White film on glazs

[Shawnman]

Woke up this morning to my tank being covered by a white film. It wipes off very easily but is covering everything. I have not dosed anything to the tank i don't think that would have caused this. I added 10 ml calcium like i do every week. Dosed 1 ml of mag as usual per calc consumption. I have stopped testing the mag as the test kit is always off by 200 it seems, even when testing a calibration solution.. Any ideas

 

[Tomb85]

How long ago did you last clean the glass?

 

[Shawnman]

I clean it every few days. I can rub it right off and see it float away. Tanks about 15 months old

 

[Patx]

"Dust" or "string"

 

[Shawnman]

It's almost powdery. Wipes right off and floats away. It's either gotta be salt or calcium dont ya think.

"Dust" or "string"

 

[Shawnman]

I need to start testing everything i guess but I had just done this few days ago.

 

[Shawnman]

So I think I figured it out. My alkalinity pump emptied the rest of the jug into the tank. My lfs reported my alk being 9.9,ca 262 and mag being 1062. I'm going to do a 20 % water change and retest. My question now is should i dose cslc and mag to get back to where it's supposed to be or should I do it gradually?

 

[Shawnman]

Should note i dose red sea products

 

[RSNJReef]

Personally I would rectify your mag first that’s severely low for a reef. Only once you’re above 1250 then start dosing calcium (alternate dosing cal and mag till your mag is at least 1350 and cal is above 350).

 

[Shawnman]

Personally I would rectify your mag first that’s severely low for a reef. Only once you’re above 1250 then start dosing calcium (alternate dosing cal and mag till your mag is at least 1350 and cal is above 350).

The directions state not to exceed 10 ppm per day so would you recommend doing that or add all at once.. The levels I have now crashed overnight. My ca was 450 just a few days ago.

 

[RSNJReef]

not really sure what could have crashed your major elements that dramatically. Did something change in you’re tank any time before this?

The thing is your mag is what’s going to keep your ca and alk balanced. If you try and start adding calcium with a mag below 1250 you will probably see your dkh drop dramatically.

If you are sps heavy then maybe add 10pm mag every 12 hours, but if mostly lps or softies you should be fine with a 40ppm per day rise. My main display is mostly lps and I’ve raised my mag by 40ppm over 24 hours with no issues. If you want to be cautious, try raising the mag by 20ppm on the first day, see if there’s any issues 24 hours later, and if everything looks fine, go up to 30 or 40ppm per day.

Not sure what the size of your tank is, but, personally what I would do is a 20% water change every other day directly followed by adding an additional 20ppm magnesium directly after the water change. I would do this for 3 times in a row (every other day until you hit the third water change), then test your levels again.

 

[Shawnman]

not really sure what could have crashed your major elements that dramatically. Did something change in you’re tank any time before this?

The thing is your mag is what’s going to keep your ca and alk balanced. If you try and start adding calcium with a mag below 1250 you will probably see your dkh drop dramatically.

If you are sps heavy then maybe add 10pm mag every 12 hours, but if mostly lps or softies you should be fine with a 40ppm per day rise. My main display is mostly lps and I’ve raised my mag by 40ppm over 24 hours with no issues. If you want to be cautious, try raising the mag by 20ppm on the first day, see if there’s any issues 24 hours later, and if everything looks fine, go up to 30 or 40ppm per day.

Not sure what the size of your tank is, but, personally what I would do is a 20% water change every other day directly followed by adding an additional 20ppm magnesium directly after the water change. I would do this for 3 times in a row (every other day until you hit the third water change), then test your levels again.

Thank you, i believe i have things somewhat under control. Back of the all in one is cleaned out. Alot of the alkalinity precipitated out before hitting the main tank. I dosed 100ml mag yesterday and another 100 today and all appears fine. Alk is 9.2,mag should be 1260 approx and haven't dosed calcium yet. Ive done several water changes with minimal effects to the chemical levels. Using Tropic Marin Classic and the mag tested at 1050 last 30 gallon batch i made.