White powder

[Swampman]

Hi Has anyone experienced a white powder in the aquarium. I cleaned the filter and didn't clean the hoses. When I put it back in serve white powder came out. It is all over the plants. How can I get rid of it.

 

[ICoolGuy]

Some pics might help.

 

[Arthur75]

It may be lime. Biogenic decalcification.
Strong lit water plants remove dissolved carbon from Calziumbicarbonat. Lime remains

 

[Swampman]

Is there anyway I can get rid of it? Probably water changes. correct?

 

[Arthur75]

If you add CO2, bicarbonate will no longer dissolved.

 

[Swampman]

I don't use CO2

 

[Arthur75]

Water plants need nutrients as the main carbon. First, they use up the carbon from the existing water in CO2.
If the plants lack, they care.
But sometimes there are also very strong-growing plants, and if the light is strong, they get the carbon from the bicarbonate. The carbonate hardness decreases. Lime is precipitated.
If you do not want to perform CO2, you can reduce the plant mass, and make the light less.

 

[Swampman]

I use liquid CO2,Excel. My plants look great. I never knew that Lime could come from plants.

 

[Caliban07]

I use liquid CO2,Excel. My plants look great. I never knew that Lime could come from plants.

Sounds like biogenic de calcification?

And I quote from Diana Walstad's book 'ecology of the planted aquarium'

'Some bicarbonate users polarize their leaves during bicarbonate uptake. Polarized bicarbonate uptake has been described for Potamogeton lucens. The plant excretes H= (acid) on the leaf's underside to generate a pH of about 6. The acidity converts bicarbonate to CO2, which diffuses into the leaf to be used for photosynthesis. In order for the plant to maintain its internal charge balance, H= is taken up by the plant on the leaf surface resulting in a high, localized pH (about 10) and a high hydroxide (OH-) concentration.

The OH- combines with calcium bicarbonate [Ca(HCO3)2] in the water causing the precipitation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) on the top of the leaf. In hard, alkaline water, this reaction, which is called "biogenic decalcification," may be so great that crusts of precipitated CaCO3 may weigh more than the underlying plant. I have seen CaCO3 deposited as small white "pimples" on the leaves of Egeria densa and Ludwigia repens when they were grown in hardwater under intense light'




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[Swampman]

Learn something new all the time. I never heard of biogenic de calcification. Chicago's city water I thought isn't hard. But I believe that this could be what that powder was. It is gone now. We had some very hot and high humidity weather for the last few weeks. My tank temp was 82-83f. Which doesn't hold a lot of oxygen. When I installed the air stone the fish started swimming around. Our water pH went crazy. We normally have it at 7. But it did go down to 6.7-6.8 for a week or two. Before I do my normal water change I am going to check the pH of the city water. Thanks for your help.