffer. I know when I had fw cichlid tank it would raise my ph from 7.8 to 8.2 and with SW it keeps mine at around 8.3

 

[LeoLionFish]

I use aragonite fine sand.


Travis D.
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[pickupman66]

what is your PH swinging?

 

[LeoLionFish]

In the morning I was reading 7.6. In evening I was getting a reading of 8.2. Now my pH is stable at 8.2 day and night.


Travis D.
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[pickupman66]

PH swings are typically in indicator or Insufficient carbonate hardness or alkalinity. what is that currently?

 

[mjaustin22]

What is the size of your tank, 2 tbsp of kalk every other week really doesn't sound like much.

 

[LeoLionFish]

Pickup - I dont have tests for either hardness or alk so I dont know.

MJ - I dont understand the dosing per gallon method. Is that determined by my DT or by how much water my reactor holds or by how much topoff water my reservoir holds?? I use the 2 Tbsp because it is low enough to where I cant overdose. It seems to be enough to hold my pH in check and my Calcium around 460 ppm.

I am thinking if i use a water clarifier it will clear up my tank but how do I prevent the precipitate from entering my DT again??


Travis D.
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[mjaustin22]

1 gallon of water can only absorb 2 tbsp of Kalk, I'm not an expert as I just started dosing kalk a few months ago. I throw about a 1/2 cup into my reactor at a time and this seems to last about a month on my 58g where I evap about 1 gallon a day. If your levels are holding then It sounds like your demand isn't very high, are you sure its precip? It just doesn't sound like enough to precip out, but I could be totally way off.