Throw in the towel....or wait?

[Kai K]

Are you dosing any form of carbon source?

 

[Ed olson]

Originally my alk was 6.2 and pH 7.9 and after about a week of dosing kalk in the top off alk was 9.1 and pH at 8.3.
I ran this for an week or so and then started testing all params. Over the course of the next couple weeks alk rose a little, pH stayed the same, calcium rose from 300 to 350 and mag went from 1100 to 900.

 

[Ed olson]

Are you dosing any form of carbon source?

No. I was using vinegar to "wash" my hands before putting them in the tank but have since stopped and havent touched the water since the bloom started except to replace filter socks and install the UV and DE filter since they both run in tank and are in the display.

 

[Bleigh]

Glad you posted @Ed olson!

#reefsquad @ReefSquad this is a good friend of mine. Any extra motivation. Or support you can add would be appreciated!! I feel like he’s hit every bump along the road that he could.

 

[schuby]

Originally my alk was 6.2 and pH 7.9 and after about a week of dosing kalk in the top off alk was 9.1 and pH at 8.3.
I ran this for an week or so and then started testing all params. Over the course of the next couple weeks alk rose a little, pH stayed the same, calcium rose from 300 to 350 and mag went from 1100 to 900.

What was the timeframe from when you started dosing Kalk to when the water became white and cloudy? Have you considered stopping the Kalk and raising the Mg to the recommended level?

 

[schuby]

No. I was using vinegar to "wash" my hands before putting them in the tank but have since stopped and havent touched the water since the bloom started except to replace filter socks and install the UV and DE filter since they both run in tank and are in the display.

Vinegar is a carbon-source. Too much of a carbon-source too fast can cause a bacterial bloom and white slime to develop on surfaces. Were your hands wet with vinegar? Can you remember when you started washing your hands with vinegar versus when the white, cloudy water started? If you've stopped with vinegar-hands for more than a week with a running skimmer, then I wouldn't expect your water to stay white and cloudy.

 

[Ed olson]

What was the timeframe from when you started dosing Kalk to when the water became white and cloudy? Have you considered stopping the Kalk and raising the Mg to the recommended level?

Week and half or so. I did stop the kalk a week ago for a few days but started back up last night.

 

[schuby]

Week and half or so. I did stop the kalk a week ago for a few days but stayed back yo last night.

Once the Mg got below 1250 or so, the additional Kalk may just be precipitating and making your water white and cloudy. I strongly suggest you raise your Mg level asap. Whatever Kalk has already precipitated ( making "new" sand ), I don't think it will re-dissolve into Ca and Alk: that's what a Ca/Rx does using CO2.

 

[Bleigh]

Once the Mg got below 1250 or so, the additional Kalk may just be precipitating and making your water white and cloudy. I strongly suggest you raise your Mg level asap. Whatever Kalk has already precipitated ( making "new" sand ), I don't think it will re-dissolve into Ca and Alk: that's what a Ca/Rx does using CO2.

This is why I love R2r. So many knowledgeable people!!!!

 

[Uncle99]

No doubt its low. Using a Salifert kit. I have some RedSea Foundation C. Should I start dosing it while all this is going on? And if I do, will it help clear the water or will I have perform water changes to get rid of the cloudiness.

Also I started with 8tsp/4g of kalk and when my alk reached 10.3 I backed it off to 6tsp/4g.

My calcium has been rising about 20ppm a week since dosing the kalk, but like I said the mag is bottoming out.

Getting MG up to 1350-1450ppm I do first, then I test CA and Alk the next day.
I see no reason not to move MG into target now, otherwise you may get some strange readings on the other two.
The MG at required levels with “slow” the attraction of CA and Alk, otherwise they love each other and your cloudiness may simply be the precipitate in the column.
It needs to be in the range anyways, so by maintaining, you’ll either notice a difference or you can rule this possibility out.

 

[blasterman]

I took a look at the OP's picture in the original post on a real computer screen and those are common snot booger dinos.

Raise nitrate to at least 10 and get that UV filter to work better by reducing water flow.

Also, dinos only hang out in the water column during the night, so you only need to run the UV filter at night.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

FWIW, I am highly skeptical of that 900-1000 magnesium value. It is really difficult to get magnesium that low, except perhaps by a bad batch of salt mix, which itself is quite unusual, or very low salinity (which is best cured by raising salinity, not by adding magnesium).

BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING to boost magnesium, use that kit on some new salt water.

Some folks read the Salifert kit backwards. Double check that if you add a whole syringe to get to the color endpoint, it means high magnesium, not low.

What do you believe the salinity is and how did you measure it?

 

[Ed olson]

Okay. I've done a 20% wc and stopped the kalk. I'm going to clean the UV and lower the flow and recharge the DE filter and throw them both in the sump and just go back to doing water changes and no dosing. I will do a handful of water changes over the next week or so 3 days apart until it clears up and will post updates on this thread.

 

[Redfoxtang]

I believe I’ve had the same stuff your dealing with right now actually. Look at my photo which was taken a couple years ago. Kinda seems similar.

Edit: This was just the earlier stage of this snot looking stuff as well

 

[brandon429]

removed option

 

[Ed olson]

a single test rock forced into compliance is gold for inferring receptivity to options.

effortless, not a whole tank issue, its biomodeling and it works wonders.

for example if we wanted to use methods that arent found in huge work threads, an experimental approach by doing something to a param or the water, we could put the test rock in a paint bucket quick reef with that rock and make that bucket comply as you'd do the whole tank. see how that's better than randomly changing all these params in the tank, avoiding work, having no resource on file to show your ends before you begin? that'd be tragic. that'd be the most common way the masses would select though.

hint: even if you identify that organism down to its unmistakable dna, that still doesnt insert any alternate cure links we can peruse here. the masses get you wrapped up in various stalls, watch out for that. its the cause of 100% of reef tank invasions, keeper hesitation, not biology. that would sound presumptive and rude were it not the direct takeaway from reading any few pages of the rip clean threads.

I wish I could understand what you're saying...or even implying.

 

[brandon429]

not a prob.

 

[saltyhog]

The original problem very much looks like chrysophytes (golden algae). If you could gain access to a microscope it could be easily confirmed.

 

[Bleigh]

The original problem very much looks like chrysophytes (golden algae). If you could gain access to a microscope it could be easily confirmed.

@Ed olson I have a microscope if you want to bring it by.

 

[vetteguy53081]

It appears water current is quite strong disrupting the ability for water tp properly flow into sump and in a sense stirring tank.
Tank is fairly new yet and I would rely on salt rather than dosing anything to tank as your salt mix should contain the essentials and if you are doing regular water changes, you should have fairly good readings.
I question if you are getting true readings or false readings. What test kits are you using ?
Are you using tap water from faucet or RODI water ?

Continue use of UV unit and place a filter sock or nylon stocking at your drain at sump to trap small micron particles.