Sand bed turning rock hard

[woodzy128]

I moved a couple of rocks around and noticed the sand bed was stuck to the rock and was rock hard! Also when I changed my carbon in my rector is was rock hard too! What could be causing this?

 

[EW_Fish]

I noticed this also when I moved one of my rocks. Curious to know myself. My carbon however was not rock hard

 

[mrbh22]

whats your alk? have you been dosing anything?

 

[butts182]

What's your calcium level?

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Precipitation of calcium carbonate can harden sand and precipitate on GAC, especially if there is GFO nearby.

Limewater also contributes via high pH, and new sand is more prone to it.

Many of us have gotten it and there is often not a lot you can do.

 

[EW_Fish]

I'm not sure about him But heres mine (not to high jack the thread)
alk-7.9-8.3 (been having a little trouble keep this stable but it bounces in the middle of those numbers)
Cal-450

Checked every monday around the same time

cal dose -10ml a day
alk dose -30ml a day.

BRS two part

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

If preventing this is a significant goal, the best parameters would be magnesium on the high side, and alkalinity, calcium, and pH on the low side.

pH can be a big driver of precipitation, with a 0.3 pH unit increase being equivalent to a doubling of calcium or alkalinity.

 

[woodzy128]

Sorry for the slow response, sometimes life gets in the way(but you guys know that!) My numbers are, Calcium 450, Alk 7.7, Mag 1480, phosphate 0. All done with red sea but the phosphate was done with Hanna checker. I was dosing Red Sea reef energy Part A and B But have stopped due to an algae breakout. All corals are doing great SPS, LPS all the way down to the zoa's. Really just concerned about the carbon getting rock hard, thought that was weird. Thank you to all!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Those numbers seem fine.