whats goin on with my water?!!!!

[mazilla]

i awoke this morning to see that my tank is super cloudy, the only thing i have done differently is i added some liquid calcium to the water for my toadstool last night several hours before i went to bed. the water was fine then. i'm gonna do a pwc right now, any explanations as to why this would happen? thanks

 

[roka64]

I'm not too sure.
What are your water parameters?
How old is your tank?
With regular PWCs, you shouldn't have to dose.
Also, don't dose your tank if you don't have a test kit for whatever you are dosing.

 

[mazilla]

i just got back with some ro water, i'm going to check the levels now. the tank is over a month. i didnt realize adding calcium was considered "dosing" i thought you had to add it eod, or at least thats what the directions say. i dont have a calcium test kit, i forgot my card last night and only had enough cash for the liquids, but i'm gonna get one today. i do a 10 gallon change every 9 days, plus i dont have the back strap on my lid and i have to add fresh constantly.

p.s. everybody in the tank is acting normal, the polyps are open and so is the toadstool. the fish are active as well. is it possible i overdid it with the calcium? i use instant ocean and it says it has calcium in the salt, maybe it's too much and it takes a while to cloud or something? i guess i'll find out shortly

 

[roka64]

If you tank is only a month old, it could be diatoms or some other kind of algae bloom.

 

[mazilla]

it's like an opaque white sort of cloud, kinda like when the first batch of sw went in.

 

[lando]

This happned to me a while ago after the addition of Seachem CA. I asked the marine biologist at the LFS and he said he just had the same thing happen when he dosed one of his tanks. It was weird, I did a PWC and the water cleared up. It idid not seem t bother anything.

 

[mazilla]

after the pwc it has cleared up allot, still a little haze. did it only happen once lando?

 

[lando]

Yah...I only dosed it once though

 

[mazilla]

ok, i'm a little confused. according to the directions i'm supposed to add this stuff twice a week. can you guys break down what i will actually need to add to the water on a regular basis. i dont really understand all the additives i see on the shelves. i'm sure some of them have to be bs, but i have no idea what needed at this point. thanks

 

[melosu58]

I suggest you add PWC`s to your tank. They contain all the trace and essential elements you will need for your tank.

 

[mazilla]

thats it? just pwc's? friggin sweet, i saw all the stuff for sale and thought i was doing something wrong by not adding them. who buys that stuff then?

 

[Devilishturtles]

Most people don't dose a thing. I don't dose anything. Some people have to dose, depending on different situations. Maybe if you are using well water that is extremely soft would you have to add an alk or pH buffer. If you have a heavy sps tank you might have to dose CA. Generally for most of us, regular water changes are all you need.

HTH

 

[mazilla]

well, i'm glad i only spent 10.99 so far. THANK YOU VERY MUCH. i knew joining this site was a good idea, you guys have saved me money right and left.

 

[dankent]

well if your using Ro water you will need to add buffer ... your tests would tell you this though ... your RO water should be around 7 something ... and adding the buffer bumps it to 8.3 ish .

but Instant Ocean salt has a low calcium (9.0 or 361mg/Kg) but using a test kit to see where your tank is at before adding more is allways a great benifit.

10.3 or 413mg/kg is NSW i believe.

 

[rubikcube]

The simple guide to supplementation is: test first, supplement second.

Water changes will take care of most everything you need. That doesn't mean you don't need to add anything. Test your water, then add what your water needs. I add a dose of Seachem's Reef Buffer once or twice a week, but only when I need it to keep my KH around 10. I usually end up adding calcium every two weeks, but again, only after I test for it first.

 

[mazilla]

well, whatever the cause was it's gone now. the water is clearer than ever, and everybody is still very happy.

 

[tecwzrd]

is it possible i overdid it with the calcium?

You could have added too much and caused a snowstorm of calcium carbonate particulates throughout the tank.

Did you test your ca levels prior to adding? How much additive did you use? What is your KH level at?