Calcium

[Masoniac]

My calcium levels are pretty high and it looks like its snowing. Please help!!!

 

[Mrc8858]

Did you dose alkalinity? What ate your levels at?

 

[needmorecowbell]

You probably don't have much mag and it's bonding with the carbon in the water column. Water changes will help. Do a 25% pwc, test the water, wait a day, see again. If it doesn't work, do it again.

 

[Masoniac]

Did you dose alkalinity? What ate your levels at?

I dose everything once a week and not much it's only a 10 gallon

 

[needmorecowbell]

Don't dose what you can't test for, and I don't see you needing much in a ten gallon, water changed will take care of everything really..

 

[Mrc8858]

You've overdosed the alkalinity which caused your calcium to "snow" down on your tank. All you can do is watch at this point and start on water changes. Like needmorecowbell said unless you know your levels and the amount of X needed to correct it then don't dose. Honestly even a fully packed 10 gallon shouldn't require dosing if doing your routine maintenance and using a quality salt mix

 

[ccCapt]

I dose everything once a week and not much it's only a 10 gallon

Without knowing exactly what you dosed and how much of it, it's hard to speculate exactly what cause the precipitation. You might have jacked your alk too high, or your calcium too high or pH too high. Don't do anything at this point and just wait till your water clears and test your parameters. Chances are your alk is a little low now due to the precipitation.

This article explains in detail exactly what happened to your tank. Go about 1/2 way down into the article.
What is that Precipitate in My Reef Aquarium? by Randy Holmes-Farley - Reefkeeping.com

 

[needmorecowbell]

Without knowing exactly what you dosed and how much of it, it's hard to speculate exactly what cause the precipitation. You might have jacked your alk too high, or your calcium too high or pH too high. Don't do anything at this point and just wait till your water clears and test your parameters. Chances are your alk is a little low now due to the precipitation.

just wondering, why wouldn't it be good to do a water change at this point? Doesn't that kinda "reset" the parameters, or does some things stay in the system once they are put in?

 

[Bige]

You need to test. if you dosed alk and it snowed, you dosed too fast. I can't imagine needing to dose on a ten gallon tank unless your not doing water changes.